With the high school golf conference qualifiers around the corner, teams have already starting to prepare for the postseason.

With both the KVAC and MVC qualifiers being held at Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro, teams are taking trips on Saturdays to get the acquainted with the two courses — Tomahawk and Arrowhead — before the competitions begin.

The course welcomes high school teams with open arms for practice rounds, offering discounts to play 18 holes for $20. For 18 holes, green fees on Arrowhead are usually $37, and $47 on Tomahawk.

“When we go over there on Saturday, it only costs the kids twenty dollars for a chance to play a pretty darn good golf course,” Winthrop coach Lonney Steeves said. “Natainis is a heck of a golf course. The actually championships, is thirty dollars, which is also a nice price. I know our school picks up that price, but getting the kids on the golf course is the most important thing.”

Last season, Winthrop played six practice rounds throughout the season, in addition to the team and individual state championships.

The course knows it will get calls from plenty of coaches in September.

“We have done it every Saturday since the beginning of the season,” St. Dominic Academy coach Michael Lacombe said. “So we already had two practice rounds up at Natanis and we couldn’t do the last two because of some tournaments up at Natanis on Saturdays. We have another tee time this Saturday and the following Saturday as well to prepare for states. That’s been an ongoing tradition at St. Dom’s.”

Edward Little will make one practice round trip.

“Last year, we went up the Saturday before the qualifier and played 18 holes on Tomahawk, which we played (in the qualifier),” EL coach Chris Merrill said. “This year, we are going to do the same thing on the Saturday before and play Arrowhead this year because that’s the course we have this year for the qualifier.”

Regular season matches are only nine holes, but the qualifiers and the state championships are 18 holes, so the practice rounds also allow kids to prepare for the grind of a four- to five-hour round.

“There’s a huge difference from walking nine holes over a course of a two-hour period. Now you are making it 18 holes, and it’s going to be close to four-and-half, five hours,” Steeves said.

Steeves tells his kids, if they can without holding up other golfers,  to take a break after the 14th hole to re-energize themselves. He feels players can start losing their mental focus if they haven’t experience playing 18-holes in a while.

Lacombe said it’s important to get the lay of the land.

“Natanis is a different course than we play,” Lacombe said. “Of course with all the state championships being held up there, it’s our benefit to get up there and practice as much as we can on a different layout. I think it benefits the athletes to get up there.”

Merrill said it’s going to be a big help because he only has a few kids that have played up there before. He said it will be nice for kids to visualize and hit shots before the competition rounds rounds begin in October.

MVC teams welcoming aboard kids from other schools to play and practice

Both Winthrop and St. Dom’s each have kids from other MVC schools tagging along with them this season as individuals.

With Monmouth not having a team, freshmen Trevor Flanagan and sophomore Ethan Thombs are with the Winthrop golf team. Valerie Doucette of Lisbon High School plays with the St. Dom’s golf team. While they don’t play in team matches, they do play for themselves as they prepare for the individual state championship.

“Both guys go out and compete every night,” Steeves said. “The hard thing for them is not having a team competition every night, so the whole season comes down to the qualifier over at Natanis. It comes down to that, it’s their season that day to be able to qualify for the state championship.

Flanagan has played golf a bit before high school, while Thombs doesn’t have much experience. Thombs has been getting private lessons this year, but Steeves said both have improved since the beginning of the year.

Doucette has experience playing with the other girls on the St. Dom’s team.

“When she came up, she was really familiar with the girls throughout the years,” Lacombe said. “I think she played with the Maine Premier Golf along with Janelle (Bryant) and Markella (Gammaitoni).

Lacombe said she’s 4-0 in her matches so far this season.

“She’s really one of our own,” Lacombe said. “She’s apart of our St. Dom’s family here and I treat her as one of my own. I go out there and coach her like I do with all the others and practice with her. She’s at all of our practices and she’s treated like any other team member.”

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