NORWAY — There’s no celebration time for the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School golf team.

Don’t get the Vikings wrong. The first major goal in every team sport is to win every regular-season game, or match, or meet.

Oxford Hills did that. Twelve up, twelve down. It’s a deserved source of pride, both now and when the athletes gather for future reunions and weekend scrambles.

But the Vikings are keenly aware that the success of their season all comes down to Tuesday, when the teams of the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference convene at Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro. The official league title and the all-important qualifications for state team and individual championships will be settled that day.

“The whole package,” sophomore Mac Kim said. “I guess it’s pressure if you start to think about it.”

“That 12-0 record doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” cautioned coach Mike Grace. “They all have to put it together for 18 holes.”

Nine holes certainly haven’t been a problem, either at home — Norway Country Club — or away.

Oxford Hills’ team is eight players strong. Six of them broke 40 this season, including a team low of 141. The Vikings carded a pair of 34s, a 35 and a 38 that day.

“That’s been our challenge the past couple years is do what you do at home on the road,” senior captain Ben Morton said. “Keep it within reason on the away matches.”

Even though the Vikings lost three players to other sports this season, there were high expectations. The team wielded experience from top to bottom coming off a 2012 campaign in which Oxford Hills finished a strong sixth in Class A.

The Vikings flirted with KVAC perfection a year ago, as well. Oxford Hills was 10-0 going into its final match before falling to Brunswick.

“A lot of our players from last year, we all got more seasoned with our games and we were a lot more sharp,” Kim said. “We started in July and we were playing every day.”

Kim was joined by the Vikings’ No. 1 player, Cam Letourneau, and Briana Morris, who is already qualified for the schoolgirl state championship, on the Maine State Golf Association junior tour this past summer.

“And the other kids all played a lot at home,” Grace said. “They love to play golf, and they really like each other.”

Letourneau and Kim each shot 83 at the KVAC qualifier a year ago. Their goal Tuesday is a score in the 70s.

Grace characterized Letourneau as his most consistent player.

“He is probably my straightest hitter,” Grace said. “It’s right down the middle, on in two, one or two putts. That’s the way the game is supposed to be played.”

Morris, a senior, has adjusted nicely to hitting from the same distance as the boys in league competition. Morton is a captain and laid-back leader who keeps the team loose, according to Grace.

The assurance of a perfect season does its share to keep nerves in check, too.

“It hasn’t hit me yet, but I’m still thinking about Tuesday,” Letourneau said. “I’d say we all have to play our game, shoot a good number in the 70s. Hit smart shots. Don’t try to take it all and post the lowest score because that’s not that realistic of a goal. Don’t take risks.”

Chris Burns and Tom Lentz also have been among the Vikings’ top six this season.

Letourneau has been scoreboard watching on the Internet, keeping tabs on fellow Class A contenders. He said that Bangor and Falmouth are consistently in the 160s. Oxford Hills’ average in the mid-150s compares favorably.

Brunswick is expected to challenge along with Bangor at KVACs. Greely will be a factor in the state meet.

“I think we’re pretty confident. We thought undefeated was within reach, and that was the goal,” Morton said. “Now the KVACs are the goal and taking care of that. The score will take of itself.”

So far, it has. Every time.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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