Tim Black was sitting in his home in Bangor when Bangor Municipal Golf Course pro Rob Jarvis called him.
He had just returned from the Kebo Valley Golf Club in Bar Harbor where he shot a one-over par 71 to follow his even-par 71 at the Bangor Municipal Golf Course in the eighth annual Downeast Metro Amateur Golf Tournament.
“Rob told me I was the champion,” said the 56-year-old Bangor native and longtime Bangor Muni member. “I thought he meant the B flight.”
No, Black became the first player from the B flight to win the tournament. All the others have come from the A flight.
He won by one shot over first-day leader Drew Powell from Holden, who shot a six-under par 65 on Saturday at the Bangor Muni but ballooned to an eight-over par 78 at Kebo on Sunday.
Ricky Jones, 11-time Maine Golfer of the Year and three-time Maine Amateur winner, was third with a 73-71-144. He plays out of the Samoset Resort in Rockport.
Former Maranacook High School of Readfield standout Luke Ruffing and Scott Dewitt from the Biddeford-Saco Country Club shot five-over-par 146s.
Presque Isle’s Ralph Michaud and former Downeast Metro winner John Hayes IV shot six-over-par 147s.
Black admitted that he didn’t expect Powell to shoot a 78 so he decided there was a very limited chance for him to be involved in a playoff.
And he drove home.
Had there been a playoff, he would have lost by default.
“My fault,” said Black.
Black said his putting was the key to his 71 on Sunday at Kebo. It is the best score he has ever posted there.
“I putted really well. And my irons were pretty good, too,” he said.
He didn’t expect to win the tournament.
“I would have been happy shooting a 76 at Kebo,” admitted Black.
But he said he was able to transform some errant tee shots into pars with his iron play and putting.
“Everything was clicking today,” he said.
Black never played golf in high school.
He played for the first time when he was 24 and after playing nine holes at the Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono, he said to himself “I can’t understand why people play this game.”
But he played a few more times and hit enough good shots to keep him coming back and he eventually “caught the bug.”
He moved to California and worked at the world-renowned Indian Wells course where he said he learned a lot about golf from up-and-coming pros.
He moved back to Bangor in 2003 after the birth of his daughter.
He said this is the greatest thrill of his golf career and thanked Jarvis and Kebo pro Peiter DeVos for running such an enjoyable tournament.
