BANGOR, Maine —- Jon McLean, who won the 49th annual Greater Bangor Open Golf Tournament on Saturday, always enjoys coming to Bangor.
The Weston, Florida, native gets to spend time with his best friend, Bangor’s Jesse Speirs, and Speirs’ family.
They have been friends since they were teammates at Texas Christian University.
McLean usually stays in Bangor at the home of Speirs’ caddy, Ed DePhilippo. Another friend of Speirs’, Greg Jarmas from Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, also stayed with DePhilippo and played in the tournament.
“It’s fun getting to stay with Jesse. His house was full this week so I stayed with Ed and he’s a great guy, too,” said McLean. “We went and played wiffle ball with Jesse’s brothers and nephews so I was so sore for the first round (of the tournament). I was hitting (my drives) 250.”
“I should have tried to get him out to play wiffleball (Friday) night. Maybe he wouldn’t have won the tournament,” joked Speirs. “We had played wiffleball for an hour and half (earlier in the week) and it smoked us. We struggled the first day.”
McLean said they also played ping-pong.
“It’s a fun week. You get to play in a good tournament but you can also really get your mind off golf here because there are non-stop activities over there (at Speirs’ house),” said McLean.
DePhilippo enjoyed having McLean and Jarmas as house guests.
“They’re awesome guys. It was fun for me. They’re quiet guys. If they had any more people at Jesse’s house, he would have been bunking at my house, too,” quipped DePhilippo.
McLean shot a five-under par 64 on Saturday to win the tournament by one shot over Braden Shattuck.
Jarmas nearly aces par-four fifth
Jarmas nearly had a hole-in-one on the 348-yard, par-four fifth hole. His tee shot hit the flag stick after rolling onto the green and it stopped inches from the cup. He tapped it in for an eagle.
“It was a front pin location and it was a little downwind so the hole was playing short. Right off the face (of the club), I knew it was going to be pretty good. I said ‘Go in.” It was two inches from the cup.
“That’s as close as it gets. It is, by far, the closest I’ve ever gotten to the pin on a par four,” said Jarmas, who wound up double bogeying the next hole due to a wayward tee shot..
He shot two over-par 71 on Saturday and wound up tied for eighth at four-under par 203.
“I hadn’t played that well until a month ago and this was the first time since turning pro a year ago that I played in the final group at a tournament,” said Jarmas. “I’m happy with the way I’m hitting the ball.”
McLean’s dad Hall-of-Famer
McLean’s father, Jim, is in six Halls of Fame as the result of his playing career and golf instruction.
He has taught several of PGA and LPGA Tour stars like Tom Kite, Keegan Bradley, Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thompson. He was recently inducted into the World (Golf) Teachers Hall of Fame.
“It’s nice although, sometimes, it can be a little tough listening to your dad,” McLean said. “I got to play at some great courses and he could always teach me a little bit. He didn’t give me a ton of instruction but he was just always there for me.”