From the Bunkers – Week of August 21, 2019 – The County

Mike Fleming, Course Superintendent, Special to The County
5 years ago

Life is beautiful here in Aroostook County. And golf is a wonderful part of it. This week we got some much needed rain and the fairways and roughs are greening up. Our golf course has experienced substantial play this week and the comments made are that the course is in excellent shape.

The annual Club Championship/Presidents Cup was contested on Saturday and Sunday. The front nine on Saturday was played with a cool rain and a breeze picked up in the afternoon. After the first 18, the lead was held by Jerry York with a three under par 69. Two players followed at 75 and one at 76. 

Sunday’s round was damp to start with, but the rains never came. York held off a surge by Porter Gervais and Gabe Goodwin to win the overall Club Championship. The Ladies Club Champion was Misty Marino. Junior Champion was won by Collin Moody. 

The Men’s Presidents Cup went to Gabe Goodwin. Ladies Presidents Cup was won by Sarah Howland. 

Division A winners were Porter Gervais, first gross and Mike Fleming, first net. Division B winners were Ray Mailman, first gross and Dennis Wright was second. Logan Holmes was first net and Bob Gray was second. 

In the C Division, Dalton Cloney won first gross with Fred Putnam second. Net winners were Tyler Putnam, first, and Randy Lincoln, second. Barb Moakler won first gross and Harriet Gray won first net in the Ladies Division. Isaac Vega won first gross in the Junior Division. Congratulations to all the winners.

Coming this weekend will be a nine-hole scramble to benefit the Houlton High School Golf team. Teams will be four persons. Call the pro shop to sign up as a team or individual. As a sidelight, you will get a chance to see if you can beat the team of Rhetta Vega, Isaac Vega, Wyatt Harvey, and Nick Brewer, last year’s High School State Champions. All the action starts at 9 a.m. Saturday.

 The Babe Caron Memorial will take place Aug. 31 and Sept. 1. The teams are full, but we are taking names as alternates.

 The Lakeside Restaurant served quite a crowd this weekend with the tournament going on. You can call Nancy at 694-9494 to make your reservations. You won’t be disappointed.

 As I said above, many people have told me that our course is one of the nicest courses they have played here up north and many points south. Other comments concern the many ball marks left on greens, fairway divots that aren’t replaced, and of course sand bunkers that have not been raked properly. These etiquette mistakes detract from our overall appearance. Please fix your ball marks plus one when you are on the green. Rake the bunker so the next person doesn’t know you were there. It looks good and there is a feeling of true ownership. Thank you.

 I hope to see you out on the course this week.

Houlton Community Golf Course is located on 6 Country Club Drive in New Limerick. For more information on the course call 532-2662, email houltongolf@gmail.com or visit their website www.houltongolf.com.