June 8, 2023 at 1:12 p.m.
Schoppe finishes 99th at WIAA state golf tournament
Schoppe finishes 99th at WIAA state golf tournament
Rhinelander sophomore Sam Schoppe experienced the latter at the WIAA state golf tournament.
Schoppe shot 90 on Monday and 100 on Tuesday to finish at 46-over and 99th out of 102 players who played both rounds in the Division 1 field at the Meadow Valley Course at Blackwolf Run.
The Pete Dye design proved to be every bit as treacherous as the other course that sits on the property, the River Course, which hosted the 1998 U.S. Women's Open. Throw in some gusty winds and firm conditions on Tuesday, and there was nowhere to hide on the 6,500-yard layout.
"The course was great, couldn't have asked for better weather. I just didn't really meet my expectations or anyone else's to finish the job," Schoppe said after he finished his final round by draining a 15-footer for bogey on the par-4 ninth hole.
"Golf, you have good rounds and you have bad rounds," Hodag coach Adam Schmidt said. "Today was a bad one, you know. It is what it is. You can't let your whole golf career be determined by two rounds or one round."
Schoppe got off to a solid start Monday morning. Starting on the 10th hole, he sat 2-over through his opening five holes, but followed that with back-to-back double bogeys on 15 and 16, made a triple on the par-3 17th and bogeyed the 18th to make the turn in 46.
He followed with his lone birdie of the tournament on the first hole, but then bogeyed five of the next six holes before back-to-back closing double bogeys to finish the opening round with a 90.
"Yesterday Sam hit the ball really well. He didn't putt very well. He struggled on the greens," Schmidt said.
Starting on the 10th again Tuesday, back-to-back triples on the 12th and 13th got the final round off to a sour note. After seemingly righting the ship with bogeys on 14 and 15, the Meadow Valley's closing stretch got Schoppe again. He tripled the par-5 16th after hitting his third shot into tall grass right of the green side bunker. He followed with another triple on 17 after losing his tee shot left into the penalty area. He followed with a double bogey on 18 to make the turn in 53.
Schoppe again seemed to find some rhythm early on the front nine, playing the first five holes in 4-over, but he made triple on the par-4 sixth and ended up finishing with a 47 on the side.
"Today he actually putted OK. He just didn't make the shots to get into good position," Schmidt said. "He got in trouble off the tee a couple of times. That hurts. That's hard when you can't keep the ball in play."
Overall, Tuesday afternoon's round played much more difficult for the Division 1 field than Monday morning's opener. There were two rounds in the 60s and 38 rounds of 79 or better in Round 1. Only 21 players broke 80 on Tuesday and the lowest round of the day was a 3-over 75.
Across the board, mistakes were magnified both off the tee and around the greens on Tuesday.
"The course layout and everything, if you don't hit it (in the right spot), you're kind of screwed," Schoppe said. "I'd say way tougher and the environment's more crazy."
"The greens were the biggest thing," Schmidt added. "They were so hilly and we don't have anything like that at home. There's nothing like the undulations that they have here and the elevations. Even the fairways, I don't think but very rarely did you ever have a flat lie. If you hit it in the hazard and had to take your two club lengths, very rarely did you drop it and it stay there. You'd have to place it and you were placing it on a side hill. It was just way different golf than what we're used to."
Despite the struggles, both Schoppe and Schmidt said it was a learning experience and an accomplishment, given that it's been decades since any golfer from Rhinelander played at state.
"I know I feel that I learned that I'm not a very good golfer but, deep down I feel like I still am," Schoppe said. "Out here, my first year here and I just want to get all the pressure and get used to that. So I learned a lot. The experience has been amazing. Really, the atmosphere and all the players around here are really fun."
Added Schmidt, "It was a really good experience for Sam, being this first time down here as a sophomore to come down here. Next year's he's got that experience to help him through with all the matches. 1990 was the last time we were here, so to make it back to state, and Sam's dad got to state when he was in high school, so it was pretty cool that he made it too."
Sheboygan North won the team state title by eight strokes over Eau Claire Memorial. Lakeland, the only Great Northern Conference school to qualify as a team, finished tied for 11th. Eau Claire Memorial's Parker Etzel, despite shooting a final-round 78, held on to win the individual title by two strokes over Waunakee's KC Nickel. Etzel finished the event a 3-over par.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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