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OAKLAND — The best golfer on the course during the final round of the Maine Amateur Championship wasn’t playing. But Cole Anderson may have been the most nervous.

“This is more stressful than playing,” Anderson said as he walked off the 13th green at Waterville Country Club, with Kellen Adickes’ bag slung over his shoulders.

Anderson is just starting his professional golf career after completing a strong collegiate run at Florida State. The Camden native won this tournament in 2019 and again in 2020, and came within a shot of winning it in 2018. Visiting home on a break between pro tournaments, Anderson caddied for Adickes in Thursday’s final round as a favor to a friend. When Adickes called him late Wednesday afternoon and made the request, Anderson didn’t hesitate. Of course, he said. Let’s see if we can make a little run.

“Kellen and I have known each other for a while. Whenever I’ve been in town, we’ll play golf, and I talk to him a lot throughout the year,” Anderson said.

Adickes finished the three-day tournament at plus-4, good for sixth place overall and the Junior division title. Adickes, who graduated from Lincoln Academy last month and will continue his golf career in the fall at Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida, knew he hit the caddie jackpot.

“It’s been good to have a mentor like that for basically my whole career. I think I was 6 when I met Cole. Ever since then, we’ve played golf together and I’ve tried to follow his footsteps the best I could,” Adickes said. “We’re both on the same journey, I think. It’s a pleasure to be around him… I couldn’t be more thankful to him for doing the loop.”

A good caddie is a coach, a confidant and a pep talker. Anderson was all of that to Adickes. Hole after hole, shot after shot, Anderson was Adickes’ trusted lieutenant. Before so many putts, Anderson got into a crouch on the green and studied the line as if he was taking the shot himself. Did the wind shift? How does that green break? Anderson knew.

“I think it helps with clarity of the shots, having a really clear plan of what you’re trying to do. He’s also really eager to learn how somebody that played high-level college golf and is now playing professional golf, what the thought process is and how we go about planning out our shots, as opposed to the flag is 135 yards away, hit it there,” Anderson said.

Often, the pair saw the same thing, Adickes said. When they didn’t, Adickes had to make a decision. Does he trust his gut, or Anderson’s? Anderson can offer all the advice in the world, but it’s him who has to take the shot.

“There’s that aspect of, I know my game the best, and balancing that I don’t think was much of an issue,” Adickes said.

That’s what tied Anderson’s stomach in knots. He knew what he would do, but in this round, he didn’t have to do it. Hence the stress.

On hole No. 8, Adickes had a 12-foot putt for par. It hit the lip and spun away from the hole instead of in. Anderson had the bigger reaction, his knees buckling when the ball didn’t fall.

“I like to be in control, so this is a little bit out of my comfort zone. I’m not the one hitting the shot. But we’re all like that. We all trust ourselves more than anyone else,” he said. “Would I rather be hitting all the shots? Of course, but that’s the nature of caddying for somebody else. You give them all the information you can, and hopefully they’re able to execute the golf shot.”

Anderson left Thursday’s side hustle convinced Adickes has what it takes to join him on the list of Maine Amateur champions. Maybe more than once — like himself, Caleb Manuel (who won three in a row from 2021-23 before going pro) and Eli Spaulding, who claimed the title Thursday to become a back-to-back winner.

“He’s got tons of potential, and I really do think he’s going to win one of these things soon. It’s just a matter of figuring out how to get the job done. That’s the biggest hurdle,” Anderson said. “Once you’ve done it once — you’ve seen it with me, Caleb, and Eli, once you do it the first time, you’re able to do it again.”

To Adickes, getting Anderson to caddy in the final round was like getting a four-and-a-half-hour golf lesson from one of the best in the state. That will help as he moves on to the college game and prepares to make a run at the Maine Amateur crown next summer.

“I played golf with him at Samoset the other day, and he shot a very ho-hum 29 on the front nine. Watching him hit some golf shots, I was like, yeah, I can hit that, I just don’t really feel like standing up in a golf tournament and hitting that shot because I haven’t hit it enough. It’s all the motivation to keep working and getting better,” Adickes said.

Anderson may have felt stress schlepping Adickes’ clubs across Waterville Country Club, but he also was paying it forward, and that will be more apparent with every round Adickes plays from this point on.