The toughest task on the Newport girls golf team may belong to coach Frank Nimmo.

It’s Nimmo who has to make a tough call every match – which eight of his many talented golfers he will use to battle for varsity points.

With a team that has more than 10 golfers who can make a big impact, it’s not always easy.

“From a coaching standpoint, it makes it tricky,” Nimmo said at Newport’s practice on their home course, the Golf Club at Newcastle. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great problem to have.”

The Knights boast a whooping six seniors whose goal it is this season to win KingCo – and knock off Redmond in a huge April 22 matchup. The Mustangs have won 70-straight matches in a streak that dates back to 2003; as a result, Redmond has won every league title in that span.

“Redmond deserves all the recognition for what they’ve done,” Nimmo said. “It speaks for itself.”

Last year, Redmond edged Newport on their home course, Overlake. The Knights feel the match against Redmond is all that stands between them and a KingCo title.

“We’re excited, not nervous, at the thought of it,” said senior Amy Imus on the match with the Mustangs.

“It’d be amazing to finally put up a KingCo Championship banner,” added senior Madeline Hall. “We have a pretty powerful team this year.”

The team is led by seniors Jamie Kirsila, Katie O’Neill, Kelly Lee, Heather Lee, Imus and Hall. With no seniors last season, the current seniors have been established as the Newport leaders for two years.

“A lot of people have come and gone, but the core is still here,” Imus said. “There’s always some new talent every year and it’s exciting.”

“The first year I came in, I came in with these seniors,” Nimmo said. “They were just athletes who tried golf; now a lot of them are scorers and good scorers at that. They’re just quality, self-motivated kids.”

The Knights also return juniors Nicole Lomax, Jaymie Kimmerly and sophomore Hannah Christian. Lomax and Kelly Lee both qualified for state last season while Kirsila was an alternate.

“We’re almost there,” Nimmo said. “We’ve been knocking on the door.”

The Knights are also the benefactors of having Newcastle as the neighboring course to their school. Freshman Isabel Chien and Jessica Kent both grew up playing the course and have stepped up for Newport thus far.

The bevy of talent, however, becomes a more difficult proposition come time for the KingCo tournament. Each team is allowed to pick only six golfers to move on.

“I think all six girls we have could make it to state,” Kimmerly said. “If we could have everyone, we’d have 9,10 girls. Especially at the end of the season, I think we’re all capable.”

The hard part, however, falls to Nimmo and the rest of Newport’s coaches. They’ll have the unenviable task of choosing which golfers to take to districts.

“I’ve got my work cut out for me,” he said. “I’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”