With only two seniors and half of the varsity roster comprised of sophomores, the players and coaches on the Mercer Island boys golf team were aware that 2016 may be a year focused less on league contention and more on team growth.

“I knew that we would be very young and relatively inexperienced,” said Mercer Island golf coach Tyson Peters. “I think our main focus this year was to keep the kids really motivated and focused to improve with the long-range goal in mind.”

“It’s definitely a rebuilding year this year,” said senior captain Bligh Bjarnason, Mercer Island’s No. 1 golfer. “But we’re a young team with a lot of potential.”

Despite a sub-500 record, that potential has shown through. Mercer Island has performed better than the team’s 2-4 KingCo league record would suggest, with two of the Islanders’ losses coming by four shots or less.

And consistency has been the name of the game. With a team benchmark of shooting 190 or below, the Islanders have hovered around that number in five of their first six matches. As Monday’s KingCo medalist tournament approaches, the Islanders hope to continue the steady play they’ve maintained throughout the regular season.

“I’d say consistency is our main strong suit,” said junior Maverick Emerson, Mercer Island’s No. 2 golfer who ranks 15th in the league, one spot behind Bjarnason. “We’ve had a lot of people shooting good, decent numbers in the high 30s and low 40s.”

“I think everyone on our team from the beginning of the year has made significant improvements, both in their mindset toward the game and their actual scoring ability,” Bjarnason said. “I’m really proud of that.”

As a senior captain, Bjarnason has done his part to lead the way, taking on the mantle of leading a young team, which Peters acknowledged as a challenging situation.

“He’s just a really positive guy. The kids really respect him and he’s played very, very well,” Peters said. “It’s been impressive to see because he’s been going up against some very good players in the No. 1 spot, which can be really intimidating. To be honest, there’s not very many kids on our team that could handle that situation, and even though Bligh might lose by a shot or two, he’s been very, very competitive with those kids, which is awesome.”

In the No. 2 spot, Emerson has seen an offseason spent modifying his golf swing begin to pay off on the links. Emerson has finished with one of the top five individual scores in four of Mercer Island’s first six meets.

“Maverick has definitely elevated his game a lot from last year,” Peters said. “He has been super consistent and shot better scores than I think we expected him to be able to shoot this year.”

While Mercer Island’s team scores have been fairly consistent overall, some of their opponents have had season-best days at the Islanders’ expense. Liberty shot a 190 to beat Mercer Island in their league opener 190-194. After the Islanders beat Juanita 194-204 and Sammamish 187-228, Lake Washington beat Mercer Island by a mere two strokes, shooting a season-best 185 to Mercer Island’s 187.

The Islander players attest it can be a tough pill to swallow when the difference comes down to shooting for birdie or bogey.

“Those one-shot matches hurt because you can literally think about that one shot you could’ve come up with,” Bjarnason said. “But I can’t really be mad about us shooting a good score and losing.”

It was a similar story in the Islanders’ final home meet against the undefeated Redmond Mustangs. Redmond defeated the Islanders 177-191, posting one of the best team scores the Islanders had seen from an opponent at Twin Rivers Golf Course. But also, Mercer Island’s mark of 191 tied with Bellevue for the lowest score posted by a Remond opponent through the first six matches of the season.

“Even though we’re coming out kind of new with our big group of sophomores, I wanted us to be able to compete with the top tier [teams] like Redmond,” Emerson said. “We put up some good numbers against the top tier teams this year, so I’m happy with our performance. We came through on those match days.”

But Bjarnason and Emerson will point out, the season’s not over and the Islanders are not done. Both mention their focus on finishing out the season strong, with a goal of carrying that effort on to the postseason.

“Just getting people to qualify for districts is a goal,” Bjarnason said. “I think our top four have a good shot, if we all play well, to move on to districts.”