They may only have seven total players, but the Mount Si girls golf team looks to improve and make a statement this spring.

Back for his 21st season as coach is Mike Johnston, and he has a team with three returning juniors and four newcomers. Those three juniors include Maggie Robinson, Julia Dorn and Genna Magnan.

“We are still building this program,” Johnston said.

The four newcomers are all freshmen, and they include Katy Lindor. Lindor is out to do something new this spring.

“I’ve never really golfed before,” she said. “I like to be out in the sun and I just wanted to try it.”

Robinson said local golf fans can set high hopes.

“They can expect a lot from this team,” she said. “We actually have a lot more girls coming out for our team this year than last year, when we didn’t have as many girls and we were trying to improve.”

Part of that involves a lot of coaching and teaching.

“A majority of the work is to teach them the basics of golf,” Johnston said. “We start with the basic swing from the ground up, just clipping the ball off the mat with only their wrists, so that they can feel what it’s supposed to feel like at the bottom of the swing. Then we work our way up to a fuller swing.”

Other items being discussed include rules and scoring of the game.

Still, Johnston’s view of the sport remains the same.

“My overall philosophy is always to come out and have a good time and enjoy the sport that you’re playing,” he said.

Robinson also knows she will have a role in helping the newcomers gain a footing in the sport.

“I want to help them as much as I can, because I had Katie Somers (former Wildcat star playing at Boise State) helping me a lot. That was a big help,” Robinson said. “I just want to be able to use her help and give it to somebody else.”

With a similar situation last year, the same approach was used, and it produced results.

“Everybody brought their individual scores down during the course of the season. In fact, we had one match last year where every single girl in the match got her best ever nine-hole score,” Johnston said.

Teams that look to be tough this season include Mercer Island and Bellevue, but Johnston expects Issaquah, Liberty and Sammamish to be competitive opponents this spring for his team.

A low turnout could suggest that there is low interest in the sport from the community, but Johnston disagrees with that assumption, saying that programs are there for Valley youth.

“There are people in the Valley that are doing that. It is showing up, there are kids’ programs, it just hasn’t gotten to this stage yet,” he said.

Still, Robinson thinks more can be done.