A steady rain turns the shoulders of Erik Stai’s royal blue sweatshirt to navy even before he hit the course.

But Stai, who was wrapping up the regular season with a damp practice session Wednesday, Oct. 5, didn’t mind the damp.

“It’s always fun to play in the rain,” he said. “It’s a challenge.”

Challenge is good to this Mount Si High School junior, who missed league play this coming week but is on track to become the lead senior golfer when he returns next fall.

Stai came through in the clutch twice this season for Mount Si, first with a last-hole bogey September 20 at Sammamish, then with a last hole par—and new personal record of 36—against Lake Washington on Sept. 27, turning over crucial Mount Si victories.

“It helped the team a lot,” Stai said of his breakthroughs. And while the season is wrapping for him, he looks back on 2011 as a fun experience, his first in competitive golf, and better than expected.

“I love competing and trying to get better every day,” he said. Like any golfer, he’s challenged by frustration when his game is off, but “I’m learning that balance, how to control it.”

Stai’s play helped the team to a 5-2 season overall. Mount Si’s leading scorers go on to league championships at Redmond’s Willows Run golf course on Tuesday, Oct. 11.

Leading that group are seniors Sean Ballsmith and Mitch Gardunia.

“Sean and Mitch have been real consistent,” coach Brandon Proudfoot said, both averaging in the low and high 37s respectively over the season.

“Sean is fairly thoughtful about how he gets the ball around the course. You might see him laying up off a tee,” Proudfoot said. “Mitch is more of a run-and-gun-type of player.” His short game is good, his shots are straight, but if you see him without a driver in his hand, it must be at need, Proudfoot said. “He’s gonna try and conquer a course with distance.”

Ballsmith is stronger around the green, but Gardunia is closing the gap, the coach said.

Ranked fifth in the league, Ballsmith continued his quest for consistency in Mount Si’s final scheduled match Tuesday, Oct. 4, at Twin Rivers Golf Course.

Ballsmith, who hit a 35 against Mercer, has played since he was young, and got into the game thanks to his dad.

“It’s all about having fun and playing consistently,” said the senior, who has his eyes firmly on state. “Just have fun and play like yourself… (To) consistently make par is how it should be played.”

On Tuesday, Gardunia nailed a 300-foot hit with a driver on the first hole, but then braced for slower play on the wet, just-sanded greens.

“It’s not going to be fun at all,” he said. “The sand is gonna stop it and the rain is gonna stop it even more.”

Like several teammates, Gardunia, who also hit a 35 Tuesday against Mercer, believes he can do better, and is looking forward to districts.

“It’s easy for me,” he says. Gardunia’s grandfather, who was a pro player, has been teaching him since he was 7.

“It comes from the blood,” the senior said.

The final scheduled match was a bittersweet moment for several seniors, including captain Wes Nelson.

“It’s fun to be a senior and graduating soon,” said Nelson, who hit a 38, his second best score of the season. But, “It’s the last match, last chance to make a regular season impression for Mount Si.”

Senior Zach Frederick, who also hit 35 on the day, wore a camouflage cap in honor of senior day.

“Its kind of a Mount Si thing,” he explained.

Frederick was stoic about the damp.

“I can’t complain,” he said. “It’s golf.”

The season went by too fast for senior Ben Wheeler, too.

“It’s a weird feeling, that it’s the last golf match ever,” he said. “It’s strange.”

Matt Stone and Sebastian Gant hit 38s on Tuesday to round out the top six for Mount Si.

Proudfoot expects the team to finish around third in league, after taking down Liberty, Sammamish, Lake Washington, Juanita, and finally, on Tuesday, besting Mercer with a team score of 181 to M.I.’s 194.

Six of the team’s 12 players scores count in a match, and this year, every player has had a top-six score.

“We’re the deepest team in the league,” Proudfoot said.

The coach ascribes some of that depth to programs and to efforts to get players to pick up the game in the summer. In early June, he hosts a camp at Mount Si Golf Course, and is pushing to create a junior-friendly pass system to get even more young players a taste of the game.

• You can find complete Mount Si golf stats and standings at www.kingcogolf.com.