May 9, 2022 at 9:25 a.m.
Better together: Gechas, Kulhanek team up for golf wins
Better together: Gechas, Kulhanek team up for golf wins
Seniors Koldyn Gechas and Garrett Kulhanek teamed up to win a pair of non-conference invites in two unique two-man formats. They won the Winnebago Lutheran Academy Invite on Wednesday in Green Lake and then the Merrill Invitational on Saturday.
"Variety is the spice of life," coach Adam Schmidt said following Wednesday's round. "We never play courses like Lawsonia except once a year when we go down there. It's just a different challenge, different way they can hit balls and get some experience playing competition."
Gechas and Kulhanek each shot their lowest rounds of the season, in relation to par, on Wednesday as they teamed up to win a match at the Links Course at the Golf Courses of Lawsonia in Green Lake.
Gechas shot a 4-over-par round of 76 while Kulhanek shot a 9-over 81 as the took the Division 1 flight of the of the Winnebago Lutheran Academy Invite. Their combined total of 157 strokes was two better than the Hortonville tandem of Connor Schafer and Drew Klein.
"Kole and Garrett, last year they took third and this year they won it. That was pretty cool," Schmidt said. "They do a cool format where they can talk to each other, help each other read putts. It makes a little less stressful and a little more fun. Kids can be kids, play golf and enjoy it."
Individually, Gechas tied for the low round of the day, but lost a one-hole playoff to Neenah's Payton Kramer for medalist honors.
"That was pretty exciting. He said he just struck the ball a lot better today and felt a lot better that was good," Schmidt said.
Rhinelander's second pairing of Brody Kowieski (88) and Andrew Henrichs (95) shot 183 to finish ninth out of the 16 pairings in Division 1. As a team, Rhinelander's 340 total was third best among the eight D1 schools in the file, behind only Hortonville (329) and Neenah (336).
Saturday's format in Merrill was slightly different. Instead of adding each pairing's combined 18-hole score to get the score for the team, it was a true best-ball format in which team was credited with the better score of its two players on each individual hole.
Gechas and Kulhanek practically matched Wednesday's performance, with Gechas taking third overall with a round of 77 and Kulhanek carding an 81. Their best-ball score came out to a 2-under par 70, winning the event by a stroke.
"Every time I checked in with them through out the round, they were under par. That was huge," said Nick Schiefelbein who served as the Hodags' stand-in coach Saturday with Schmidt unable to attend due to medical reasons.
Henrichs and Kowieski picked up from Wednesday. Henrichs shot 81 and Kowieski carded an 83. Their best-ball score of even-par 72 was good enough for third overall.
As a team, Rhinelander won the meet with a score of 322, it was Rhinelander's first tournament win since taking the Hodag Invite in 2019. The team score was its lowest since 2011.
"You really can't ask for much more than that, and a great group of guys to work with, that's for sure," Schiefelbein said. "Just consistency over the whole 18. I was out there to witness a number of birdies, which is always fun to be around."
The Hodags will look to continue their recent run of good play in what will be a busy week on the conference schedule. Rhinelander is slated to host a leg of the conference tournament today at Northwood Golf Club, the league moves to Eagle River Golf Course for Round 5 on Thursday, and will finish the week Friday at Timber Ridge Golf Course in Minocqua on Friday for Round 6.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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