When Jason Woodworth swings a golf club, good things usually happen.

The 15-year-old sophomore at Central Aroostook of Mars Hill recently won the Aroostook County Class C individual golf championship and led the Panthers to the team championship. He qualified for the state individual tournament.

But this is becoming old hat for Woodworth. He also won the individual title as a freshman.

“I won the low stroke average in the Aroostook County League for the second year in a row,” Woodworth explained.

Woodworth lives in Blaine. He said he got his start playing golf chasing his older brothers around.

“I guess I started when I was 7 or 8. I played because my brothers played and I wanted to play with them,” Woodworth said.

Woodworth said he carries a 15 handicap at his home course, the Mars Hill Country Club. His average score during the high school season was 42 and he had low rounds of 37 and 38, both at Mars Hill.

His coach, Ryan Guerrette, a former Panthers golfer and 1996 graduate of CAHS, said that Woodworth has an excellent mental approach to the game.

“He’s a good course manager. He does a real nice job with that. He knows when he can take a chance and when he has to play it safe. He’s our team leader. Our team captain,” Guerrette said.

Being a team captain might be heady stuff for a sophomore. But in this case Woodworth is one of the more senior golfers on a team made up of underclassmen.

“We had four sophomores and two freshmen,” Guerrette said. “We had one senior but he wasn’t a starter. He’s a first- year golfer.”

CAHS golfers took three of only six individual slots available to Class C Aroostook County golfers for next month’s state tournament at the Natanis Golf Club in Vassalboro.

Joining Woodworth in the state championship field will be sophomore Shane McQuade and freshman Andrew York.

“We’re going as a team and we’re sending three as individuals. I’m a first-year golf coach and I’m real proud of that,” Guerrette said.

Guerrette also pointed out that freshman Taylor McLaughlin won the league’s match play individual championship in which a player receives one point for winning in stroke play and one point for winning in match play. McLaughlin won a total 17 of 18 possible points during the Panthers’ nine-match regular season.

Woodworth finished 17th in last year’s state individual tournament in a field of 35 golfers.

Following the golf season, the 5-foot-10, 140-pound Woodworth will begin gearing up for basketball. Woodworth was the starting point guard for the Panthers’ varsity during the final 10 games last season.

He said he’s not sure which sport he plays better but that he knows what he’d like to do in the future.

“I guess I’m equal in both of them. I like golf a little more than I do basketball. I’d love to play college golf,” Woodworth said.

Don Perryman can be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or e-mail dperryman@bangordailynews.net