Oct. 11—VASSALBORO — For the second time in three years, Marc Twombly celebrated a Class A golf state championship.
And this time, his Scarborough High teammates were an integral part of the celebration.
Twombly shot a 1-under 71 Friday at Natanis Golf Course to earn a share of the Class A individual title with Greely’s Joe Hansen, and Scarborough won its first Class A team title since 2017 with a score of 317. Cheverus (323), led by top-five scores from Mick Madden (75) and Mathew Paradis (76), was second, followed by Thornton Academy (324), defending champion Falmouth (331) and Gorham (338).
Falmouth’s Carley Iannetta took the girls’ title with an 82, beating Alexis McCormick of Oxford Hills and Fiona Harmon of Windham by five strokes.
When Twombly won the individual title at 3 under as a sophomore in 2022, Scarborough tied for second, losing by five strokes. This year, with his team also earning hardware, the celebration was even sweeter.
“We’ve had some great teams the past four years, and to finally get it done, it feels so good,” said Twombly. “Everyone just performed when they needed to. I’m so proud of all my guys.”
The only player who matched Twombly was his best friend. Hansen, a Greely junior, started on No. 15 and birdied two of his first three holes, then finished with a birdie on No. 14.
“It’s awesome. My co-medalist is one of my best friends, we’ve known each other since we were 7 years old. It’s great to have this experience with him,” Hansen said.
“I think I played great. A few shots I could have done better, some putts could have dropped, but I had a great round. I had a great day.”
Scarborough had been waiting for a great day at the state championships. The Red Storm brought strong teams to Natanis several times in recent years but struggled to find the winning formula. They were fourth in 2021, second in 2022 and fourth last year.
“It’s a one-shot deal,” Scarborough Coach Mike Murphy said. “We played in tough conditions on Monday to get here, the wind was howling here (today), it comes down to who can execute and keep it together after a bad hole. … It just happened to be our day.”
Scarborough got an 80 from Keenan Buteau, an 81 from Nic Harmon and an 85 from Erik Swenson. Buteau and Swenson are seniors.
“It feels good because we’re seniors now, we had to get it done at some point,” Buteau said. “We took it more seriously this year than last year, because we knew we had to win.”
Murphy sensed a different tone from his team.
“We all felt like we had a few slip through our hands,” he said. “I think there was a chip on their shoulder.”
Having an ace certainly helps, and Twombly showcased a dazzling short game en route to four birdies. He chipped in for birdie on the par-3 fourth, rolled in a 35-footer for par on the ninth, and dropped a birdie putt from roughly 20 feet on the 11th.
Even before he teed off, Twombly had a hunch good things were in store.
“Last night, my dad told me to stop talking, but I had a special feeling,” Twombly said. “I had a feeling about this team. These guys are all hard workers, they put in the work, they don’t give up. That’s what you need.”
He was the leader in the clubhouse for the individual title until Hansen came in moments later with the same score.
“That’s my best friend,” Twombly said. “If I’m going to tie anyone, that’s the person I want to tie.”
Hansen made a 30-foot putt for birdie to start his day on the 15th, and he hit the pin with his approach on the 17th en route to birdie. He didn’t make a birdie again until the 14th.
“I knew I needed to make a putt; I didn’t know if it was for the win or for the tie,” he said. “I knew it was Marc. I did (make the putt). … It was a great experience.”
Madden and defending champion Will Farschon of Brunswick tied for third at 3 over, while Paradis notched three straight birdies en route to finishing fifth at 4 over. Thornton’s Parker Snell and Biddeford’s Wyatt Labonte tied for sixth at 7 over, and Falmouth’s Dante Iannetta, Scarborough’s Buteau and Messalonskee’s Greyson Dooley tied for eighth at 8 over.
Like the Scarborough team, Carley Iannetta was looking to get over the hump. The Falmouth senior was fourth in 2022 and third last year, but success on the greens helped her finish comfortably ahead.
“It’s great. I’ve been playing for three years here for states and I’ve always been close. This year, I got it done, somehow,” she said. “It just worked out.”
Iannetta acknowledged some pressure going into her final tournament, but a long par putt on the third hole and a birdie on the 13th helped her settle down.
“It was definitely on my mind. Today, I tried to not totally think about that,” she said. “I was just like ‘It’s my last round of high school golf, let’s try to have fun today.”
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