Husson University golfer Jace Cook survived a four-over`par front nine to shoot an even par back nine at the Kebo Valley Club in Bar Harbor on Sunday and that enabled him to capture the 12th annual Downeast-Metro Amateur golf tournament.
Cook shot a two-under par 69 in the first round at the Bangor Municipal Golf Course on Saturday and began Sunday’s round one shot behind Newport teenager S.J. Welch.
Cook, a native of Charlotte, Maine, and a former two-time Downeast Athletic Conference Golfer of the Year at Calais High School, finished with a two-over par 143 to win by three shots over Yarmouth’s Bennett Steele and 2020 Downeast-Metro winner Reese MacFarlane of Cape Elizabeth.
Steele and MacFarlane each posted a 72-74-146.
Welch, who won the Class B individual championship and led Nokomis High of Newport to its first ever state B title in the fall, wound up fourth with a 68-79-147. Three double bogeys did him in at Kebo on Sunday.
Jake Willis (75-73-148) and Dakota Batchelder (73-75-148) tied for fifth, Kent Johnson Jr. (72-77-149) was seventh, and there was a six-way tie for eighth involving Scott Stone (78-72-150), Jimmy Middleton (72-78-150), Michael O’Brien (73-77-150), Wyatt Foster (70-80-150), Michael Vanadestine (70-80-150) and David Gonyar (76-74-150).
Cook, a junior at Husson who had five top-10 finishes including a shared title in 13 events for the Eagles this past season, had a double bogey and three bogeys to go with a birdie and four pars on the front nine at Kebo, birdied the 10th hole and had all pars the rest of the way with the exception of a bogey at the 14th hole.
The former two-time first team All-Penobscot Valley Conference selection’s two-under-par 69 at the Bangor Muni on Saturday included six birdies and four bogeys.
Steele was very much in contention until he double-bogeyed the 17th hole at Kebo. It was his only double-bogey of the tournament.
MacFarlane mirrored Cook’s Sunday round with a four-over par front nine and an even-par back nine.
He had shot a 72 on Saturday in Bangor with four bogeys and three birdies.
Three-time champ John Hayes IV from Cape Elizabeth finished 15th with a 74-79-153; defending champ and former Husson golfer Max Woodman from Lincoln tied for 25th with a 72-87-159 and 2022 winner Tim Black from Bangor turned in a 69-94-163.
There were 165 participants including 93 in the A and B flights and 72 in the C and D flights.