High school golf has the earliest start date of the fall sports season. Jim Thorpe kicked off the 2017 campaign on Tuesday. Five teams - Lehighton, Marian, Pleasant Valley, Tamaqua, Weatherly - will be in action today. Northwestern and Palmerton will open their seasons on Monday.

Here are some preview notes on the area teams:JIM THORPESOLID CORE... Despite suffering a huge loss in personnel with Chris Micciche graduating, second-year coach Mike Chapman has a strong group of players returning to build upon. Juniors Carter Wolfe and Mason Farnell, along with senior John Fedora, will spearhead the lineup for the Olympians.TOP HEAVY... Wolfe, Farnell and Fedora are more than likely going to be the top three golfers for the Jim Thorpe lineup this season, and all three of them have at least two seasons of varsity golfing knowledge. Over the course of the summer, those three have put in plenty of time on courses and driving ranges throughout the area. Sophomore Jason Walck and junior Hunter Buskirk are being looked at to contribute immediately.LOW DIGITS... "Our biggest weakness, but eventually could be our strength, is our participation numbers," Chapman said. "Currently, we have five golfers on our varsity team and four freshmen on our JV team. The freshmen are working hard and will compete for the sixth varsity spot through the season."IMPROVEMENT NOTED... The goal for the Olympians is similar to all golfers' hopes, in that Chapman is hoping to keep improving with each passing match. "The nice thing about golf is the individual aspect of it," Chapman said. "My players are working toward a specific individual average to end the season. We will continue to develop their individual games so that they will be able to enjoy the game after high school and the rest of their lives."LEHIGHTONHEALTHY SQUAD... In his fourth year at the helm of the Lehighton golf team, Trevor Miller lost only one player from last year's roster that finished with a 1-11 record. Devin Scott graduated, leaving Miller with a group of seven players returning, with a good amount of varsity experience on the links.BY THE NUMBERS... Six of those seven returnees are juniors, as Mason Barndt, Lukas David, Josh Gandy, Stephen Heery, Sam Maholick and Cara Palumbo come back to the team to contribute. Meagan Gildner, a sophomore, also looks to help. Add to that junior Jagur Lynn, sophomore Drew Lorenz, and freshmen Cassidy Schaeffer and Grant Schaeffer, and Miller has a group that he can work with.EVEN STEVENS... There should be plenty of competition at the top of the Indian lineup. "Players one-through-six are all very similar, and I expect similar scores from top to bottom," said Miller. "There is not a clear cut No. 1 golfer."SEMINOLES' GOALS... Miller's hopes for this season are to improve as the season goes on through the Schuylkill League's slate of matches. "With the group of players that I have this year, they enjoy learning and playing the game, which will only aid in achieving those goals," he said.MARIANRICH HISTORY... Len Brylewski begins his 23rd season as the head coach of the Marian golf team with a large list of things to work on and improve. A season ago, the Colts finished with an unblemished 10-0 record in Schuylkill League Division 2, won the division title, the overall league title, and came in second at districts. Albert McFadden also earned the Times News Golfer of the Year award.BIG GOLF SHOES TO FILL... Gone from that excellent squad from a year ago are McFadden, along with seven other guys and five girls, leaving Brylewski with a total of only three male players that have played varsity golf before. Senior Nick Kurzinsky, along with juniors Jacob Artz and Jake Dembinski, are back to provide leadership to the newcomers on the Marian roster.KEEP AN EYE ON THEM... Emily Reaman, Lucca Stoya, Josh Jurich and Nevin Baskins are all looking to contribute immediately, while Sarah Halupa, Katrina Horvath, and Samantha Eroh will push that upper echelon to become better and better as the year goes along.PLENTY OF CHANCES... Along with the unmatched guidance of Brylewski at the helm, the Marian schedule provides its players with many opportunities to become better and make their mark. Today marks the start of those, as they play host to an all-female tournament against schools like Scranton Prep, Valley View, North Pocono and Hazleton. Also, on the same day, the overall squad opens up its regular season against Weatherly, at their home course, Mahoning Valley Country Club.NORTHWESTERNHIGH HOPES... In his sixth season as head coach, Tim Miller hopes for some greatness from this year's squad that returns a wealth of talent, and some strong leadership. Gone from last season's 10-4 team are Julius Mittl and Brandon Segan, who will be missed for their leadership, according to Miller.WHO'S WHO FOR THE TIGERS... "This year's captains, Tyler Wiik and Mason Vogwill, along with seniors Colin Rex and Michael Joseph, will provide valuable tournament experience," Miller said. "In addition, Luke Hallman and Jake Dellicker, who were a big part of our success last year, have shown measurable improvement from last year's rookie season."LADY TIGER... Gabby Smalley, a sophomore on the Tigers' golf team roster, should be able to accomplish a first for the Northwestern 'linksters,' as well. According to the head coach, "Smalley has shown the greatest improvement," and will be counted on to balance out a very competitive lineup and also, "be the first female golfer in Northwestern Lehigh golf history to earn a varsity letter."RISING UP TO THE CHALLENGE... When asked to comment about his team's goals for this season, Miller sees it as a realistic chance to contend for the Colonial League championship. "With a great work ethic and ample talent, I believe we have the chemistry and ability to challenge for the league championship."PALMERTONSHARING THE LOAD... This fall marks the third season for Alex Knoll and Mike Brennan as co-head coaches of the Blue Bombers.BIG LOSSES... Palmerton will have to replace its top two players and captains - Kody Kolnik and Jonathan Frace. The Blue Bombers also lost Johnathan Blichar and Joey Suto to graduation.STEPPING UP... Knoll and Brennan will be looking to senior captains Owen Reis and Eric Baumgardt, along with sophomores Mason Kistler and Logan Kresge, to be key contributors this season. "We are a young team for the most part. We have a good core leadership in Owen and Eric, and with Mason and Logan, we will have a solid four scores each match," said Knoll.READY TO ROLL... Sophomores Matthew Lalik and Joshua Mooney, along with freshman Jacob Sutton have looked promising so far in practice and will likely play important roles for the Blue Bombers when the season tees off. "Matthew has really stepped up the past summer and we feel he can be a solid fifth score, with Jacob, Josh, and others stepping up in each match to help the team score. We will get better as the season progresses," Knoll said.BEYOND THE SCORECARD... While Palmerton will be looking for solid results this season, the teams' success will be measured by more than just the outcome of each match. "(The) goal for this season is to continue to establish an important, proud varsity program. Golf is a life long sport, and promoting the game is just as important as the wins and losses," Knoll said.TAMAQUAGOOD VIBRATIONS... Head coach Bill Kaczmarczyk heads into his third season with the Blue Raiders' golf team, along with the assistance of Matt Stein and Sam Schafer, with optimism aplenty. Last year's team finished a respectable 6-9, and graduation yielded little to no major losses for the upcoming season.GUESS WHO'S BACK... Carson Schoener (Sr.), Tavio Agosti (Jr.), Tyler Disbrow (Jr.), and Ryan Frederick (Sr.) all return to a team that hopes to compete with the upper level of teams in the Schuylkill League this season. Others that will help in that combined effort are Nate Schellhamer (Jr.), Jacob Triano (Sr.) and Brandon Kemmery (Sr.).GOALS, GOALS, GOALS... "We do have a lot of experience returning this season and that should be our strength," Kaczmarczyk said. "The kids have all improved over the course of the year on their distances and their all-around games."IN THE LONG RUN... "Wins and losses truly do not matter to me," said Kaczmarczyk. "We're just trying to teach them the game that they can play for the rest of their lives, and as long as they can take something away from this experience, then I will be content."PLEASANT VALLEYELDER STATESMEN... The coaching tandem of Steve Krechel and assistant coach Paul Evans have been guiding the Bears' golf team now for 26 seasons. The Mountain Valley Conference saw their team finish at the middle of the pack a season ago with a 9-10 mark.HUMAN RESOURCES... Graduating from that squad are Ryan Rimple and Mark Cisluysis. Meanwhile, the group of returnees are led by three seniors in Riley Held, Nick Gattuso, and Josh Schillinger. Others looking to make an impact are Andrew Stewart, Alex Markowski, Alex Prosper, Aidan McHugh, Steven Ottman, Mary Scully and Dan Weiss.PROMISING OUTLOOK... "With six returning starters who played a lot of golf last year, we are hoping to win a few matches and be competitive in the MVC," Krechel said. With the amount of talent returning, mixed in with the newcomers, look for the Bears to utilize their inter-squad competition to translate well to being competitive with the other teams.WELCOME TO MY HOUSE... Along with Palmerton, Pleasant Valley plays its home matches at Blue Shamrock Golf Course, which should benefit the Bears in the long run. Krechel said, "Blue Shamrock is in unbelievable condition; the greens are so soft and really rolling nicely. The rough is high, so it's like playing on a U.S. Open course."WEATHERLYSOME GOOD, SOME BAD... In his second season as the Weatherly head golf coach, Brian Kaminski sees plenty of things to be optimistic about. However, last season's winless Wreckers saw three crucial players graduate in Devin Berger, Chris Martens, and Marty Cichowic.THE OTHER SIDE... Despite their recent woes, the Wreckers see some good things on the horizon, as AJ Knepper (Sr.), Kevin Osifat (Jr.), and Ashton Gerhard (So.) are returning to lead this year's squad with plenty of experience under their belts. Add to that mix juniors Ryan Fairchild and Jared Zaremba, senior Johnny Arthur, and two freshmen in Antonio Collecio and Jacob Solonoski, and the team's numbers are there for good things to come.COME TOGETHER... "It is still early, but I like how we have come together as a team," Kaminski said. "The young players are working very hard to keep up with the veteran players, and with that good group of youth, we are hoping for good things in the future for us."REALISTIC HOPES... According to Kaminski, this year's team is quite coachable, are good teammates, and are willing to keep working and get better. "We want to better our record from last season, and I would like to see each golfer see a five-to-10-stroke difference from the beginning of the season to the end," the coach added.