BIDDEFORD — Golf is supposed to be about having fun. But for Biddeford golf team members Jason Vadnais and Nick Conley, losing all but one team match last year wasn’t a whole lot of fun. So this season, the Tigers’ top two players hope to make the game fun again, while also bumping up Biddeford’s team record.
“Last year, everyone thought it was kind of an individual thing. This year, I’m trying to really get it into people’s heads that you really need to get it together,” said Conley, the Tigers’ senior captain and No. 1 player. “You can’t really win as an individual, you have to play as a team to win.”
The Tigers went 1-10 as a team in 2013, which Conley and Vadnais ”“ a junior who is starting the season as Biddeford’s No. 2 player ”“ said was borne from some players not taking their own individual matches seriously enough.
“We need people that really want to work their butts off, and we do have those people,” said Conley. “I think this season is going to be a little different.”
“I think we have the guys for that,” said Vadnais. “They’ll practice on their swings before matches. Driving range, everyone goes and grabs a bucket (of balls).”
Conley and Vadnais don’t want to just point fingers, however, as the duo has set out to improve their own respective games to hopefully lead the team by example.
“You have to play your best so you can show the other guys that it’s serious and how much they have to take it serious,” said Vadnais, who said last year’s disastrous season made him go out and play every day this summer.
“It’s heavy. Being some of the best (players on the team), you have to push your teammates to be up there with you,” said Conley. “I know we’re looked up to. A lot of freshmen come up to me and they ask, ”˜How do you do this? How do you do that?’ I’m going to have to show them how to do that. We don’t have enough coaches on the team to go around showing everyone what to do.”
The Tigers have a lot of returning players from last season, as well as large group of underclassmen that has breathed a renewed interest into the program. Conley and Vadnais said there are no excuses for the team to go 1-10 again, and they said they expect the team to be much better, and even push to qualify for the state team tournament.
“We’re just striving for a better record, lower scores,” said Conley. “It’s all based on hard work.”
— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
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