April 26, 2017 at 2:47 p.m.
Hodag golfers double down
Team wins GNC opener, invite at Whistling Straits
Hodag golfers double down
Rhinelander won back-to-back meets Monday and Tuesday, first winning a triangular at the Irish Course at Whistling Straits Monday in Kohler and then taking the first leg of the GNC tournament Tuesday at Inshalla Country Club in Tomahawk.
"Winning at Whistling Straits yesterday and then coming here and winning again, that was pretty awesome," Schmidt said following Tuesday's meet. "I think it definitely gave them the confidence. Getting that first win is always a big thing."
In first at Inshalla
Schmidt proved clairvoyant prior to the conference opener when one of his team members asked what it would take to win the first round of the seven-round GNC event.
"I said, 'Well, if you guys shoot mid 80s all the way and one of us goes a low 80, there's no reason why we can't be competitive and win just about everything,'" Schmidt said.
That's exactly what the Hodags did Tuesday, placing four golfers in the top 11 and edging defending conference champion Medford by two strokes for the victory.
Zach Olds led the way finishing in a four-way tie for third with a round of 82. Nick Twite finished eighth with an 84. Will England tied for ninth with an 85 and Matt Reinthaler just missed scoring points in the individual conference race, placing 11th with an 87. The top 10 finishers and ties accumulate points for the individual standings that determine the all-conference team at season's end.
"There's a lot of kids in the conference that can shoot really well but, as a team, to get four guys in that mid-to-low 80s, that's tough to beat," Schmidt said. "Nick had 30 putts, Zach had 30 putts. Matt had 35 putts. Will had 32 putts. That was good. They putted really well. It was overall a good day."
Aside from putting, avoiding trouble on Inshalla's second nine helped the Hodags rally from tied for fourth place at the turn to take the title. Every Rhinelander player had at least one 7 or above on the scorecard on the front nine. Joseph Schmitz, who shot 103 on the day, was the only player to post a 7 or above on the back.
Olds and Reinthaler both shot 40 on the second nine while Twite shot 41, helping the Hodags rally to the victory.
"The back nine was definitely a lot better," Schmidt said. "I just told them to try to keep the ball in play and avoid the big numbers and they just really came together and really got it done. They hit a lot of greens, didn't have a whole lot of penalty strokes, kept the penalties down."
Medford's Spencer Scholl was the medalist with a 6-over round of 76. Mosinee's Stanford Swid shot 79 to finish second.
Hodags have luck on the Irish
The conditions and the course were vastly different for the Hodags on Monday, who traveled to Kohler to play the Irish Course at Whistling Straits and won a triangular hosted by Sheboygan County Christian.
Rhinelander shot 358, two strokes better than the host school and 29 shots better than third-place Antigo, but the star of the day was the venue, part of the stunning 36-hole complex on the shores of Lake Michigan designed by renowned architect Pete Dye.
The other course on the property, the Straits Course, played host to the PGA Championship in 2004, 2010 and 2016.
"It was really cool to get to play a really awesome course," Schmidt said. "The hospitality was awesome. It was a really good experience to play a really nice course and we played it in the wind. It was kind of fun."
Olds handled the windly links course the best, shooting a 13-over par 85 to place second in the 15-player field. Reinthaler shot 86 and finished third. England shot 92, Schmitz carded a 98 and Twite shot 99.
"Matt kind of came back," Schmidt said. "That was good. Joe shot 95, that was definitely helpful, as a five-man coming to help us out. Overall, the kids really came through today. That was good - 358 isn't a bad team score."
Rhinelander returns home Friday for the Hodag Invitational at Northwood Golf Course.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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