PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — After assisting Peter Coffin last fall, Matt Madore has been elevated to head coach of the Wildcat golf team and looks forward to guiding the squad this fall.
Madore, who serves as the director of golf/general manager at Presque Isle Country Club, took over after Coffin stepped down from the coaching position. Madore graduated from Presque Isle High School and played golf for the Wildcats in the early 1990s, capping his career with a runner-up finish in the Class A state individual tournament.
Madore turned professional in 1997 and served as a club pro and teaching professional from 1997-2010, then served as a teaching assistant for a pair of New Hampshire high schools for three years each before relocating to Aroostook County last year.
“As a coach all you want is kids who want to learn and continue to grow and take their game to the next level,” Madore said. “That trait is in all 13 members of our team this year. This will be a very enjoyable year for [us coaches] to help these kids become better.”
The team graduated four seniors, but four others emerged as key players as sophomores in 2021 and helped Presque Isle to its first berth in the state tournament in several years.
Owen MacKinnon, Grant Stubbs, Gavin Dunleavy and Jack Boone are now juniors and the top golfers heading into the season.
“They are a very close knit and competitive group,” Madore said. “Each one of them has the ability to be our No. 1 player even though I have told them we don’t put much stock into numbers or ranking.
“These four kids bring us tons of experience and maturity that you don’t normally see at that age,” he added. “They have stepped right into their roles as team leaders and mentors of the newcomers.”
Sophomores Ean Roy and Dan White are also back from last year’s squad. Newcomers include juniors Cooper Boinske and Wyatt Young, who both played soccer last year, and freshmen Nick Lavigne, Lane Carmichael, Teddy Donovan, Cameron Locke and Kason Bua.
Lavigne has earned a starting role to begin the season.
Jon Humphrey is the team’s assistant coach, while Madore’s father, Barry, who is a former PIHS head coach, will be a special volunteer assistant.
“We are off to a very successful start,” Matt Madore said. “We have done a bunch of team-building exercises which everyone has bought into.
“We are one unit made up of 13 kids and nobody is more important than the other,” he added. “We have very high character kids all pulling for each other no matter what ability each one has.”
The Wildcats, who compete in Class B, have several regular season matches coming up leading into the Penobscot Valley Conference championships Sept. 24 at Hermon Meadow Golf Club. That tourney serves as the qualifier for the state event at Natanis Golf Club in Vassalboro in October.