Golfer readied for season in Fla. events

HUNTLEY — One Huntley High School golfer prepped for this boys season with tournaments in Florida.

Senior Nooa Hakala competed in American Junior Golf Association events the week of Aug. 7-12 prior to reporting for HHS practices.

“He finished up just in time to remain eligible for IHSA play. Having him back in our lineup gives us serious depth and we saw that in our scores at Crystal Lake Country Club,” Huntley head coach Colin Kalamatas said.

The Red Raiders beat Crystal Lake South, 157-207, for the Fox Valley Conference dual match victory Aug. 22.

Three varsity golfers led HHS as they scored in the 30s. Nathan Elm had a 38 followed by 39s from Hakala and Taig Bhathal. Sam Locascio contributed a 41 score while Brandon Boroski shot a 43 and Kyle Helwink a 41. Scottie Pruyn rounding out the totals at 46.

“Our boys played really well at CLCC,” Kalamatas said. “I was impressed by the scores, given the heat and the difficulty of that course.”

The head coach also praised the play of Elm, a senior.

“Elm has been steady for us all season, and he continued his strong play (against South),” Kalamatas said. It starts with his ability to find the fairway off the tee and from there, he puts himself in a great position to hit a lot of greens in regulation.”

Elm also had a strong top 10 finish at the DeKalb Invite Aug. 21 as he finished in fifth place with a score of 76 for 18 holes.

“We were happy with the scores we turned in, especially knowing we get Hakala back and we can see our scores drop with our lineup being at full strength again,“ Kalamatas said.