Golf: Brunswick, Nokomis rise to top, secure KVAC titles

VASSALBORO — Brunswick golf coach Mike Routhier may have called it a “tuneup,” but the Dragons sure didn’t treat it that way.

Brunswick, which had previously qualified for the Class A championships, put in some extra credit Tuesday with a dominant showing at the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A event under warm, sunny skies at Natanis Golf Club’s Tomahawk course.

Playing in temperatures more suited for July than October, the Dragons shot 311 to finish well ahead of Messalonskee (332), Hampden Academy (335) and Edward Little (331). Those schools also qualified for the Class A championships, which are set for Saturday at Natanis.

Brunswick won the KVAC Shootout last weekend to secure its trip to states.

In KVAC B, Nokomis prevailed with a 329 on the Arrowhead course to qualify for the Class B meet Friday at Natanis. Cony (336), Lawrence (336) and Gardiner (342) also advanced to the state final.

Brunswick — which graduated just one golfer from a team that won last year’s Class A title — was pretty much in cruise control Tuesday. Will Farschon, Charlie Austin and Brayden Grant all shot a 76 for a three-way tie for third overall. No. 4 golfer Ayden Marini added an 83 on the par-72 course to tie for eighth with Skowhegan’s Eddie Goff and Edward Little’s Joey Samson. Messalonskee golfer Jacob Moody shot a 71 to earn KVAC A medalist honors.

“It’s more of a tuneup for us for Saturday,” Brunswick coach Mike Routhier said. “They (Farschon, Austin and Grant) have been playing pretty well down the stretch, so we’ll need them to be a contender on Saturday.

“We’ve got some depth this year. It takes some pressure off the top guys if you have some guys toward the end of the order that can come in with some decent scores. You just go out and play and you don’t have to worry about them being too overaggressive.”

Farschon was mostly satisfied with his outing.

Gardiner’s Austin Gould hits out of a ninth-hole bunker during the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference golf qualifier Tuesday at Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

“I was just kinda plugging along, didn’t make too many mistakes,” he said. “I only had one lost ball on 18, which was just an errant drive. This was a good momentum-building day that I think we can build on for Saturday.”

For Messalonskee, Donovan Hermann (86), Liam McFadden (87) and Gavin Jackson (89) also had strong days.

Sam Betz led Mt. Ararat with an 85, followed by Isaac Wheeler with an 87. The Eagles shot 380 as a team.

In Class B, SJ Welch (74) and Alex Grant (77) paced Nokomis, which also received an 84 from Caden Chretien and a 94 from Owen Buck.

“It was a great effort today,” said Nokomis coach Matt Brown, whose team went undefeated during the regular season. “I wasn’t sure how we were going to play — we had a couple of kids that weren’t feeling well today — but the kids grinded it out.

“(Welch and Grant) have been leading the way the whole season and they’re really the leaders of our team. We’re looking forward to Friday, and we can’t wait to play.”

Welch’s score tied for second with Gardiner’s Jack Quinn. Leavitt’s Jade Haylock shot a 67. Haylock won last year’s Class B individual girls championship and placed third at this year’s Maine Women’s Amateur tourney.

Quinn’s 74 was followed by teammates Austin Gould (78), Brady Peacock (91) and Logan Cote (99).

Messalonskee’s Garrett Giguere watches his shot during the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference golf qualifier Tuesday at Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

“If you double it (the scores), we’ve been closer to something like 10-15 strokes higher all year long,” said Gardiner coach Ryan Low, referring to the regular season’s nine-hole matches compared with Tuesday’s 18. “The kids did really well at the (nine-hole) qualifier, we shot 170, so we’re trending in the right direction and peaking at the right time for sure.”

Quinn was rather modest about his performance.

“I played OK,” the sophomore said. “It was kinda scratchy, but I had six or seven birdies and a few bogies. I scrapped around quite a few birdies, so I kinda came in clutch for that. … The first match we played (this season), we shot 170, and then after that it just kinda went downhill until a couple weeks ago. Ever since the shootout, it’s just gotten better and better.”

Alex Fournier’s 81 lead Cony, whose balanced approach paid off with strong scores from Oliver Rodrigue (82), Matt Boston (85) and Zach Waddell (88).

“This year’s team has been absolutely awesome,” Rams coach Shawn Johnson said. “I was hoping for us and expecting us to do really well.

“Depth made a huge difference. Without that depth, we would be where we are.”

Matt Quigley led Lawrence with a 75, followed by teammates Elizabeth Holden (86), Zachary Hill (86) and Jacob Frazee (86).

Connor Brown led Erskine Academy with an 88.