Team preview: RHS golf

The Rhinelander High School golf team had a tough act to follow after taking third in the Great Northern Conference and qualifying for sectionals as a team in 2022. Not only did the Hodags match those feats last spring, they did one better by sending their first player to the WIAA state golf tournament in more than three decades. 

With three of the five starters returning from that squad, the Hodags and coach Adam Schmidt are hopeful they can have another strong season within a tough Great Northern Conference.

How the Hodags fare may come down to how well they fill the empty spots in their lineups left by the graduation of seniors Andrew Henrichs and Braden Mork.

Henrichs was arguably the team’s most consistent player last year and finished fifth in the individual GNC point standings to earn first team all-conference honors. Mork turned into a solid No. 5 player for the Hodags.

“We were talking the other day and we were like, ‘Man, if we can get a No. 4 that’s throwing out mid 80s and then a No. 5 that bounces into the 80s, that would be awesome,’” coach Adam Schmidt said. “We’d be extremely competitive.”

The Hodags have that luxury because they know the front end of their lineup should be strong, led by a trio of returning golfers. 

    In this May 8, 2023 file photo, Rhinelander’s Brody Kowieski hits his tee shot on the first hole at Northwood Golf Club during a GNC golf match. Kowieski, a junior, is one of three returning starters for the Hodags and finished 11th in the individual conference point standings last season. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Juniors Brody Kowieski and Sam Schoppe are expected to lead the way. Kowieski is a two-time all-conference player and finished 11th in the GNC standings last year while posting a scoring average of 84.5 strokes per round. Schoppe burst onto the scene in his first year of competitive golf. He had a team-best scoring average of 84.0, took 14th in the conference standings and put together a strong postseason run that culminated in the Hodags’ first individual appearance at the WIAA state tournament since the early 1990s. 

Sophomore Blake Petroff joins the two with returning varsity experience. He played his best golf at the end of last season, shooting 86 in the regional round of the WIAA tournament and 87 at sectionals.

“Brody’s been improving a lot. His swing’s looking good. Sam’s looking good. Blake, his swing’s looking good,” Schmidt said. “Sam’s got a little experience at state and all the boys went and watched him at state. They know what the caliber is and they’ve been working on their game. That will be exciting.”

Though Schoppe struggled at the state meet, finishing 99th in a Division 1 field of 102 players, Schmidt said last June’s experience at Blackwolf Run in Kohler was invaluable — for both Schoppe and the team in general.

“I think that was a huge eye-opening experience,” he said. “It’s hard to go to state. You have to beat out 400 kids to get to state but, a lot of times, like Sam, he shot 80 to make it to state. A lot of these kids are capable of shooting 80. It’s attainable to go to state. These kids are playing good enough golf. 

Who fills out the starting lineup remains to be seen, though freshman Hank Kowieski — Brody’s younger brother — will likely be a candidate. He part of a freshman class that includes Drayke Arrowood, Drake Nelson and Chase West. Senior Ryan Morien is the only other player returning who was on the team’s roster a season ago. 

Newcomers include seniors Will Gretzinger and Owen Ives, junior Samuel Strong, and sophomores Carter Nelson and Dylan Shefveland.

The Hodags will get a much better idea of how the team shakes out over the next few days. The team has picked up a match down in Burlington this afternoon and then will head to Trappers Turn in Wisconsin Dells for a two-day tournament that will include fellow GNC schools Lakeland, Medford, Mosinee and Northland Pines Monday and Tuesday.

“It will be interesting to see what kind of scores they can shoot,” Schmidt said. “Hopefully (today) we can find out. We can take 10 kids to the Dells on Monday and Tuesday. That will be kind of a way to find out who we’re taking and then those 10 kids will be able to see what conference is like. We play four conference teams. That will be pretty exciting.” 

The four teams Rhinelander will play on Monday and Tuesday figure to be the four teams the Hodags will primarily battle in the GNC this year. Lakeland, which returns all five starters from its GNC-champion and state-qualifying team from last year, figures to be the favorite. However, a number of last year’s top teams return the majority of their starters from a season ago.

“Everybody returns a lot … Our conference is pretty stiff I feel like,” Schmidt said. “When you look at other scores and you get to regionals, and you talk to other teams and what they’re shooting, our conference is tough. We have a strong conference. That’s something to be proud of.”

The seven-round conference schedule is slated to open on Tuesday, April 23 at Inshalla Country Club in Tomahawk. All seven schools in the GNC will get a chance to host a leg of the conference tournament — including Rhinelander at Northwood Golf Club May 2. Lakeland will host the final round of the tournament May 16 at Timber Ridge Golf Club in Minocqua. 

After qualifying for sectionals each of the last two years out of an eight-team regional that includes six of the seven schools in the Wisconsin Valley Conference, the Hodags are eager to make another run in the WIAA tournament. The good news for Rhinelander is that Lakeland, which won the D1 regional each of the last two years, has dropped down to Division 2. The competition at regionals will not get much easier, however, as Medford slides in to take Lakeland’s place in the regional.

If nothing else, the postseason will start on a course that has plenty of positive memories for the Hodags over the past couple of years — RiverEdge Golf Course in Marshfield. Rhinelander finished second there at regionals two years ago and was in the mix to qualify for state as a team there last year before fading a bit on the back nine and settling for fifth place in the sectional.

“As a coach, I think Marshfield’s like my least favorite course that we play, but we actually do pretty good at it,” Schmidt said. “Hopefully we’ll advance. You never know, it’s always (how we fare) the day that we play, but hopefully we can advance to sectionals and get some kids to state.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].

TEAM SCHEDULE

Date    Event    Time

4/12    Burlington Invite    TBA

4/15    GNC Open at Wisconsin Dells    10:30 a.m.

4/16    GNC Open at Wisconsin Dells    9:30 a.m.

4/23    GNC-1 at Tomahawk*    3 p.m.

4/25    Medford Invite    Noon

4/26    GNC-2 at Medford*    3 p.m.

4/29    Marathon Invite    10 a.m.

5/2    GNC-3 at RHINELANDER*    3 p.m.

5/7    GNC-4 at Antigo*    3 p.m.

5/10    GNC-5 at N’land Pines*    3 p.m.

5/11    Merrill Invite    8 a.m.

5/14    GNC-6 at Mosinee*    3 p.m.

5/16    GNC-7 at Lakeland*    3 p.m.

5/17    HODAG INVITE    10 a.m.

5/21    Regionals at Marshfield    TBA

5/28    Sectionals at Hudson    TBA

* GNC Match | HOME MATCHES IN CAPS