June 2, 2022 at 7:46 a.m.
Hodag golfers last in windy sectional
Hodag golfers last in windy sectional
Rhinelander finished eighth in the eight-team field at Greenwood Hills, shooting one of its highest scores of the season, a 375, in demanding conditions.
"The kids struggled," Hodag coach Adam Schmidt said. "The course was playing tough, especially with the wind. That course plays tough normally. The course is so tight, especially on the back, if you're a little bit off line the wind would blow it out."
No one was immune from the struggles, not even senior No. 1 player Koldyn Gechas. He shot 10-over 82 to finish in a tie for 10th overall, but two strokes out of a potential playoff for the final individual state qualifying spot.
Gechas started slowly, eight over through his first eight holes, including a triple bogey on the uphill par-3 eighth hole.
Five straight pars got Gechas back in the hunt for an individual qualifying spot until the wind got him on 14, leading to a double bogey that ultimately proved to be the difference in having a chance to advance to state.
"He had a really bad (eighth) hole and tripled it and I just kind of talked to him and said take it one shot at a time, to keep his tempo down and swing nice and smooth," Schmidt said. "He hit a really good drive on nine, good second shot and then got up and down for par. He just kind of hopped on the par train until 14.
"He hit it down the righthand side and the wind just pushed it into the woods. He doubled it and it knocked him out of (the) third (individual qualifying spot). He tried to get it back but could just never get it back."
Gechas dropped another shot on the par-4 16th, but made a long birdie putt on the par-3 17th to get back to 10-over heading to the par-5 finishing hole. Needing eagle to force a playoff, Gechas hit his second shot just short of the green, but missed the eagle chip before eventually settling for par.
"I told him we didn't come this far to not go for it. He hit a good 3-wood, 30, 40 yards short of the green. He chipped it and just came up short," Schmidt said.
Fellow senior Garrett Kulhanek was in the mix, only 3-over through eight holes, before things came undone on the par-5 ninth hole. The wind pushed Kulhanek's tee shot out of bounds down the lefthand side of the hole and he eventually took a 10 on the hole to make the turn in 44. He made only one par the rest of the way to shoot 91 and finish tied for 34th.
Andrew Henrichs shot 100 while Brody Kowieski and Cal Laggis each shot 102.
The demanding conditions on the more than 6,600-yard layout led for a long round. Play became particularly congested near the turn when, at one point, there were as many as three foursomes on the ninth tee, waiting to play.
"That's just hard to sit there for 20 minutes and then get up. It's just hard to keep your momentum up when you're sitting there for that long," Schmidt said.
Eau Claire Memorial (313) and Lakeland (326) took the two team qualifying spots up for grabs on Tuesday while River Falls' Trey Timm took medalist honors with a 1-over round of 73. Timm, River Falls teammate Matthew Marsollek (80) and Hudson's Joe Bartels (80) took the three individual qualifying spots available to players not on a qualifying team.
Though Rhinelander had a rough round to end, Schmidt said he was still proud of the season the team, led by seniors Gechas, Kulhanek and Laggis, put together. The Hodags finished third in the Great Northern Conference, qualified as a team for sectionals for the first time since 2016 and shot some of its lowest team scores in five years.
"The boys, as a team, we played a lot better. They came together toward the end of the year, shot some really good rounds," Schmidt said. "Having the seniors here, it was nice that they got to go to sectionals as a team. That was pretty awesome. Overall, we went from sixth place to third place in conference. That was pretty awesome too. It was nice to see all of their hard work come together."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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