July 2, 2018 at 1:08 p.m.
Team review: RHS golf
Hodags stuck in neutral during abbreviated season
Team review: RHS golf
That didn't leave much time for improvement for the Hodags, who slipped back to fifth in a Great Northern Conference that's on the rise.
"It's going to be busy here," Schmidt said highlighting the end of tight schedule that included three meets in the final four days of the regular season, and then only a short break before the start of the WIAA tournament. "We practice on Wednesday and then it's going to be fast and furious. We've got (conference meets) Thursday and Friday. We'll have the weekend and Monday off and then it's regionals. It's all coming here pretty quick."
Here are five storylines from the Hodags' shortened season.
Stuck inside
Like every other spring sports team, Old Man Winter hampered the Hodag golfers' efforts to get outdoors early in the season.
Rhinelander even decided to start practice one week late, instead of beginning over Spring Break, due to the lingering snowpack. Even then, it was a solid three weeks from Rhinelander's first practice until the team finally got outside for a quick nine-hole round in Lomira.
Predictably, the Hodags struggled that day, with three of its five starters failing to break 50.
"I told them don't feel bad," Schmidt said. "This is the first time any of you have seen green grass (this spring). It was a good practice, fun round where they could get a little competition and it was good just to get out."
Conference play
The Hodags started out the season with hopes of improving upon their third-place finish the last two seasons in the Great Northern Conference, but that goal never quite panned out.
Rhinelander started out with a fifth-place finish in the conference season opener at Medford and never could quite get any momentum going, placing fifth in four of the first five conference rounds. Rhinelander scores with a third-place finish in round six at Eagle River and a fourth-place finish in the finale in Tomahawk, but ended up four points behind Mosinee for fourth and 6 1/2 points behind Antigo for third.
Lakeland ran away with the conference title this year, winning every leg of the conference tournament - a feat that hadn't been accomplished since 2011 when the Hodags swept the conference.
A reliable Olds
Senior Zach Olds was the anchor at the top of Rhinelander's lineup this year. His scoring average of 84.3 strokes per 18 holes was the best on the team this year and he had the team's lowest score eight times throughout the season.
Olds wasn't necessarily flashy - he broke 80 only twice during the season - but he didn't have a round higher than 90 the entire year. That consistency led Olds to an eighth-place finish in the final conference standings.
Even when things were not going Olds' way in the WIAA regional round in Merrill, Olds still put together a strong finish, birdieing the 16th hole and narrowly missing birdies at 17 and 18 to finish two strokes off the sectional-qualifying cutline.
"To go your last three holes 1-under, that's pretty awesome," Schmidt said. "I told him I didn't finish my high school career my last three holes at 1-under. He finished the best he could. When I met up with him on 14, he was struggling, pretty bummed up and his attitude changed as soon as I started walking with him. He's got to be proud that he went out with a bang. He left it out on the course those last four holes, definitely proud of him."
'Twite' a finish
A year after missing the sectional round in a playoff, junior Nick Twite ensured a spot in the second round of the WIAA tournament this year with a solid 6-over-par 78 in regionals at Merrill Golf Club. It was one of two sub-80 rounds for Twite on the season. The other was a 79 at Merrill during the Bluejay Best Ball Invite.
Twite was hoping for a third sub-80 round at sectionals, and was in position following a front nine 38, but he struggled to a 48 on the back. Schmidt chalked the struggle up to a learning experience dealing with the pressure of sectional qualifying.
"I think just that mental game and, now that he realizes that I think (he'll improve going forward)," Schmidt said afterward. "I talked to him, you've just got to have some release, whether it's you get out a stress ball and you squeeze it 50 times or you throw a golf ball in the pond, we've got to do something. There's always something to improve on, something to learn."
Regardless, Twite had a solid season, posting Rhinelander's lowest score on five occasions, posting a scoring average of 84.6 strokes and placing 13th in the final GNC standings.
What's next
The Hodags will be a young squad next year, as they will have to replace four seniors from this year's rotation. Twite will be the undisputed No. 1 golfer for the Hodags next season and Devon Gaber, who averaged 96.2 strokes per round this year, will be the only other returning starter.
"Next year we come back, having Devin and Nick back. We'll come back next year and be ready as a team," Schmidt said.
In addition to Olds, the Hodags graduate Will England (97.5 strokes), Jacob Mahner (97.6) and Joseph Schmitz (97.3).
The rest of the lineup will need to be filled by golfers with little or no varsity experience. Senior-to-be Nathan Lawrence and junior-to-be Nick Schiek each played only one round of varsity this year.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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