The Huntington High School golf team won the league championship last fall. The Blue Devil links squad traces its history to 1935. It currently plays its home matches at the Huntington Crescent Club.
The Huntington golf team was first organized in 1935 and had as its first members, John Whelan, Harry Juliano, Nick Provenzano, Frank Sposato, Henry Roy and Allen Cook. Roy served as the team captain.
Teacher Robert Folsom, who held an undergraduate degree from the University of New Hampshire and a master’s degree from Columbia University was Huntington’s first golf coach.
“At the beginning of the season there was a country tournament held at Southampton in which John Whelan won second place,” states the 1936 Huntington High School yearbook. “During 1935, the team succeeded in winning seven of the eight matches in which they competed. This year, the same six players have represented Huntington under a larger schedule and although the team is newly organized, we feel sure that it has been one of the county leaders in the sport of golfing.”
Golf has always been popular in Huntington. The Blue Devils have won league titles in 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1988, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2021. Huntington won Suffolk championships in 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1977 and 1978. The team won the state championship in 1978.
Since Huntington has only one golf team, it is open to both boys and girls. Last fall, a group of nearly 20 girls stepped forward and expressed its interest in playing on an exclusively female team. The Blue Devils have never had separate boys’ and girls’ golf teams, but officials are investigating the possibility of sponsoring such an arrangement next year. The boys’ team would continue to play in the fall with the girls’ squad hitting the links in the spring.
For more information about the Huntington golf program send a message to head coach Michael Marinello at mmarinello@hufsd.edu.