Elmer Lawson won his third Dolphin Mini Golf tournament championship Sept. 10 carding a 350 score in the 10-round tournament. Lawson, 57, also won the tournament in 2000 and 2012. The Dolphin Mini Golf Course in Boothbay has changed since Lawson’s last win. This season a new carpet was installed. “I think that played to my advantage because the shots went straighter,” Lawson said. This year’s tournament attracted 19 competitors, many who compete professionally on the miniature golf tour.    Lawson, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, met Lee Stoddard in 1998 when they both played professional tournaments in Florida. “Lee was a big player on the national level. He’d tell us to come here and play,” Lawson said.  “And it’s one of the best courses we play.”   Stoddard built the course in 1991, and later added an ice cream shop and museum. The course also hosted the 2008 U.S. Open championship.    This is the tournament’s 30th year. The tournament continued without interruption during the coronavirus pandemic. Katrina Dunsmore finished fourth in last year’s tournament and is Stoddard’s daughter. She explained the tournament continued for one simple reason. “The players wouldn’t let us cancel,” she said. “Players return every year and it’s like a family. It’s great to see everybody when they come back.”   Lawson collected the $500 first prize. Kyle Courcy of Maine finished second shooting a 364 and claimed the $300 second prize. Pat Sherdian of Connecticut shot 365 and won the $200 third prize. Eric Smith of Bath finished 13th, but he still left with a couple of checks. He recorded the first hole-in-one on the fifteenth. He also aced the 18th in a post-tournament hole-in-one challenge.   Smith plays the course frequently, but did not expect to make the $100 putts. “I don’t know why I made them. I guess it was the heat of the moment,” he said.   Smith not only enjoys playing, he also likes the course built by Lee Stoddard. “The course has character and I really like playing here,” he said.    Since Lee Stoddard’s death, the tournament has raised funds for a college scholarship in his name. Stoddard was a carpenter who learned his trade at Southern Maine Technical College in South Portland. A scholarship is awarded each year to a local student studying carpentry at SMTC.