GRAY – Aaron Talon likes to have answers.

The golfers on his team like for him to have answers.

But this season, Talon’s been a bit confused. Heading into conference tournament season, Talon has no idea what to expect, what score to shoot for, and which other schools he needs to monitor.

“The kids keep asking me all these questions,” Gray-New Gloucester coach Aaron Talon said. “‘Who are the teams to beat up there?’ ‘Who are the teams to beat?’ and ‘What do you know?’ I answer every single one with a shrug of my shoulders. I don’t know.”

Because of a quirk in the Maine Principals’ Association classification system that assigns schools to levels based on enrollment figures, Gray-New Gloucester, a Class B school and a member of the Western Maine Conference, surpassed the threshold to become a Class A school in golf, beginning in 2007.

“Their enrollment grew to the point that they were up in that category,” MPA Executive Director Dick Durost said. “That’s what we use to determine things, and we don’t let people petition down to stay below that level.”

The cycles run for two years, and Talon said he’s been told his team will return to Class B next season, though that data is still being processed by the MPA, and the committee won’t officially vote on that information until next spring.

“The classification committee will meet in a month or two, and we’ll collect the data that is given to the state the preceding April first,” Durost said. “The committee will start looking at projected classifications in every sport, and they look at where the line was drawn before … This year, the committee will make a decision that will affect the 09-10 and 10-11 seasons, and we’re in the process of putting that all together. When a school is in danger of moving up or down, they are notified, they are given the opportunity to respond to it, and the committee makes its decision.”

Meanwhile, the Patriots’ golf team has been in limbo. The players competed last year in the WMC qualifying tournament, a two-day event, and finished second. But, as the only Class A team in the event, their place at the Class A state tournament was secured.

This year, the MPA told Gray-New Gloucester there would be no free pass, and that the team needed to qualify with other Class A schools.

“There was a time, we were nervous,” Talon said. “We didn’t know if we’d be able to find a place to play. But the KVAC welcomed us with open arms.”

So, having never competed with or against a single KVAC school, nor on any KVAC home course, the Patriots will tee it up Tuesday at the conference’s one-day qualifier at Natanis Golf Club in Vassalboro.

“When we go to the Western Maine Conference tournament, we know who the big teams are, and I know roughly what our score needs to be for us to compete,” Talon said. “We’re going up to this thing blind to what’s going on. I still don’t know how many teams are going to qualify up there.”

The shift will allow at least an extra player or two qualify for the state individual tournament. Meanwhile, Gray-New Gloucester has played one practice round at Natanis, that coming Saturday.

As for expectations?

Talon just shrugged his shoulders – again.

“We have four seniors and a junior in our top five,” Talon said. “They know what it’s like to play tournament golf. Hopefully that will help us out. If we go up there and shoot two scores in the mid-70s and two scores in the mid-80s, hopefully that will be enough.”