Before even the first tee off of the season this year, the Bainbridge High varsity girls golf team had already notched a new record.

In a watershed moment for the program, 19 athletes, more than ever before, turned out to play, said Spartan Head Coach Ian Havill. Thus this year’s varsity squad is staffed by nine of the highest scoring and most experienced players, with a roster of 10 dynamic duffers up and coming on the junior varsity side.

“I think we’re going to have a pretty good team; a great group from top to bottom,” Havill said. “Looks like a perfect season.”

The varsity squad boasts five returning players, including three seniors: Nicole Daniels and team co-captains Taylor Tye and Kiera Havill.

Also returning this year is Maddie Loverich, a junior, and Lucy Hanacek, a sophomore who made her varsity debut last year to much acclaim after scoring the then-highest tryout score in the history of the program.

Two BHS juniors, Sara Colley and Annalee Nelson have moved up from the JV squad to fill out the roster.

There are also two freshman on the team who earned varsity spots on their first time out: Kendall Havill, who now holds the best-ever tryout score record, and Caitlin Slattery, a newcomer to the sport.

“She’s a good story,” Havill said of the team’s freshest freshman. “She hadn’t played, and she worked at it all summer because she wanted to make varsity.”

Havill attributes the increased popularity of the program to two simple factors.

“I’d say it’s partially friendships and partly family,” he said. “Some people that are new I know are coming out because they’ve been encouraged by their friends.

“I think that people are drawn to it because of some of the positives about girls and women playing golf later on,” he added. “We’ve made it a non-threatening environment, so even though it’s a difficult game you’re welcomed.”

Parents, too, Havill said, have always been especially supportive of the program, which contributed greatly to the success.

“The parents generally like the idea of a kid coming out for golf and playing,” he explained. “They realize you can play forever. I think the parents especially kind of see a long-term value in their kid playing the sport.”

Golf is a team sport — but not really, which can contribute to a very different kind of pressure on an athlete, Havill said. Hence the emphasis he places on supporting one another and collaboration, virtues which the captains are responsible for showcasing and fostering.

“You don’t really have any teammates in a ‘team sport’ kind of way,” he said. “Like, ‘Oh, I’m not shooting well in basketball so I’ll just play defense.’”

Tactically, the coach runs the program with the goal of everyone getting “1 percent better” everyday. It’s a philosophy that has guided the team well throughout Havill’s eight-year tenure. The Spartans have not, he said, lost one match on their home course in all that time.

“We have not lost at home ever, since I’ve been doing this,” he said. “So we’re like 30-0, and one tie or something.”

It’s a record that has not gone unnoticed by the Spartans’ rivals — especially one opponent in particular.

Havill said Holy Names Academy is shaping up to be the Spartans’ biggest threat this season. The Seattle girls school managed to beat BHS on the road last year, and they, too, had a record turnout this season.

“I heard they had 17 kids out, so that’s good for them, too. And they’ve got some good, strong returning players,” Havill said. “So they’ll be tough. That’ll be a big match.”

The idea of defending a nearly decade-long run caused a bit of fretting within the team, Havill said.

But pressure, as any good golfer knows, is strictly self-imposed.

“We just need to prepare,” he said. “If you’re unprepared, then you might feel some pressure. But we don’t have that with this group.”

The girls varsity golf team played their first match on the road Thursday, Sept. 8 against Chief Sealth.

The team’s first home event is 3:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16 against Eastside Catholic.