KVAC

Two teams that don’t even play each other during the regular season will likely duke it out for the top spot. Lewiston and Mt. Blue both return a solid core of golfers and are looking for undefeated seasons. The Blue Devils turned heads with a fourth-place finish at last year’s state tournament and are hungry for more.

Edward Little, Oxford Hills and Leavitt, which all play in Lewiston’s quadrant of teams within the conference, are going to struggle to compete with Lewiston, but among themselves should be competitive.

Brunswick is traditionally strong in KVAC-A competition, and Waterville will have Joe Flowers to anchor its team.

In KVAC-B, Oak Hill has a tough schedule, but should benefit from some experience returning from last season. Maranacook will be a late-season bloomer and should battle with the Raiders pretty hard. Gardiner, led by Ryan Gay, Lincoln Academy and Winslow are also expected to be tough.

WMC

Poland isn’t going to settle for almost this time. With a bevy of returning players, mostly seniors, the time is now for the Knights. Playing in a tough conference, the goal is going to be finishing third or better in the tournament to qualify for the Class B state team tourney. Wells, York, Lake Region, Falmouth and Cape Elizabeth are likely to be the top contenders for Poland.

St. Dom’s lost its top two, and should be young, but a return to .500 or better isn’t out of the question. The Saints did nearly knock Poland off last season.

Fryeburg will be young and will look to build this season.

Gray-New Gloucester is changing divisions this year and will face some tougher regular-season competition. A strong home-course advantage will play well for the Patriots.

MVC

The Telstar Rebels are still riding a high from last year’s Class C championship run, and with only their No. 4 golfer missing from last season, they have to be considered the favorites to repeat. The Rebels’ biggest challenge may come at the conference level this season, from a tough Mountain Valley team that features a number of returning seniors hungry to avenge a loss in the MVC final last year to Telstar.

Also in the MVC, Jay and Madison had to fold their teams this season, eliminating the need for divisions within the conference. Now, any team can play another.

Winthrop has a solid team this season, but will be a young squad. Monmouth is young and will also be looking ahead to gaining experience.

EWC

Buckfield has had a stranglehold on this four-team conference for so long. But it will be interesting now, with one key golfer missing, if the others can make a run. Rangeley is young, but the Lakers were young last year, too, and those younger golfers will be one year better. Greenville and Forest Hills may not be as deep as Buckfield, but their top-end talent will be enough to remain competitive within the conference.

– Justin Pelletier