Gray-New Gloucester’s veteran players have helped the Patriots have an outstanding golf season and earn a state championship berth
Gray-NG and the rest of Class B will play for state titles Friday on the Tomahawk course at Natanis Golf Club.
The Class A and Class C state championships, scheduled for Saturday at Natanis, have been moved to Monday because of rain in Saturday’s forecast.
“In our top seven players, we have five seniors that were contributing to varsity this year,” Patriots coach Wayne Martin said. “We have a total of seven seniors in the program.”
Seniors who competed at the Western Maine Conference’s Class B qualifier were Zach Stone, Jake Maschino, Marco Profenno, Noah Schaeffer and Zach Pelletier.
Martin said the seniors have learned from players on previous teams how to act on the golf course, including golf etiquette, how to keep score and learn the rules.
Martin said he believes this is the first time Gray-New Gloucester has made the state championships as a team since the program became a varsity sport in 2001. The Patriots nearly made it in 2016.
They finished third at last week’s WMC qualifier, beating York by one stroke to nab the final spot for state tournament.
Brothers Henry and Zach Stone are the Patriots’ top two golfers this season. Henry, a 13-year-old freshman (having skipped fourth grade), finished second at the WMC’s Class B qualifier by shooting a 78. Zach Stone shot an 87. They were Gray-New Gloucester’s top two scorers. Profenno’s 91 and Maschino’s 94 were the other two scores used for the Patriots’ score of 350.
“He has come on real strong the last two weeks,” Martin said of Henry. “At the beginning of the season, we played him around number four or number three spot, and the last couple of weeks he has been shooting really low scores, and we have moved up to number two.
“Him and his brother have been going back and forth. Zach is the number one player this year; he’s been averaging a 39 this season. Henry is averaging a 41.”
Zach Stone’s senior season includes a low score of 34.
The teams to beat in Class B finished ahead of Gray-New Gloucester at the qualifier: Freeport (332) and Yarmouth (339).
“You got your regulars,” Martin said. “Freeport is looking very strong, and Yarmouth can shoot a low score any day. They have leadership, kids that have been there, and Sebastien Martinez from Yarmouth, Andrew Cheevers from Yarmouth, and Eli Spaulding from Freeport. I can see those two teams doing very well on Friday.”
Nokomis is another team contending for a state championship. They won the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference’s Class B qualifier Tuesday with a 329. Other teams from the KVAC that qualified were Cony (336), Lawrence (336) and Gardiner (342). Teams coming from the Penobscot Valley Conference are Presque Isle (338), Mount Desert Island (349) and Caribou (355).
The Patriots hope to shoot better than 62-over par, which they did at the qualifier.
“Before knowing we had qualified, some of the kids came in a little bit disappointed; they were feeling a little bit down,” Martin said. “I told them, ‘Hey, we just need to be in the top three to qualify.’ We just edged out York by one stroke.”
Spaulding was the low medalist at the WMC qualifier, shooting an even-par 72. He’s the two-time defending individual Class B state champion.
“It’s so hard to root against that kid,” Martin said of Spaulding. “He’s a nice kid and you always watch him cheer for his teammates on the course. The other day, Zach Stone played with him, and (Spaulding) was the first kid to come up to me and tell me how much he enjoyed playing with Zach. He’s very gracious, very humble and he deserves everything he gets.”
Another player to watch is Gardiner’s Jack Quinn. The sophomore finished one shot behind Spaulding at last year’s state championship. Quinn shot a 74 at the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference’s Class B qualifier, tying for second with Nokomis’ SJ Welch. Leavitt’s Jade Haylock was the low medalist with a 5-under 67.
Nate Baker of Old Town was the low medalist at the PVC qualifier.
Other area boys players competing at the state tournament Friday are Alex Mains and Aidan Webb of Poland and AJ Davis of Leavitt.
Haylock will go for her third straight Class B girls individual state championship. Lawrence’s Elizabeth Holden shot a 86 at the KVAC qualifier, while Charlotte Blanchard of Old Town had a 90 at the PVC qualifier.
CLASS A, C MOVED
The Maine Principals’ Association announced Thursday that the Class A and Class C state championships have been moved from Saturday to Monday.
Class A will tee off on the Tomahawk course at 10 a.m., and Class C begins at 11 a.m. on the Arrowhead course.
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