Maine Open golf tournament expanding to 54-hole event

The Charlie’s Maine Open golf championship will expand from a 36-hole event to a 54-hole tournament this year.

It will be held June 24-26 at the Augusta Country Club for the ninth consecutive time although there was no tournament in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID pandemic.

It will be the 103rd Maine Open.

For the first time since 2019, out of state golfers will be included in the field.

“We wanted to revert back to a Maine Open format,” said Brian Bickford, the executive director of the Maine State Golf Association.

The Charlie’s Maine Open has been a 36-hole event for nearly 20 years.

Bickford said there has always been a debate between whether a 36- or 54-hole event was preferable.

“Golfers will say the longer the event, the more likelihood the better golfer will win,” said Bickford. “The shorter the event, you could get a golfer who hits lightning in a bottle, shoots a 65 and wins the event.”

Bickford was referring to the fact that with a 36-hole tournament, if one day gets rained out, it becomes just an 18-hole tournament.

He explained that the golfer who shot a 65 could wind up shooting an 85 the next day.

So he prefers a 54-hole event because if a day gets washed out, it will still be decided in 36 holes rather than just 18.

It will be only the third 54-hole tournament in Maine along with the Maine men’s and women’s amateur events.

He said the Charlie’s Maine Open will have a cut after the second round and he speculated that the winner will pocket around $4,000-$5,000.

There will be flights within the tournament, one for amateurs, another for Maine pros, one for women and one for juniors.

He also announced that he is in discussion with Jeff Hutt, Golf Canada’s regional director for Atlantic Canada, to establish a tournament pitting Maine golfers against those from the Maritime provinces in a Ryder Cup format. And that could also include women’s and juniors competitions in addition to the men.

“We haven’t decided on a format yet. We’re hoping to have a tournament in 2025,” said Bickford. “I’m excited about it.”

He said they could alternate tournaments between a course in Maine one year and one in the Maritimes (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island) the next year.

He is optimistic about the golf season.

“Membership (numbers) are still strong, daily fee play is still strong and our tourism rounds are up as well and that’s a good sign. It’s a good time to be in golf right now,” said Bickford.

Some of the tournaments that will highlight the golf season in addition to the Charlie’s Maine Open include the men’s club team championship on May 19 at the Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro; the Downeast Metro tournament at the Bangor Municipal Golf Course and Kebo Valley Club in Bar Harbor on June 8-9; the Men’s Maine Amateur on July 9-11 at the Purpoodock Club in Cape Elizabeth and the Women’s Maine Amateur on July 15-17 at the Biddeford-Saco Country Club in Saco.

The Maine Junior Championship tournaments for boys and girls will be on July 30-31 at the Springbrook Golf Club in Leeds and the Senior Women’s event will be at Val Halla in Cumberland Center on July 29-30.

The men’s match play invitational will be Aug. 5-7 at the Riverside Golf Course in Portland; the men’s Senior Amateur will be on Aug. 20-21 at the Sanford Country Club and the women’s metropolitan club team championship will be held on Aug. 26-27 at the Fox Ridge Golf Club in Auburn.

The women’s match play championship will be held on Sept. 23-24 at the Prout’s Neck Country Club in Scarborough and the men’s senior match play tournament will be at Abenakee Golf Club in Biddeford on Oct. 1-2.