Golf: McHenry’s Sam Huff shakes off rust, wins MCJGA Boys Senior Division Player of Year

BULL VALLEY – McHenry’s Sam Huff grew frustrated at his results throughout an up-and-down junior year.

“I probably was worse last year than my freshman and sophomore year, if I’m being honest,” said Huff, who will be a senior at McHenry East this fall. “It was discouraging. I don’t think I broke 80 once in high school. I had my worst year ever, so this was a big winter for me. I worked really hard to get to where I wanted to be.”

Huff hoped to rediscover his stroke before the start of his senior season.

On Thursday, he had one of his lowest tournament scores of the summer, firing a 5-over-par 75 at Woodstock Country Club to capture the McHenry County Junior Golf Association’s Tournament of Champions title and win Boys Senior Division Player of the Year.

Huff ended the summer with three MCJGA victories, five top three and nine top five finishes in 15 events. He previously shot a summer-best round of 74 at RedTail in Lakewood. Thursday wasn’t far off.

Huff put in additional hours and worked 1-on-1 with Jim Buenzli, owner of the Golf Academy at Terra Cotta, since the end of his junior year. He shot an 88 in his first MCJGA event of the summer but has seen his scores drop considerably from there.

“I started off really bad, but since then I’ve been really consistent, right where I want to be,” Huff said. “And now, to really break through and play this good, it’s perfect timing, actually. To get that feeling back for the high school season, it feels good.”

Huff made four birdies Thursday, including three on the front nine. He said the greens played fast but fair.

“It reminds me a lot of McHenry Country Club; that’s where I’m a member,” Huff said of the layout of the hilly nine-hole course. “A little shorter but much faster greens. I liked it a lot. It was a big challenge. Once you were on the green, nothing came easy. You never had an easy putt. You were kind of always on edge.”

Elgin Academy’s Alex Berlin (77) and Crystal Lake South’s Bryce Sturm (80) had the next two lowest rounds of the day. Burlington Central’s Chaz Rutke (81) was fourth, and Prairie Ridge’s Joe Pokonosky (82) and Danny Saville (82) tied for fifth. Pokonosky took runner-up for Boys Senior Division Player of the Year.

Delaney Medlyn, an incoming freshman at Cary-Grove, won the Girls Senior Division Player of the Year and shot a 93 Thursday. She was followed by McHenry’s Madison Donovan (94) and Harvard’s Joelle McMillan (97). Donovan took runner-up for Girls Senior Division Player of the Year.

Medlyn had a standout summer with with four first-place, seven second-place and one third-place finish. She said she is looking forward to playing golf on a team for the first time.

“Being able to play with friends,” Medlyn said of what she’s most excited about. “This summer was really fun.”

Cary-Grove’s Maddux Tarasievich won the Boys Junior Division Player of the Year title and finished second Thursday with an 86, tied with Lake Zurich’s Shailen Surati. Hampshire’s Eric Brown placed first with an 85 and was runner-up for Boys Junior Division Player of the Year.

Crystal Lake’s Rylee Rud, who will be an eighth grader at Lundahl Middle School, claimed the Girls Junior Division Player of the Year title. She finished first four times and second seven times in 12 MCJGA events.

Rud was the only player from the girls junior division on the course Thursday, so she played up in a group with the girls senior division.

That didn’t seem to bother her.

“If you have a bad shot, don’t worry about it,” Rud said.