CUMBERLAND — Erin Holmes is no stranger to the Maine Women’s Amateur championship. In fact, she won the event in 2023 when it was held at Brunswick Golf Club. 

But this year’s tournament was a little different because it marked the first in which she competed while also holding a position as a head coach. 

Holmes was promoted to lead the University of Southern Maine women’s golf team in April after spending two years as an assistant. 

“Every time that I’m coaching at a tournament, (the players) are upset over a bad shot and it’s in play … I’m sitting around like, ‘I would do anything to be out there instead of on the other side of it,’” Holmes said Wednesday following her final round.

“So I try to keep that in mind when I’m out there. It’s like, ‘you know what, this is a privilege to be playing.’”

Holmes finished fourth in this year’s tournament with a three-day total of 24-over 240 at her home course, Val Halla Golf & Recreation. She was 13 shots behind the champion, Maria Ouimet. 

While she didn’t match her championship run of three years ago, Holmes was encouraged by her performance in the final round, when she shot a 78 to improve her second-round score by four strokes.  

“The greens just felt really alien to me all week, and I really struggle when I don’t have a good feel on putts, so that was pretty much all of it,” Holmes said. “I mean, all my bad holes were all short game. So a little frustrating, since it’s my home course, but I was happy with the way I was hitting the ball, and cleaned it up a little today.”

At USM, Holmes is replacing Brian Bickford, who still serves as the Huskies’ men’s coach as well as Maine Golf’s executive director.  

“It’s an honor, really,” Holmes said. “(It) is very humbling coming into the team, and I’m stepping into very big shoes to fill. So it’s an honor to kind of work alongside (Bickford) now. And he’s been a mentor for me my whole life, so it’s really great.”

Bickford began coaching Holmes when she was 12 years old. Now, she’ll replace him for the program that had its inaugural season in 2024. 

“I think at a certain point, when you can walk the walk and talk the talk, you lead by example, and (Holmes) can definitely lead by example,” Bickford said. “Such a great example for young women, but she certainly doesn’t cross that line between being uber-competitive and wanting to have a good time, and so I think that she’s perfect for the position.”

Holmes said her perspective on golf has changed as she’s stepped into coaching. She’s been able to more effectively move on from bad shots – which will seemingly help her starting next month as she continues to straddle her roles as coach and amateur competitor. 

“It’s funny, when I started coaching, it kind of changed my relationship with the sport for the better,” Holmes said. “(It) helped me with moving on from bad shots because I realized the way I talk to my players is not the way I talk to myself, which is a silly thing to do. So it’s definitely helped me … and so it’s an honor to come out here and (represent) the team.”