BANGOR, Maine — After tying the course record with a 9-under-par 60 on Friday to build a four-shot lead after the second round of the 50th annual Greater Bangor Open Golf Tournament at Bangor Municipal Golf Course, Jesse Larson saw his lead dwindle to one after seven holes of the final round on Saturday.
But Larson sank a 12-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole to increase his lead to two shots and he made a number of clutch putts down the stretch to win the tournament by three shots on the humid, breezy day.
The 31-year-old Mendon, Vermont native, who played golf at the University of Rhode Island, shot a one-under-par 68 to finish with a 15-under-par 192 to take home the winner’s check of $9,000. Charlie Winegardner of Annapolis, Maryland, who was playing in his first GBO, shot a 67 for a three-day-total of 12-under-par 195 and Evan Harmeling of Andover, Massachusetts wound up third with a 198 after shooting a 68 on Saturday.
The 25-year-old Winegardner, who played his college golf at Coastal Carolina University (S.C.), earned a $5,000 check and the 27-year-old Harmeling, a Princeton University (N.J.) grad, took home $3,100.
Chad McCann from Haymarket, Virginia fired a 63 to share fourth with Jon McLean from West Palm Beach, Florida, and Ryan McCormick from West Long Branch, New Jersey. They shot 199s.
Max Ferrari from Framingham, Mass. was the low amateur with a 3-over-par 210. Hampden native John Hickson and John Elliott from Bristol, Connecticut, were the low seniors with two-under-par 205s.
Old Orchard Beach’s Robb Roylance was the top finisher among Maine natives as he tied for seventh with Raoul Menard of Ange-Gardien Quebec with a seven-under 200.
“My short putts kept me alive. That’s what I needed. I made a lot of five and six footers to save par and not give them any room. If I had missed a couple of them, the momentum would have totally changed,” said Larson, who plays a mixture of state opens and independent tournaments and also competes in Monday qualifiers to try to earn a slot in PGA and Web.com Tour events.
He was able to sink the putts with nice chip shots to set them up, especially over the back nine.
“I chipped a little better today. I had chipped poorly all week,” said Larson, who has won the New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New England and Providence Opens..
Harmeling began the day six shots adrift of Larson and two behind Winegardner in the final pairing but got off to a blazing start with birdies on four of the first five holes to pull within two shots of the lead.
His par on the seventh hole closed the gap to one because both Larson and Harmeling bogeyed the hole.
Harmeling remained within one on the eighth hole when he chipped in from 25 feet to save his par.
But on the ninth hole, Harmeling rolled his downhill 14-foot birdie putt just inches wide of the cup and Winegardner left his uphill 10-foot birdie putt six inches short which opened the door for Larson to extend his lead to two and three shots, respectively, and he did just that by making an uphill 12-footer.
“When he made that birdie putt on nine, I could tell he righted the ship and that we were going to have to chase him. He wasn’t going to come back to us too much,” said Harmeling. “He’s a really solid player.”
Larson saved par on 11 with a five-foot putt that snuck in the corner of the cup and then on 12 he lagged a 25-footer within a foot of the cup for a tap-in as Winegardner pulled with two strokes courtesy of a 50-foot birdie putt.
Harmeling, meanwhile, three-putted to fall three shots back as he missed a four-foot par putt.
All three parred the 13th although Harmeling and Larson missed birdie putts of three and four feet, respectively.
“I was disappointed with that. I was hanging my head. I knew I had a chance to step on their throats [by extending the lead],” said Larson.
Larson parred the par-four 14th but Harmeling and Winegardner swapped places as Harmeling sank a 14-foot birdie putt from just off the green and Winegardner bogeyed the hole by missing an eight-foot par putt.
A superb chip on the par-four 15th and a nice lag putt enabled Larson to par the hole but Winegardner used an equally impressive approach shot to set up a five-foot birdie putt that he nailed to join Harmeling in second place, two shots back of Larson.
Harmeling parred the hole.
Larson came through with a clutch four-foot par putt on the par-three 16th and Winegardner tapped in for par from two feet after both had rolled nice lag putts from 50 feet.
Harmeling, however, missed a three-footer to wind up with a bogey and fall three shots back.
Larson sewed up the tournament on the 359-yard par-four 17th with a terrific chip and seven-foot birdie putt to give him a three-shot lead going into the final hole. Harmeling and Winegardner parred the hole.
“I knew when I made that birdie on 17, I would have really had to throw it away [to lose the tournament],” said Larson, a regular in recent years at the GBO who finished third in 2014.
Larson and Winegardner parred the final hole but Harmeling’s drive went behind a tree, forcing him to punch it out into the fairway. He wound up with a double-bogey six.
“It feels great,” said Larson. “You have to be patient. You have to pick good target lines and hit fairways and greens and try to keep the ball below the hole if possible.”