A fresh young coach, a seasoned superstar captain and a colorful cast of team members from a quirky island town make this year’s Bainbridge High varsity boys golf team a Disney movie awaiting a cast.

Returning to their home course at Wing Point Golf & Country Club barely more than a week ago — back from a stellar season last year which concluded 10-1 — the team hosted Chief Sealth in the year’s first match Thursday.

The Spartans will be on the road this week facing off against Eastside Catholic and O’Dea, before returning to Bainbridge to host Bishop Blanchet at 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24.

This year’s team roster boasts 11 varsity golfers, at least nine of them returning players, and 14 on the JV squad.

More than 25 students came out for tryouts this year, said Spartan Head Coach Joe Lanza, a BHS mathematics and economics teacher returning for his second season.

“We didn’t have a ton of freshman come out,” he said. “We just have a lot of players who played last year — either on JV or varsity — [who] came back. That’s really more [due to] the fact that the freshman class was not a lot of golfers.”

The pressures were surprisingly intense early in the season, Lanza said, though the tension originated from within the squad rather than from without.

“I think they’re putting a little bit of pressure on themselves right now,” he said.

“They want to live up to the fact that they won the state championship last year. So, some of them are just sort of dealing with, all of a sudden, expectations kind of [that] they feel are on them.”

One player especially — team captain, BHS senior and perpetual golf star Sam Warkentin — knows about that kind of pressure.

“This is my fourth season, [I’ve] kind of seen it all,” Warkentin said. “We’ve grown a lot as a team, and it’s exciting to see everyone get better every week.”

Warkentin won the Washington Junior Golf Association State Championship at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton in August and committed last year to play for the University of Washington mens’ team after graduating in the spring.

“I committed last November, so I’ve known for a little while,” he said. “It was a good weight to have off my shoulders for this summer, but [I’m] working really hard to be able to compete for a traveling spot when I get there.”

Perspective, the Spartan golf star said, is essential, especially early in the season.

“These matches are important to us, but it’s all kind of preparing for qualifying for State,” he explained. “That’s the most important part.”

The early season jitters would not last, the coach agreed, once the team got back into the swing — pun intended — of it.

As a team, Lanza said, the Spartans excelled at the long game, but fell short — pun intended — when it came to putting.

“As a whole I would say their long games are better, but it’s what they think is worse,” he said. “They all want to hit the driver a long way and straight, and I think they’re doing pretty good with them, but that’s what they want to work on all the time.

“I think their short games are way behind their long games,” he added.

Entering his second season as coach, Lanza said, his own confidence is growing along with the team’s.

“I think I learned [last year] that I feel like I have a lot to offer to these kids and they respond well to it,” Lanza said. “I try to light a fire a little bit, but this isn’t a game where you want to just amp them up and make them try harder.

“That’s not how you play better, by just trying harder.”

Lanza would not venture a guess as to the teams to beat this year.

“I think my goal is more on an individual level,” he said. “I think they want to win every match and they want to win state, but I think my goal is sort of to see all of them improve throughout the year.”