From cut to champ: Mick Madden takes Maine Amateur by three shots
Jack Quinn, left, of Augusta Country Club congratulates Mick Madden of the Woodlands Club after Madden won the Maine Amateur Championship on Thursday at Sanford Country Club. Jacob Moody, second from right, of Waterville Country Club tied for third behind Madden and Quinn. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
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SANFORD — Last year, Mick Madden shot an 80 in the first round of the Maine Amateur Championship, followed it with a 77, and his tournament was over.
“I was so angry,” he said. “I wanted to break my clubs.”
In spite of the frustration, however, his confidence prevailed.
“I knew the game was there,” he said.
This year, he showed it for three straight rounds. Madden shot a 2-under 70 on Thursday at Sanford Country Club and withstood challenges from Jacob Moody and Jack Quinn to win his first Maine Amateur title.
Madden finished the tournament at 8 under, three shots clear of Quinn, who closed with a bogey-free 68. He’s the first player to win the Maine Amateur a year after missing the cut since the tournament changed to stroke play in 2006.
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Nerves were there, but the 18-year-old Cheverus High grad didn’t show them. He made five birdies, including three on the final six holes. The last came when he rolled in a putt between 20 and 25 feet on the final hole.
The win automatically qualifies Madden for the U.S. Amateur Championship. He already had earned a berth in the U.S. Junior Amateur.
“It kind of feels unreal,” he said. “I can’t believe that I was able to put this round together, because I was horrified, I’m going to be honest, going into it. I tried to stay in the moment, but it’s pretty hard when you know you’re leading by a decent amount.”
As his final putt tracked toward the hole, Madden watched stoically. Quinn, his playing partner and friend, raised his arms.
“Mick, he’s at a different level right now. He’s playing great,” Quinn said. “Out of all people, he’s the one person I wanted to beat me if anyone beat me.”
As he walked off the course, Madden got a handshake from Eli Spaulding, the two-time defending champion who shot 3 under to finish tied for third with Moody at 1 under.
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“It feels like just yesterday I was 16, he was 12 or 13, and we were out there teeing it up,” Spaulding said. “Just to see his progression … is truly, pretty incredible.”
Madden wasn’t allowed to coast. Right from the start, he had Moody on his heels, as the rising junior captain at Le Moyne College opened with two birdies, an eagle and another birdie to cut Madden’s five-stroke lead to two.
“I was definitely like ‘Whoa, OK, this is changing quick,'” Madden said.
Throughout the round, however, Madden showed an ability to respond. After Moody and Quinn eagled the 12th hole (all players started on the 10th hole), he hit a 50-degree wedge from 118 yards that settled 4 feet from the 13th pin for birdie.
When a bogey and a triple bogey slowed Moody, Quinn became the closest chaser, and the Gardiner High grad got within two after Madden bogeyed the third hole. But Madden hit one of his best shots on the par-5 fourth, a 6-iron on a ball above his feet from 195 yards out that set him up for a two-putt birdie.
Quinn also birdied, but after both reached the fifth in regulation, Madden rolled in a 15-footer for another birdie.
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“It felt good to keep (the lead), and make sure my game was still there,” Madden said.
Madden’s bogey on the seventh after finding a hazard kept the door open, but Quinn lipped out a 9-footer for birdie on the eighth — their next-to-last hole.
“I went out and I played exactly how I thought I needed to play,” Quinn said. “I felt like when I was in good position, he would get something and he would stay in front. I felt like I was chasing him all day. I definitely felt like my game was there, it was just whether I’d make a couple of 10-footers or not.”
Moody’s first eight holes included an eagle, four birdies, a bogey, a triple bogey and a double bogey. He steadied himself with two birdies and two bogeys on the last 10 en route to an even-par 72 and a share of third place.
Scott Nevers and Kellen Adickes (1 over) rounded out the top five.
“I just hit a few good shots early, made some putts, and then I felt like I was really in it after those first few holes, like I was going to get on a roll,” Moody said. “It came to a little bit of a stop, but I’m happy with how I battled after that kind of roller coaster.”
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Tagged: Maine Amateur, maine golf
Drew Bonifant covers sports for the Press Herald, with beats in high school football, basketball and baseball. He was previously part of the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel sports team. A New Hampshire. More by Drew Bonifant
