May 3, 2023 at 2:12 p.m.
Hodag golfers tie for 2nd in Marathon
Winds were in the 15-20 MPH range during the round, with some gusts in excess of 35 MPH. Hodag coach Adam Schmidt said that meant as much as a difference of two to three clubs on some shots during the day but, overall, his team handled the conditions well.
"It was tough playing out there, but everybody played in the same conditions," he said. "There were not a lot of fairways or greens hit today by the team. Guys were getting up and down."
Sophomore Sam Schoppe handled the conditions better than most on Tuesday. He broke 80 for the second time in three rounds, carding an 8-over 79 to tie for second overall. He finished two strokes behind medalist Conner Karch of Wausau Newman.
"He just worked around the course. He sunk a big birdie putt on the last hole, that helped out a lot," Schmidt said. "Sam hits the ball so far. That's one of the nice things, and he can kind of control his ball flight a little bit. I've watched Sam the last couple matches and he's really good at scrambling and not letting anything bother him. If he makes a bogey or a double he just kind of shrugs it off, goes on to the next hole and continues to play."
Brody Kowieski shot 90 for tie for 16th on the day while Andrew Henrichs tied for 20th with a 91. Freshman Blake Petroff fired a career-low 94 to tie for 24th on the day and Braden Mork shot 105.
"Brody had like 29 putts. He had one hole he hit two out of bounds on that hole next to the highway (the short, par-4 fourth). That kind of hurt but, all and all, it was a super windy," Schmidt noted. "We're trying to get Blake down there to playing bogey golf. He shot 94, that was a good round for him as a 4-man, helped us out."
The invite was pushed back a day due to inclement weather. Even so, Tuesday's conditions were far from ideal for golf. Regardless, Schmidt said playing in the cold in the wind in a non-conference setting could come in handy, should the Hodags face similar conditions down the line in either conference or postseason play.
"For how cold and how windy it was, some of the kids, like Braden, he said, 'Man, I've got to learn how to hit a knock-down shot.' That's a good skill to have in your bag. It's a good shot to have," he said. "These kids, they know how to play in it now a little more so if we ever do get a really windy day, they already have that experience where other teams might show up and they might not."
Schmidt said, for a moment, the Hodags thought they had a chance to pull off the win as players wrapped up their rounds. However, Mosinee's fifth man Brody LaPorte carded a 97 to better the Indians' team score by five to pull them into a tie with Rhinelander. Then Medford's Grant Nuebauer came in with a 99, canceling out a 108 and pushing the Raiders to a five-stroke victory.
"Knowing that, that's good to know we can keep up with them," Schmidt said of behind competitive with two conference rivals. "Hopefully we can get all of our conference matches in."
The conference schedule continues to adjust due to the late bouts of winter weather that plagued the Northwoods over the final two weeks of April. Thursday's scheduled GNC round hosted by Northland Pines at Eagle River Golf Course has been pushed back to Friday, May 12. That was the day that Lakeland was supposed to host, but Schmidt said Lakeland's date has been moved back to Monday, May 15, a day before the conference finale May 16 at Inshalla Country Club in Tomahawk.
The Hodag golfers are idle the remainder of the week, but will host the next round of the conference tournament May 8. Northwood Golf Club is scheduled to host, but Schmidt said Rhinelander Country Club would serve as a contingency plan if Northwood is not ready for play.
Antigo's leg of the GNC tournament, which was originally scheduled for this past Tuesday has been pushed back to May 9 at Bass Lake Golf Club in Deerbrook.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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