Bill McCarthy, the Mattanawcook Academy athletic director, knows Logan Thompson’s primary sport is golf.

After all, the slender junior won his third straight Class C championship this fall with a 5-under-par 67. Considering that Thompson beat his closest challenger by eight strokes and is determined to keep improving, he’s a good bet to become Maine’s first four-time boys’ golf champion.

Logan Thompson won the Maine Junior Golf Championship by five shots in July and was equally impressive in both the team and individual state tournaments in October. Carl D. Walsh/Staff Photographer

“It just raises some expectations and the goals are going to be higher for myself, and I just have to work harder to try to reach those,” Thompson said.

But when McCarthy thinks about Thompson’s ability to perform in the clutch, he remembers a moment in Thompson’s freshman season of basketball. “I was an assistant coach then,” McCarthy said. “For a variety of reasons, our varsity team was without several starters. We were in a close game and we drew up a play and asked, ‘who wants to shoot it?'”

All the older players deferred. Thompson, at the time 5-foot-3 and barely 90 pounds, piped up.

“Logan said, ‘I’ll shoot it,'” McCarthy said. “He got fouled before he could get the shot off, but it just shows what he’s made of. He’s just so calm in pressure situations.”

Thompson played with extreme confidence this fall. He shot a 4-under 68 to lead Mattanawcook to its second straight Class C team title, then returned to the Arrowhead course at Natanis the following Saturday and went one stroke lower.

“I never try to get too high or too low. I just try to stay even-keeled,” Thompson said. “It helps when things aren’t going well that you can stay calm, and then when things are going right, you can build confidence.”

For his championship efforts, as well as an undefeated regular-season in which he posted a nine-hole scoring average of 35.6, Thompson is the Maine Sunday Telegram Boys’ Golfer of the Year.

Thompson was the only golfer to break par in either the team or individual state tournaments. He played the shorter of the 18-hole courses at Natanis while the Class A and B players were on the longer Tomahawk layout, but consider this: Playing against the best junior golfers in Maine this summer, including Class A champion Cole Anderson of Camden Hills, Thompson won the Maine Junior Championship by five strokes.

“He’s methodical,” said Mattanawcook Coach Ryan Libby. “He’s like a machine. He hits it down the middle, knocks it on the green and usually has a birdie putt. If he makes it, he takes his birdie, and if not, he two-putts for par.”

Thompson, who is now 5-9 and 125 pounds, is also hitting it longer – about 40 yards further off the tee than he did as a freshman – without losing any of his vaunted accuracy. That’s allowed him to become strategically aggressive.

“Accuracy is a strength,” Thompson said. “I’ve worked really hard to be able to hit the ball straight. A big thing is you have to stay out of trouble the best you can.”

Thompson is still a three-sport athlete – he starts as an outfielder in baseball – but is intent on raising his profile this summer by playing in more junior tournaments, both in Maine and in American Junior Golf Association events.

“One of my goals for right now is to try to get to a Division I college and play on a golf team,” Thompson said. “I’ve gotten a few letters from some colleges, no Division I colleges yet, and I’ll have to work on my game.”

Along the way, hopefully win his fourth individual championship.

“He’s accomplished a lot, so I kept expecting a little bit of a letdown,” Libby said, “but he’s just relentless. I think next year he’ll be just as focused and he’ll want to end his career with people saying he’s the best golfer to come through this part of the state.”

Telegram All-State team

Cole Anderson, Camden Hills sophomore: The 2015 Telegram Player of the Year, he won his second consecutive Class A title with a 1-over 73.

Anthony Burnham, Scarborough sophomore: Burnham shot a team-low 76 to help the Red Storm place fourth in Class A, then tied for third in the Class A individual championship with a 75. Burnham was a first-team All-SMAA Northern Division pick.

Eric Dugas, Maine Central Institute senior: Dugas won the Class B title by 4 strokes with a 1-over 73. His round of 74 was the best score during the Class B team competition.

Reed Foehl, Portland junior: He placed sixth in the Class A individual championship with a 77 and was a first-team All-SMAA Northern Division choice.

Erin Holmes, Greely senior: Holmes tied Bailey Plourde for the girls’ individual championship with a 73, making a birdie on the final hole. The state runner-up as a junior, Holmes helped Greely finish fifth in Class A.

Caleb Manuel, Mt. Ararat freshman: Manuel led the Eagles to a Class A runner-up finish with a 73, then backed that up with 3-over 75 to tie for third in the state individual championship.

Bailey Plourde, Lincoln Academy senior: The Maine Sunday Telegram girls’ golfer of the year, she birdied the final hole to tie Erin Holmes of Greely for the girls’ championship. It was Plourde’s second straight and third overall; she finished second as a sophomore. Plourde also won the Maine Junior title this summer.

Lucas Roop, Gorham junior: The Class A runner-up with a 74, Roop shot a 79 during the team championship to help the Rams nip Mt. Ararat in a tiebreaker for the Class A title.

Lauren Schonewolf, Cape Elizabeth senior: She tied for fourth in the individual championship with a 78 and helped the Capers to a Class B runner-up finish with a 79.

Logan Thompson, Mattanawcook Academy junior: The Maine Sunday Telegram boys’ golfer of the year won his third straight Class C title with a 5-under 67. The week before, he shot a 68 to lead the Lynx to a second straight team title. Thompson was the Maine Junior champion this summer and is a three-time all-state selection.

Coach of the Year

Mark Bailey, Erskine Academy: Bailey’s team had four players shoot 80 or better to win the Class B title by eight strokes over defending champion Cape Elizabeth. It was Erskine’s first golf championship.

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