The late-arriving and rainy spring has made it challenging for golfers.
But some of the best weather of the year is predicted for this weekend and that pleases Bangor Municipal Golf Course pro Rob Jarvis and his Kebo Valley counterpart Pieter DeVos because the fifth annual Downeast Metro Golf Tournament is being held on Saturday and Sunday at the two courses.
The A and B flights will be held at Kebo Valley on Saturday and Bangor Muni on Sunday with the C and D flights doing the opposite.
Jarvis said there are 130 entrants which is 15 more than a year ago.
Despite the spotty weather, Jarvis and DeVos said the conditions at their respective courses have continued to improve thanks to the favorable weather.
“The course is coming along way better than we imagined,” Jarvis said. “Our guys have worked so hard to get it ready for the tournament. I couldn’t be more proud of the work they’ve done in the most adverse conditions I’ve ever seen.”
“Our course is in good shape,” DeVos said. “It’s filling in more and more. It’s soft off the tee but the greens are pretty firm. They aren’t ultra-fast but they’re pretty quick. We’ve got a great field of players, we’re going to have great weather and we’re all eager.”
Wet conditions usually spell soft, slow greens but Jarvis echoed DeVos’ sentiments about Bangor Muni’s greens.
“They aren’t as soft as people think. They’re drying out. But the rough is thick so you won’t get as much spin coming out of it. So they’re going to want to keep the ball in the fairway.”
Jarvis and DeVos said with the courses drying out and with the weather forecast calling for sun and 70-degree weather each day, perhaps even in the 80s on Sunday, that should lead to some good scores.
And there is no shortage of golfers capable of shooting low rounds.
Defending champ Len Cole, a former Bangor High School golf standout now playing out of the Falmouth Country Club, shot an even-par 141 to beat Bangor’s Tom Caron by three shots last year and is returning to defend his championship, according to Jarvis.
Cole, who played college golf at the University of Tennessee, registered a 4-under par 67 at Bangor Muni on the first day before carding a 4-over 74 on Sunday at Kebo.
John Hayes IV of Cape Elizabeth, the 2017 winner, will also be in the field as will brothers Reese and Alex McFarlane, also from Cape Elizabeth.
Reese McFarlane plays at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.
Gavin Dugas from Pittsfield, the 2016 winner, won’t be in the field because he just turned pro according to his father, Mike, the golf coach at Bangor’s Husson University in Bangor.
Gavin is the teaching pro at J.W. Parks Golf Course in Pittsfield where his father is the head pro.
Eric Dugas, Gavin’s brother who played with him for their father at Husson, will be in the field for the Downeast Metro.