Nick Grimbilas understands the responsibility that comes with being the top player on the Bishop Brady Golf team. He’s been the No. 1 since his freshman year.
Now, as Grimbilas enters his junior season with the Giants, he’s confident not only in his game but that of his teammates as well. Brady will be tested early this fall as it will face some of the top teams in Division II early on the schedule. It’s first match pits Brady against Hanover, Souhegan and D-II runner-up Portsmouth on Aug. 31. A week later, the Giants face Hanover again in a match that also includes Oyster River and Coe-Brown.
Grimbilas welcomes the early challenge.
“I think it’s pretty good to see where we are as a team,” he said. “We see how we are now, where we need to improve so when we face them again we’ll have a better shot.”
Brady wrapped up its 2016 run with a 12-8 record and qualified for the state tournament, which ended with Windham being crowned champion. Grimbilas finished third in the individual tournament. Brady senior co-captain Mary Anne Wiley placed sixth in the girls’ tournament.
With little turnover from last year, Brady Coach Phil Davis – the PGA pro at Beaver Meadow Golf Course in Concord – is happy to see his top four golfers return in Grimbilas, Wiley, senior Sarah Vermette and sophomore Matt Cherian. Knowing he has experience at the top allows Davis to focus on developing the next group of players and finding who will fill out the eight-player lineup that will compete in a match.
“I’ll spend a lot of time with the freshman and sophomores that have come out, sophomores who didn’t play last year,” Davis said. “I try to work on them harder than anybody. These are the kids that are just getting going right now. We’ll focus on trying to get them (to shoot in the mid 40s).”
While Davis works with the younger players, Wiley and Grimbilas, along with co-captains Vermette and senior Meghan Haley, will work toward setting the example they envision for the team while pushing each other to improve their scores.
This fall, Wiley hopes to consistently break 45 strokes on nine holes. She shot an 89 on 18 holes in the girls’ tournament last year. The tournament will be held at Campbell’s Scottish Highlands in Salem this year.
“My goal is to make the top six again this year,” she said. “Hopefully this year at Highlands I can shoot an 85 or lower.”
Wiley spent her summer playing and caddying on Cape Cod, where she was named player of the year in the Cape Cod Junior League for players age 15 to 18.
“Mary Anne has improved a ton playing over the summer,” said Grimbilas, who employs the same swing coach as Wiley, Patrick Gocklin in Manchester. “Kudos to her for taking the next step.”
Wiley didn’t pick up the game seriously until her freshman year at Brady, where she was initially recruited by friends and coaches to play field hockey. Wiley, a hockey player in the winter, grew up watching her brothers play golf. She took a couple swings for fun, but turned her game up when she got to Brady and met Davis.
“He’s the one who motivated me in taking my interest in golf to the next level,” Wiley said. “He fitted me for the clubs I have now. I know any question I have while playing in the summer, I can shoot him a text and he gets back to me with his thoughts. He’s always motivating us.”
Grimbilas sees a clear advantage to having a PGA pro as your coach. He considers Davis to be the team’s most important asset.
“He’s very helpful, not just for me but for the whole team,” Grimbilas said. “Some of the other coaches are just guys who play golf, not PGA pros. He knows exactly what to fix with all the younger players. I think it’s one of benefits and definitely gives us an advantage.”
Grimbilas has his eye on contending for an individual state title again this year. The path has opened a little bit as some of the top players in Division II graduated last spring, but the defending champion, Phin Choukas, is heading into his senior year at Hanover.
“I always play with him (when we face Hanover),” Grimbilas said of Choukas. “He’s a great kid and very good – hits all of his clubs very straight.”
As for Grimbilas, he says his putting and irons improved over the summer.
“The driver still needs work,” he said.
A resident of Strafford, he’s been a member at Portsmouth Country Club for most of his life and has played three or four times each week since school ended in June. He hopes to be back in the mix for an individual title and is confident the Brady squad can reach the state tournament again.
“If we can make states, I think that’d be a success,” Grimbilas said. “We might not win it all, but for our team to make states, that would be a heck of an accomplishment.”
(Nick Stoico can be reached at 369-3339, nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)