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August 8, 2022

McHenry County Jr. Golf Association players won plaques for top three finishes at the tour of champions Aug. 4 at Woodstock Country Club. Boys age 16-18 winners were, from left: Nate Elm, Huntley High School, tied for second; champion Nooa Hakala, Huntley High School and Eric Pietrzyk, Cary-Grove, tied for second place.
Steve Peterson
McHenry County Jr. Golf Association players won plaques for top three finishes at the tour of champions Aug. 4 at Woodstock Country Club. Boys age 16-18 winners were, from left: Nate Elm, Huntley High School, tied for second; champion Nooa Hakala, Huntley High School and Eric Pietrzyk, Cary-Grove, tied for second place.

Sports • August 8, 2022

Huntley golfers dominate MCJGA finale

By

HUNTLEY – Five Huntley High School golfers completed their summer in the top four of the McHenry County Junior Golf Association’s (MCJGA) tournament of champions held Aug. 4 at Woodstock Country Club.

In the boys age 16-18 division, it was a battle to the 18th hole of top Red Raiders players. Nooa Hakala edged teammate Nate Elm for the championship, with a score of 79 compared to Elm’s 82. Erik Pietrzyk of Cary-Grove tied Elm for second place as he also shot an 82. Brendan Busky finished a close fourth place with an 83.

In the boys age 13-15 division, Huntley golfer Taig Bhathal garnered fourth place with an 89 score.

And in the girls age 16-18 division, HHS’s  Madalyn Sloan concluded in third place as she shot a 109.

The tournament concluded the MCJGA spring and summer season, one week before the fall season’s first meet at Crystal Lake South-hosted field Aug. 11 for the boys.

“The whole season has been pretty consistent,” Hakala said. “The goal is to shoot par on the par fours and be aggressive on the par fives. The greens played very difficult today, they were really fast.”

Hakala earned Boys 16-18 Player-of-the-Year honors as he concluded the summer season with 800 points, two wins and eight top 10 finishes.

“I started competing in golf eight or nine years ago and got serious about it three or four years ago,” Hakala said.

Hakala overcame a slow start on the first hole of the day to win. His day did include one eagle.

“I feel real good about the high school season,” Hakala said. “I think we have a good shot to go to state.”

Elm ended with 765 points for the season with two wins and nine top 10 finishes. Busky had 300 points for seventh place, one win and three top 10s.

Sloan concluded with 205 points for ninth place and the champions finish was her best.

MCJGA Director Mike Hesse coordinated each of the tournaments.

“It was a good season,” Heese said. “Our numbers picked up last season and remained steady this year. There was good competition, with three of the four divisions’ player of the years decided today.”

In addition to Hakala, other 2022 Players of the Year were Madalyn Donovan, of McHenry, for girls age 16-18; Marc Cheng of Woodstock for boys age 13-15 and Rylee Rud of Crystal Lake South, for girls age 13-15 division.

MCJGA, of Crystal Lake, was founded in 2001 to provide further competition for boys and girls golfers, ages 13-18.