Golf state championships can be a toss-up

Lewiston’s Gavin Conkhite tees off at Fox Ridge Golf Club in Auburn in a match against Edward Little in August. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)

Regular-season results are a predictor of championship outcomes but far from a guarantee when it comes to Maine’s high school golf team championships.

“If you know anything about golf, it’s how you shoot that day,” Mt. Ararat coach Gerry Caron said. “It’s hard to predict how things will go, but I definitely think we have what it takes to win.”

Mt. Ararat, a veteran team, won Tuesday’s KVAC championship held at Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro with a four-person score of 318 in cold, wet conditions.

Natanis is the site for Saturday’s state championships. The Class A and B tournament will be contested at the longer Tomahawk layout (6,647 yards from the black tees). Class C will be played on the Arrowhead course (6,338 yards). Both are par 72 courses.

The defending champions are Scarborough in Class A, Cape Elizabeth in Class B, and Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln in Class C.

Scarborough won Monday’s SMAA qualifier, also held at Natanis, with a 322 score, followed closely by Thornton Academy (324) and Falmouth (326). Bonny Eagle, Greely and Gorham also qualified for the team competition, Gorham getting in on a tie-breaker over Portland.

Surprisingly left out was Cheverus, the 2017 Class A runner-up. The Stags placed ninth.

Mt. Ararat is a team on a mission, Caron said. Its top four of junior Caleb Manuel and seniors Cade Charron, Will Kavanaugh and Ben Hickson played in 2016 when the team lost the title on a fifth-score tie-breaker to Gorham.

“We won the KVAC, then the (league) shootout in Rockland, and then the qualifier. After each one the theme was, ‘We’re not done yet,’” Caron said.

Camden Hills finished second in the KVAC qualifier with a 322 score led by three-time Class A individual champ Cole Anderson’s 3-under 69.

Edward Little and Lewiston also qualified.

In Class B, York won Wednesday’s WMC qualifier at Willowdale Golf Club in Scarborough with a score of 321. The Wildcats had five players shoot 85 or better, led by Tyler Rivers’ 75 to easily beat Cape Elizabeth (345) and Freeport (346).

Two KVAC teams look capable of contending. Medomak Valley won the league’s shootout with its best score of season to gain the league’s automatic bid. At Tuesday’s league qualifier, Gardiner won by 29 strokes.

Mattanawcook has won three straight Class C titles but four-time individual champ Logan Thompson has graduated and Houlton won the PVC qualifier by 20 strokes over Orono, with the defending champs in third.

“Houlton is the team to beat,” Mattanawcook coach Ryan Libby said. “They have five really decent golfers averaging in the 40s for nine holes.”

Winthrop was the lowest-scoring Class C team in the Mountain Valley Conference qualifier.

St. Dom’s also made it to the state tournament by winning the Class C flight at the Western Maine Conference qualifier earlier this week.

The individual championships will be held next Saturday, Oct. 13, also at Natanis. Anderson of Camden Hills will try to become the first player to win four Class A titles.