Last year, members of the Bedford golf team seemed to forget they were playing during the program’s first year in existence. The lot of freshmen and sophomores finished in the top 10 during the regular season, then produced a fifth-place showing at the state championship. This year, many of those same golfers are back, and they’re well aware of the expectations due in no small part to that fine 2007 season.

Through their contest on Thursday, Sept. 11, the Bulldogs maintain a 9-3 record, and coach Joel St. Laurent said his team hasn’t begun to peak.

“We’re better than we’ve shown,” he said. “We’re off to a little bit of a slow start, but I expect we’ll be turning things around pretty quickly, and come the end of the season, which is very short, I have guarded optimism we’ll be (in contention).”

Though Bedford defeated Hanover and Bow, two of the perennial Class I elite, the squad has suffered two losses to Lebanon and one setback to Bishop Brady.

Sophomore Jake Nutter, who finished fourth in the individual state competition last year and won the Manchester junior title in the offseason, leads the Bulldogs again.

“(Jake’s performance at states) was impressive, especially as a freshman,” said St. Laurent.

“Even though he faltered a little with a four-putt on the 16th (hole), he had a beautiful round. He just played head and shoulders above a lot of the kids out there, and I expect he’ll be right there again this year.”

Joining Nutter at the top of the BHS lineup are Andrew Weeks, who also had a nice showing at the city junior championship, Zach Husband and Travis Matin.

Freshman Nathan Laravee joined the fold and, said his coach, has the potential to card a low score every time on the course.

Kevin White and Max Wallace, regular contributors last season, are experiencing some troubles right now, but St. Laurent said he expects each to find his groove sooner rather than later. St. Laurent said each player is capable of scoring in the top five, which makes up the total team score, any given outing.

“We’re still on the young side. I mean, we’re about 50/50 juniors and sophomores, and Nathan is our only freshman,” said St. Laurent. “It’s just a matter of who keeps the ball in play, who putts well and who looks half decent out there. And all these kids are very capable of doing that.”