Newcastle’s Bailey Plourde had hoped Staci Creech would be in the field for the Maine Women’s Amateur golf championship at the Rockland Golf Club this week.
Plourde was runner-up to Creech in each of the past two Maine Women’s Amateur tournaments, but Creech and husband Karlton, the former athletic director at the University of Maine, moved to Colorado where he landed a job at the University of Denver.
Still, that didn’t dampen the 18-year-old’s joy after claiming her first championship by three shots over 17-year-old Jordan Laplume of Old Orchard Beach.
Laplume took a one-shot lead into Wednesday’s final round, but Plourde shot an even-par 37 on the front nine while Laplume struggled to a six-over 43, and she was never severely threatened.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Plourde, who finished at 13-over par 232 for the 54-hole tourney. “I struggled with my putting on the second day. I lost my confidence. I couldn’t get the speed down. But I went to the range and the putting green before Wednesday’s final round, and I got my confidence back. I knew I could do it if I played my own game.”
“Then I played well on the front nine, and my confidence was real high,” added Plourde, who had her boyfriend Hans Stromberg — a fellow golfer at Division III Centre College in Danville, Kentucky — as her caddy.
It has been a memorable year for Plourde, who won two outright state girls golf individual championships and shared a third during her days at Lincoln Academy.
As a freshman at Centre College, she was an All-Southern Athletic Association first-team selection and named SAA Newcomer of the Year.
She shot a 239 during the three-day SAA Tournament in late April to lead her team and post the lowest score by a freshman at the tourney. The Colonels posted a final score of 995 to finish sixth at the GreyStone Golf Club in Dickson, Tennessee.
Plourde was named to the Women’s Golf Coaches Association’s All-Great Lakes Region team and earned a spot on the All-American Scholars list for players with a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.5.
“I surprised myself. I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “I didn’t expect to play that well.”
Plourde said Centre has been a perfect fit for her.
“I love it at Centre. In the fall, it was kind of rough. I had to adjust to college golf. You have better competition,” said Plourde, who finished 31st in the country among all Division III women with a scoring average of 77.83 and barely missed qualifying for the nationals.
She said her coach, Bryan Hearn, had faith in her and that gave her confidence during the spring SAA season.
“For a freshman, she had a phenomenal year,” Hearn said. “She got off to a slow start in the fall because there is always a transition from high school to college. But it didn’t last long, and once she got settled in and enjoyed being part of the team, she began to excel and play the game she knows she can play.
“And she’s only getting better. Her ceiling is (limitless). She’s pretty smart. She has a pretty high golf IQ. She’s a great ball striker, and I love how much she cares. She has great passion for the game.”
There are advantages to growing up and playing in Maine, said Plourde, who plays out of the Samoset Resort in Rockport.
One of the primary advantages is learning to play in all kinds of weather conditions.
“You never know what to expect. I’ve played in snow before,” Plourde said. “That definitely prepared me for playing college golf. Some of our players aren’t used to playing in wind and rain and stuff. Or the cold. I’m used to it.”
The daughter of Bob and Lynne Plourde said she learned a lot from Hearn and that Samoset head golf pro Gary Soule has played an important role in her development.
She will continue to work on her game before returning to college Aug. 21.
“She has to work on flighting her wedges. Once she narrows the proximity to the hole with her approach shots, she will be one of the best players in the nation,” Hearn said.
Plourde is looking forward to next season at Centre.
“I’ll definitely go into the season with more confidence,” Plourde said.
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