![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/42505176_20250708_MaineAM_3940.jpg\")
\t\t\tEli Spaulding is back in the field as he chases his third straight Maine Amateur championship. (Joe Phelan\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEli Spaulding is back in the field as he chases his third straight Maine Amateur championship. (Joe Phelan\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n
Eli Spaulding didn\u2019t have to be asked about the symmetry. It was already on the 20-year-old golfer\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n
Spaulding grew up playing at Brunswick Golf Club, where Caleb Manuel turned himself into one of the state\u2019s brightest golf stars. Manuel won three straight Maine Amateur Championships running from 2021-23.<\/p>\n
Now, Spaulding gets to try to repeat that feat.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a pretty close friend of mine. We grew up playing golf together,\u201d he said. \u201cTo win three in a row and get a three-peat, it certainly wouldn\u2019t be too bad to follow in his footsteps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spaulding will lead the field at the 107th Maine Amateur, being held at Sanford Country Club from Tuesday through Thursday. He won the event by two strokes at Purpoodock Club in 2024, then defended his title with a four-shot victory at Waterville Country Club last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt (feels) a little different,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like I have a bit more momentum going into this week, which is helpful just confidence-wise, knowing I can just go into this event and trust my game.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat being said, it\u2019s still the Maine Amateur. This is my big tournament, to me, on the schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 132-player field has plenty of golfers with the games to challenge the champ. Ron Kelton was the runner-up last year and has finished no worse than third the past four years. Luke Ruffing led going into the final round last year. <\/p>\n
Mick Madden won a World Series of Junior Golf event in Rhode Island in June, edging fellow Maine Am player Jack Quinn by one shot. Andrew Slattery, the 2014 champion, was the low amateur at the Maine Open.<\/p>\n
\u201cEli\u2019s an amazing player. He\u2019s been killing it recently,\u201d Madden said. \u201cBut I\u2019d like to think it\u2019s a pretty even field. There are a lot of really good players.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spaulding, a rising junior at Loyola University Maryland, comes in just after closing out an impressive victory. After following his Maine Am title with the New England Amateur championship<\/a>, he carried his success into this year by winning the Philadelphia Amateur on June 20, prevailing through five match play rounds as the 11th seed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe key for me is that I\u2019ve been playing really good, patient golf,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s easy when your game feels so good to come into events with really high expectations for yourself and the result. But my game is at a point, and I\u2019ve been in these scenarios enough, where I just need to let my game come and trust that everything\u2019s where I want it to be.\u201d<\/p>\n That patience will be needed at Sanford, where thin fairways and thick rough make accuracy a must. Spaulding said that can mean keeping driver in the bag in favor of target golf to ensure he\u2019s hitting from comfortable distances.<\/p>\n \u201cYou might see a hole that\u2019s 380 yards and you\u2019re like \u2018Oh, if I hit driver I\u2019ll have 80 yards in,’\u201d he said. \u201cBut I think this course is a little more complicated than that. I\u2019m trying to hit to a certain spot, a certain number that I like.\u201d<\/p>\n Purchase this image<\/a><\/p>\n Kelton, who was second at even par last year, said the course layout will keep scores in check.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t expect the scores to be what they kind of have been in the past,\u201d he said. \u201cThe fairway I think averages 25 yards wide, and the PGA Tour average fairway is 28. \u2026 It\u2019s going to be penalizing if you get out of play, but I think it\u2019ll be playable if you hit good shots. You\u2019ll get rewarded and penalized, which the Maine Am should be.\u201d<\/p>\n Kelton, one of the shorter hitters in the field but also one of the most accurate, said he feels his game is a good match for the course\u2019s layout, which also includes undulating, but receptive, greens.<\/p>\n \u201cI know if I play my game, hitting fairways and hitting greens, that itself is going to make me jump the field,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel good about that. \u2026 I think (others) are going to be hitting a lot of irons or some type of woods off the tees, just to try to hit the fairway. If they keep the rough the way it is, you\u2019re not going to be able to score.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/42536592_20250710_MaineAmateurFinal_4435.jpg\")
<\/a>Ron Kelton finished second at the Maine Amateur last year and has finished no worse that third in each of the last four years. (Joe Phelan\/Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n