BANGOR — Bangor Municipal Golf Course can easily lay claim as the loudest course in Maine. Between traffic speeding by on Interstate 395, which abuts the course and runs alongside many holes, and planes buzzing the course as they land and depart at nearby Bangor International Airport, there’s a lot of white noise golfers are forced to block out.
This week, 21-year old Bailey Plourde tuned out the static better than anyone playing in the Maine Women’s Amateur Championship at Bangor Municipal. In Tuesday’s second round, Plourde pulled away from the competition. Wednesday morning, Plourde iced her win without any drama, leading her nearest competitor by as many as 10 strokes late in the round.
It was the second Women’s Am victory for Plourde, who also took the title in 2018 at Rockland Golf Club.
“Growing up in Maine, it’s a special group to play with. I’ve been playing with all these ladies since I was 12, 13 years old. It feels good to play with those that make you comfortable and have fun,” said Plourde, a two-time NCAA Division II All-American at Centre College in Kentucky who will continue her collegiate golf career at Berry College in Georgia.
Plourde shot a 6-over 219 for the tournament. Ruby Haylock, who won last year’s Women’s Am at Augusta Country Club by beating Plourde on a playoff hole, placed second at 12-over 225. Kristin Kannegieser, who began the day in second place five strokes behind Plourde, finished third at 13-over 226.
“Bailey has a lovely game. She hits a long ball and some great irons. She putted well, but again, I’ve seen her putt better. I think I would agree the greens are a little tough. You think they’re going to break and they don’t. She represents (Maine) well,” Kannegieser said.
Wednesday’s final round began at 7 a.m. in order to complete the tournament before thunderstorms were expected to hit Bangor in the afternoon. Plourde shot a 5-over 76 Wednesday, her worst round of the three-day tournament. That score was affected by a triple bogey she took on 18, her final hole. Plourde’s tee shot and provisional shot both went out of bounds in the wood to the left of the 18th fairway, the only bout of inconsistency she encountered in a consistent round.
“I felt really good going into 18. Do I really know what happened? I mean, I played well enough throughout the week that it didn’t really matter I guess,” Plourde, who also has been runner-up in the tournament three times, said.
A birdie on 10 set the tone for Plourde’s back nine, as she proceeded to make par on five consecutive holes until a bogey on 16. That steady play helped Plourde push her lead to 10 strokes over Haylock through 15 holes. With the big lead, Plourde said she didn’t consciously rein in her game to try to limit the chance of a mistake.
“I was playing well. I felt good. Not necessarily conservative because if I was playing conservative I probably wouldn’t have taken driver on that last drive (on 18),” Plourde said. “Keep my head down and keep going. Par, and birdies are going to happen. Bogeys might happen, but play my own game.”
Bailey Plourde, left, receives her hug from her mother Lynne Ploudre after after she won the Maine Women’s Amateur Championship on Wednesday at the Bangor Municipal Golf Course. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
Haylock began the day in third place, two shots behind Kannegieser. Haylock played Wednesday’s back nine 1-over to overtake Kannegieser for second place. Putts were a problem all day for Kannegieser, who shot 7-over 78 Wednesday.
“The front was OK. The back, I just started to miss short putts. I kind of let (second) slip away. I can play better than that,” Kannegieser said. “It does wear on you after a while, when you think you’re making good putts and they’re not going in.”
Added Plourde: “I don’t know if (greens) were any slower than they have been. The reads were tough. One putt, Kristin’s broke and mine didn’t, and it was the same exact putt.”
The way last year’s Maine Am ended, with Haylock chipping in for birdie on the playoff hole to claim victory, didn’t haunt Plourde, but it was something she did think about.
“Something like that is always a little in your head. I’ve been very confident this entire summer, so I felt very good coming in it,” Plourde said.
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