Houlton Pioneer TimesPhoto/Gloria Austin
STATE CHAMPS — Members of the Houlton golf team pose with their state championship trophy Monday at the high school gymnasium. Team members are, front from left, Ethan Quint, Mike Ring, Logan Shaffer, Isaac Brown, Gaige Flewelling and Eric Cone; and back, Ben Flewelling, Zach Ritchie, Ian Gervais, Nick Chase and Parker Sanderson.
By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
NATANIS — Nick Chase and Ian Gervais played the Natanis course last year when the Houlton Shiretowners were Class B state finalist. This year, the junior duo, along with sophomore Logan Shaffer led the Class C Shiretowners to their second state golf title in the last four years.
Chase, Gervais and Shaffer all shot six-over-par for a score of 78 last Saturday at Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro.
“When the scores started coming in, we knew we had a shot,” said Houlton coach Bruce Nason. “Then when Gaige [Flewelling] came in with his score, I knew we had it.”
Flewelling finished with an 84 and Ethan Quint, who had a tough day, scored a 98 for Houlton’s final team score of 318, as the best four of five individual scores tally for the total.
“It takes a team effort to win,” Nason said.
Houlton narrowly defeated Saint Dominic, which finished with a score of 322 for second, followed by North Yarmouth Academy 324, Winthrop 334, Madison 340, Penobscot Valley 346, George Stevens Academy 366, Livermore Falls 372, Central Aroostook 374, Calais 381, Greenville 382, Deer Isle-Stonington 385, Jonesport-Beals 392 and Fort Fairfield 421.
Turning in the lowest score in Class C was Seth Sweet of Madison with a 69. In Classes A and B, which played on the Tomahawk Course, York’s Craig Decato had the lowest individual score with a 74.
The Shires shot a team score of 335 to place first last week in the Regionals at JaTo Highlands in Lincoln, but coach Nason said the difference in scoring came down to buckling down.
“We went down Thursday and the kids played a practice round to learn the course since only one had played that course previously,” said Nason. “Friday, we played the course and hit golf balls at the range and worked on mechanics.”
Saturday morning the Shires hit the course and Nason said they played “outstanding.”
The day’s weather started out fine, but Nason said as the day wore on “it started getting really windy,” with gusts of 20 to 25 miles per hour by the time the Shires were playing the back nine.
“The conditions got really tough,” he added. “Really bad.”
Even though only five players of the 11-man team went to the states, Nason stressed it takes a team effort throughout the season to reach the state qualifier and state meet.
“It’s a perfect example of an individual sport being team oriented,” he explained. “Everyone on the team stepped up this year and improved tremendously.”
Nason noted that Gervais summed it up when he said, “No one expected this of us.”
“We didn’t expect this,” added Nason. “We went down there to play well and do the best we could.”
Class C individual results are as follows:
St. Dominic: Dylan Rodrigue 77, Chris Bryant 81, Joe Bryant 81, Danny Nadeau 83, Cody Rodrigue 94. North Yarmouth Academy: Tim Millett 76, Nick Luce 78, Christopher Leblanc 84, Harry Fast 86, Chris Whiting 91.
Winthrop: Andy Emery 78, Tyler Foster 81, Glen Tricario 85, Easton Morang 90.
Madison: Seth Sweet 69, Zack Sweet 77, Constantine Braeunig 85, Brad Parker 109, Levi Richardson 115.
Penobscot Valley: Brody Libby 80, Marshall Foster 85, Wyatt Foster 88, Adam Nickerson 93, Logan Jipson 118.
George Stevens Academy: Storme Macomber 81, Jesse Dow 89, Jasper Adams 95, David Bertrand 101, Nick Dillon 104.
Livermore Falls: Derek Castonguay 86, Brain Maurais 93, Jimmy Seitz 96, Evan Castonguay 97, Mike Anctil 98.
Central Aroostook: Kaine Kingsbury 83, Will Delong 92, Logan McLaughlin 93, Abe Brewer 106, Tim Lawrence 155.
Calais: Stephan Smith 84, Dustin Goodwin 90, Dylan Carter 101, Justin Hallowell 106, Mark Moody 107.
Greenville: George Billing 87, Steve Bilodeau 96, Kevin Stafford 98, Tony DiAngelo 101, Sarah Lavigne 144.
DI-Stonington: Sam Grindle 75, Connor Morey 92, Nick Eaton 108, Drew Siebert 110, Jake Starkey 124.
Jonesport-Beals: Thomas Beal 87, Dimitri Monroe 90, Cameron Farris 107, Sid Look 108, Zack Geel 134.
Fort Fairfield: Joshua Churchill 102, Tyler Churchill 104, William Weissman 105, Landon Towle 110, Ian Girvan 114.
