Bailey Plourde, 13, of Newcastle, finished the 2013 Maine Women’s Amateur golf tournament in 14th place out of 77 golfers. Plourde finished with a three-day total of 82-83-89-254 in Brunswick.
Plourde finished 19 strokes behind the winner Emily Bouchard (235), and 14 strokes behind Junior Champion Monica Austin (241).
Plourde went into the third and final day of the tournament in sixth place, eight strokes behind the leader.
Her father, Bob Plourde, said, “The crowd was bigger and people were recognizing Bailey and talking about her as she prepared for her tee off. Of course being in the top two groups brings more attention on the final day.
“Bailey struggled clearing her head after teeing off; she was 11 over after the first nine holes. On the back nine, she got focused and hit five out of nine for par and ended the back four over for a total of 89 (15 over par).
“She realized after that she had a hard time getting focused on her golf game and not where she was and who she was playing with.
“I was most impressed with her second shot on the last hole. She was way left and just under 180 yards to the edge of the green in the rough, under a tree and around some roots and needed to carry water on the last half of the yardage.
“I asked her what club and without hesitation she said her ‘7 wood – what do I have to lose at this point?’ She swung the club perfect and she carried everything, the ball hit the edge of the green and rolled back on the hill about 3-feet for an easy chip and putt to par the last hole,” Bob Plourde said.
Plourde was three strokes back after the first round on July 29 with an 82. On day two, on July 30, Plourde finished in sixth place, and eight strokes behind the leader. She shot an 83 for a two day total of 165.
