June 12, 2020 at 11:36 a.m.
The lost season: RHS golf
The lost season: RHS golf
The team has been doing what it can to stay in the game - it is allowed to practice virtually until today, which would have been the final day of this year's WIAA state golf tournament, but virtual practice cannot replace getting together on the links, coach Adam Schmidt said.
"We could message them on Google Classroom, but that's it. We couldn't have them meet at a practice or anything," he said, noting that even though the players are allowed to go to the course individually, only a handful of players have been able to do so. "We tried to do one video or article on sportsmanship, golf etiquette stuff. Then there are some fun videos of pro golfers when they lost it and how ridiculous they look. I tried to do one of those every week and then I found (some videos), one was stretching to get more distance and one was an activity to get more yards for strength building, all you need is the golf club. I've been alternating them every week - one week stretching, one week strength building. We've been doing that because you can't get in the weight room or anything."
It's hard to gauge how the season would have gone this year. The Hodags had a few key pieces missing from last year's squad, which finished fourth in the Great Northern Conference.
Lakeland, which was last year's Division 2 state runner-up, would have been the prohibitive favorite to win the conference again this year. However, the rest of the conference appeared to be up for grabs.
Here's a look at what would have been five key storylines for this year's team.
Who's gone
The biggest loss for the Hodags would have been Nick Twite, who was the team's best scorer in every match last season as he finished sixth overall in the Great Northern Conference standings. Twite was the team's MVP averaging 82.5 strokes per round.
The Hodags has also graduated Neil Mathews, who was one of the top four scorers in seven of the team's 11 matches last year, with a low round of 96 in a non-conference match at Lawsonia.
Additionally, the Hodags would have been without another one of its varsity starters from last year, Devon Gaber, who would have been a senior. Schmidt said Gaber did not plan to participate this spring as he is preparing for his collegiate swim career at St. Ambrose University in Iowa this fall.
"He said he wanted to get his times better for college. That makes sense to me. If he would have played, that would have definitely helped out," Schmidt said.
Returning players
Those departures would have left the Hodags with a relatively young squad for 2020. Sophomore Kole Gechas would have been in position to perhaps take over the No. 1 spot on the team. He was the team's second-best scorer behind Twite in 10 of 11 matches last year, had an overall scoring average of 90.9 and tied for 12th in the GNC standings, receiving honorable mention recognition. He was scheduled to be the only returning player who started in all seven GNC matches for the Hodags a year ago.
Behind Gechas, senior Nick Schiek would have had the most returning experience, having made five conference starts last year, with a low round of 92 at Bass Lake Golf Club in the sixth leg of the conference tournament. Sophomore Garrett Kulhanek made two varsity starts in conference play last year, while junior Cooper Kovac made one start.
The seniors
Schmidt said Schiek would have been one of two seniors in the varsity mix for the Hodags this year, with the other being Jason Huseby.
Schmidt said he is hopeful the team will be able to go through with the series of practices and competitions scheduled in the first 2 1/2 weeks of July to give those players a final opportunity to play in a high school setting.
"If we do that, that'd be awesome. Really, for the seniors, Jason it would be nice for him to tee it up, and Nick Schiek. It would be nice for him to tee it up as a senior and have an opportunity to put on a jersey one more time for the golf team," he said.
New faces
Schmidt said he had a number of wild cards on the team with a handful of freshmen and sophomores.
"Carter (Gaber), as a freshman, he's played a lot of golf. He would have had potential," Schmidt said, of the younger brother of former RHS golfers Alex and Devon Gaber. "There are a couple of other kids. Daniel King is supposed to be pretty good."
Without a season, Schmidt said he is not sure how these young commodities would have panned out on the course.
"I haven't seen him play. These freshmen I'm just guessing."
What's next
As of now, the team is scheduled to hold a series of practices beginning July 1, culminating with a match at Timber Ridge Golf Course in Minocqua July 13. That will be the only formal gathering the team has before it reconvenes next spring.
"It sucks that we didn't play but, next year, if all these kids go out, we're only losing two seniors that played varsity all the time," Schmidt said. "If we get all of those freshmen and they stick with it next year, if they play golf over the summer, that's the big thing. You've got to play golf. It's one of those sports you've got to play to get better."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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