FALMOUTH — Andrew Slattery of West Minot said he had two recurring nightmares before the final round Thursday of the Maine Amateur.
One was that he would hit his opening tee shot in the water. The other was he would hit it into the bunker on the right side and get a buried lie.
The water was no problem but the bunker … well …
Slattery, the second-round leader, needed two shots to get out. He was able to make a bogey and from there, things gradually got better.
Withstanding a torrid start by Joe Walp, who birdied the first two holes, Slattery erased a two-stroke deficit on the back nine and shot a final-round 71 to win the 95th Maine Amateur by a shot over Walp at The Woodlands.
Slattery finished with a 54-hole score of 2-under 214. Walp, 20, a former Deering High player, shot a 70 to finish at 215.
“It was a brutal start,” said Slattery. “I knew I had to be patient. We had a lot of holes left. You can’t try and get too much out of this golf course.”
The other thing that might have helped Slattery was simply playing his own game. Other than at the start, he didn’t know how he stood with Walp and his other playing partner, Matt Greenleaf, who entered the day just one shot behind.
“Usually when I play I know how I stand with the guys in my group, but because of the crowd and nerves, I kind of got lost out there. Apparently it worked,” Slattery said.
Slattery lost two other things besides the lead early in the round. He misplaced his scorecard and his GPS, which measures distances. His scorecard was found and returned on the fifth tee. His GPS remained missing and he borrowed one from the pro shop.
“I was a mess going down the third hole,” said Slattery.
He didn’t stay a mess, with a birdie on the third hole, a narrow par 5.
Walp, a junior at Bryant University in Rhode Island, shot 33 on the front nine to take a one-shot lead. He made it two shots when Slattery bogeyed the 10th.
But on the par-5 11th, Walp hit a tee shot over the trap on the right side of the fairway and into the lateral hazard, where he took a penalty stroke. Walp managed to make par and birdied the next hole, a short par-4. Slattery matched Walp’s birdie on No. 12.
“I wasn’t expecting to make birdie,” said Slattery.
When Walp three-putted the 13th for a bogey and Slattery parred, it was a one-shot deficit. One hole later they were tied: Walp’s second shot rolled over the green into another lateral hazard. He could play it this time but his chip was strong and he couldn’t sink the par putt.
Slattery regained the lead on the 15th, a par 5, by making a 4-foot birdie putt. That proved the margin of difference.
Both parred the last three holes, but Walp missed a golden chance to tie it on the par-3 17th. His iron shot on the 215-yard hole ended up 41/2 feet right of the hole.
“Joe hit a beautiful shot,” said Slattery. “It had to be one of the best of the tournament.”
Unfortunately for Walp, he couldn’t convert.
“I thought it was a left edge putt but it didn’t move,” said Walp.
Both Walp and Slattery hit big drives on No. 18, a 436-yard par 4, then both hit their second shots on. Slattery putted first from 25 feet and cozied it down to inches for a tap-in par. Walp had a 15-footer to tie and send it to sudden death but didn’t come close.
“I pulled it and hit it too hard,” he said. “I putted so well in the tournament that it actually saved me, but I couldn’t make much on the back nine. Some of the putts I either pulled or hit them too hard. ”
Greenleaf tied Slattery for the lead with a par on the first hole and grabbed a share of the lead with Walp when he put a birdie on top of Walp’s on the second.
Greenleaf then lost his momentum when he double-bogeyed the par-3 seventh.
From holes 7 through 11, Greenleaf went 5 over par. He shot a final-round 78 to finish fourth with a 222 total.
“One bad swing really cost me,” said Greenleaf of his tee shot on No. 7, which rolled down the dirt path and settled in thick grass.
“I lost my putting stroke. Andrew and Joe played great.”
Both Slattery and Walp hit the ball great with their iron approach shots on target.
Drew Powell, a 16-year-old from Bangor, finished third at 221, including a final-round 73.
Ricky Jones of Thomaston, the defending champion, was fifth at 223.
Joe Baker of Oxford was sixth at 225.
There was a four-way tie for seventh among Joe Alvarez, Eric Crouse, Jason Gall and Luke Ruffing at 226.
Tom Chard can be reached at 791-6419 or at
tchard@pressherald.com
Twitter: TomChardPPH
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