BANGOR, Maine — Bangor native Jesse Speirs is the leader by one shot heading into Saturday’s final round of the 49th annual Greater Bangor Open Golf Tournament at the Bangor Municipal Golf Course but he has plenty of company contending for the win.
Speirs, the 2011 Greater Bangor Open titlist, followed his opening-round five-under 64 with a two-under 67 for a two-day total of 131.
There are three golfers who are one shot back.
Brian Bergstol from Upper Mount Bethel Township, Pennsylvania, shot a four-under 65 to go with his opening-day 67; Greg Jarmas from Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, and Mike Welch from Quincy, Massachusetts, each fired a 67 Friday to go with their 65s Thursday.
The 28-year-old Speirs played at nearby Bangor High School and Bergstol played at Bangor Area High School in his native Pennsylvania.
Two shots back at 133 are Speirs’ former Texas Christian University teammate Jon McLean from Weston, Florida, and Raoul Menard from Ange-Gardien, Quebec. McLean shot a 65 Friday and Menard, playing in just his second pro event, had a 68.
Twenty-year-old Braden Shattuck of Aston, Pennsylvania, had the low round of the day at five-under 64 to tie for seventh with Cody Paladino of Kensington, Connecticut. Both are three shots back at 134. Paladino registered his second straight 67.
The low 40 scores, including ties, will qualify to play Saturday.
Occasional showers and a thunderstorm that halted play briefly made playing conditions a little more challenging, although the rain did soften the greens.
“I almost hit it better than I did yesterday, I just didn’t make as many putts. I kept it in play better today. I had a couple of bogeys but that was it,” Speirs said.
“I hit a bad shot on six again and made bogey and made a bad tee shot on 10 under a tree and made bogey but that was it. I made some really good birdies. I birdied eight and five today with a combination of good pitches and good putts. I made a real good putt on 16 from 30 feet [for a birdie],” he added.
Speirs was hoping for a lower round.
“I didn’t putt that great all day, I left a lot of putts short. And I didn’t hit it that close. But then I kind of got it going on the back nine,” he said.
He also birdied 14 to give him three birdies on his last six holes.
“I’m sure somebody shot lower but I’m right where I want to be,” he said.
Jarmas had three birdies and one bogey as he birdied four, five and 18 and bogeyed 16.
“I played great from tee to green,” said Jarmas, a former Princeton University standout and Ivy League tournament champion. “I didn’t make too many putts. But I did make a nice one on 18, a 15-footer with left to right break.
“I hit it well. I did a good job staying patient. It was a long day out there,” Jarmas added.
Bergstol, a two-time Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year at NCAA Division III Moravian College (Pennsylvania), had birdies on two, four, five, nine, 13 and 14 while bogeying the par-four seventh and 12th.
Welch had five birdies and three bogeys.
Welch, who has played in three PGA Tour and four Web.com Tour events, sandwiched bogeys at four and seven around a birdie at five and rebounded nicely from a bogey at 10 with birdies on 12, 13 and 14, which are all par-fours. He has played the par-fours in five-under par through two days.
Shattuck was pleased with his 64 and said his 70 on Thursday wasn’t that bad, either.
“I played well on Thursday but I made a quadruple [bogey] on 12,” he said. “I hit six or seven good shots today and made all of those putts. Other than that, I just scrapped, getting it up and down. My short game was good. I didn’t make too many mistakes. It wasn’t great but it was good enough.”
Former Old Dominion University standout Jamison Randall from Cumberland, Rhode Island, would have recorded 135 but was disqualified for playing the wrong ball.
Windham’s Rich Campiola leads the amateurs with a 143 and Hampden native John Hickson has a one-shot lead among the seniors with his 137.