Building the experience | Prep boys golf preview

Published 3:01 pm Tuesday, September 9, 2014

After finishing third in KingCo the previous two seasons, KingCo title aspirations are very real for Mercer Island golf captains William Mansfield and Luke Mounger.

“KingCo is wide open this year,” said Mansfield. “I think we definitely have a good shot at winning.”

“Beyond that, I know that there are a lot of individuals that are trying to make it to districts or state,” said Mounger. “We have a lot of players who have that ability.”

To realize those goals, the Islanders will look to its senior players to acclimate the team’s four first-time varsity players.

“We have a weird variety of experience and then no experience,” said Mounger. “For five of our top ten varsity players, this will be at least their third year of golf. So we have a lot of experience and a lot of inexperience and not a whole lot of in-between.”

But the Mercer Island captains aren’t sweating breaking in the new talent. They pride their team on having a solid top core that maintains a close-knit group.

“I think this year, one area that we’ll not only improve on but we’ll make it a team strength is our depth,” said Mounger. “We have young players who have a lot of potential and we have the pieces to have ten really strong varsity players. It’s just getting out some of the kinks of inexperience.”

“And just building the experience for the younger players so we stay good as a program in the future,” added Mansfield.