The Huntington High School golf team has been playing during the fall season for decades, but the COVID-19 pandemic has led Section XI to reshuffle the deck and rearrange sports and seasons beginning in January 2021. That reorganization will result in the Blue Devils teeing off during the spring season.
Coached by Michael Marinello, Huntington will have a young team after losing many of its veterans to graduation last June. The Blue Devils said goodbye to Billy Burton, Matt Girimonti, John Lourenso, Jack Monahan and Patrick Sclafani.
Huntington golf coach Michael Marinello.
The squad returns eighth grader Jack Severine; freshman Nicholas Sclafani; juniors Robert Eriksen, Carl Pulizzotto and Joseph Sclafani and seniors Kyle Colleluori and Jack Giamo.
The Blue Devils won the league title last fall, but Marinello and the team knows Huntington has its work cut out for it next spring. “We have a nice group returning, but we need more golfers to come and join the program,” Marinello said.
Huntington has been very competitive in recent years and Marinello hopes to continue that string of successful seasons.
“This year is definitely going to be a challenge since we won’t be coming into the season after the summer with nice weather to play golf,” Joe Sclafani said. “We lost a bunch of seniors from last year that were a big help, but it’s time for us younger guys to step up and play our best. We are hoping to get some indoor work done and hope to have the best season we can in the spring. I’m really looking forward to the season and playing with the team.”
The Blue Devils’ home course is the Huntington Crescent Club. “The club has been great to us over the years and we are very grateful to everyone there,” Marinello said. “All of us are trying to give our players are really nice experience.”
The Huntington golfers have shrugged off the rearranging of seasons and turned their attention to the tasks at hand.
“I’m disappointed about the decision that was made to move golf to the spring, but the team looks good and we will all be ready to have a great season this spring,” Giamo said.
Despite some of the obstacles in their path, the Blue Devils are optimistic about the season. “I wish we could have played this fall, since golf is definitely a sport where we can social distance, but this gives us more time to prepare for the season,” Colleluori said. “We lost a couple of our best players this year, but we should still be strong with our returning players and some young talent.”
Interested in playing for the Blue Devils? Send a message to Marinello at mmarinello@hufsd.edu.