YORK, Maine — It was good to get out early again in the second round of the Maine Amateur Golf Championship.
Oxford’s Joe Baker seized the first-round lead after teeing off at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Three-time champion Ricky Jones teed off at the same time for Wednesday’s second round, and the same success followed.
The Thomaston native shot a 2-under 68 one day after shooting even par to take a one-shot lead over Baker, who finished his second round with a 1-over 71 at York Golf & Tennis Club.
Falmouth’s Matt Hutchins shot a 3-under 67 — the best round of the tournament — to grab a share of second with Baker.
“I made some putts today,” Jones said. “The greens were a little bit faster this morning because the grass grows out in the afternoon. They seemed to be a good speed for me.”
Jones got off to a quick start, birdieing the first and third holes. He played even the rest of the day, matching four more birdies with four bogeys.
“When I started the day I thought like I’d wanted to be around 67,” Jones said. “I was almost there.”
Hutchins teed off an hour after Jones and made five birdies.
“Both of them had good numbers,” said Baker of Jones and Hutchins. “They went out early, too.”
Baker didn’t tee off until 11:10 a.m. but got off to the start he wanted, making par on each of the first five holes. He birdied No. 6 and bogeyed No. 7 to stay even, then birdied 13 and put himself at 1-under for the day heading to the final two holes — holes that he called “easy.”
But a tee shot off the green on the par-3 17th turned into one bogey, and a three-putt on the par-4 18th became another, moving Baker from one shot ahead of Jones to one shot behind.
“It was just lack of focus right there at the end,” Baker said. “That was the first three-putt of the week right there, on the last hole. It wasn’t really the way I wanted to finish, but tomorrow’s another day.”
The top three players will all tee off together in Thursday’s final round at 9:40 a.m.
The next-to-last group for the final round features Pittsfield’s Gavin Dugas, who sits at even par for the tournament after playing in Jones’ group Wednesday, along with Kyle Alexander (3-over) and York Golf & Tennis Club member Judd Parsons, who played an even-par second round and is 2 over for the tourney.