Hodag golfers struggle on home soil

Rhinelander Country Club is a venue that several members of the Rhinelander High School golf team know well but, as has been the case over the years at the Hodags’ other home course, familiarity did not necessarily breed success.

Rhinelander shot 343 as a team and took fourth in the third leg of the Great Northern Conference golf tournament at RCC on Monday. The event was moved there from Northwood Golf Club after rain washed out the originally scheduled date last Thursday.

The Hodags finished 18 strokes behind first-place Lakeland on the day and was clipped by Northland Pines by a stroke for third. The Hodags and Eagles sit tied for third in the conference standings after three rounds of conference play. 

“It was good for them to do that, it was just a bummer how they played,” Hodag coach Adam Schmidt said of moving the event out to Rhinelander Country Club.

Junior Sam Schoppe was mostly immune to the home-course struggles. After making a double bogey on this opening hole of the day, the par-5 ninth, he played his final 17 holes in 2-over to card a 76 and finish in a three-way tie for second, one stroke behind Lakeland’s Jack Rubo for medalist honors. 

Schoppe played a steady round after the opening hiccup, with only four bogeys and a pair of birdies. He birdied the ninth his second time around as well as the fifth, which played as a par-4 for both nines on Monday. 

The tie for second moved Schoppe into sixth place in the GNC standings through three rounds, 4 1/2 points behind Lakeland’s Gray Wagner for the fifth and final spot on the all-conference first team. 

“Sam played OK,” Schmidt said. “He kept it together and played good.”

Other than that, it was a rough day for the Hodags with breezy conditions and greens that kept the players on their toes much of the round. 

“Everyone else pretty much just fell apart. Watching them, a lot of the guys couldn’t keep it in play. They’d have to chip out. Then the greens, they really ate us up,” Schmidt said. “It shouldn’t have been a surprise, where they tucked those pins. I really feel like we should have had an edge, but we did not have an edge.”

Brody Kowieski shot 84 on Monday to finish 11th, missing the top 10 and conference points by two strokes. Big numbers got in his way, including a triple bogey on the seventh as he played his opening nine in 44. Kowieski bounced back with a birdie on the first, his 10-hole of the day and then nearly made an albatross on the fifth, hitting his tee shot within six inches for a tap-in eagle. That got Kowieski back to 8 over on the day, but he followed with a triple bogey on the sixth and a double bogey on the seventh before parring in for a second-nine 40.

“Brody shot an uncharacteristic round. He just struggled with his swing. He said he was super quick,” Schmidt said. “He makes a tap-in eagle, but then he takes a 7 on the next hole. He hit his tee shot and it caught the branches. It shot the ball out of bounds and then he bogeyed the hole (with his second ball).”

Blake Petroff shot 91 for Rhinelander. His second nine scorecard contained four double bogeys as he went 43-48. Hank Kowieski had a wild round of 92. He played his first five holes in seven over before making the turn and shooting 39 for his second nine, but he played his final four hole in 10-over, including a quadruple bogey on the par-4 second. He followed with a three-putt double bogey on the third and a triple-bogey 7 on the fourth, his final hole of the day. 

“I watched Hank on hole 3, he chips up to 5 feet and then he hits his putt and runs it past the hole so far that he had a longer putt than he had the first putt. Then he went down and took a seven,” Schmidt noted. “Blake just struggled. He had a couple where he didn’t get it in play. He was over in the bunkers and it was just rough.”

Samuel Strong shot 109 on the day. Chase West, playing as a non-counting marker to ensure every group was a threesome, carded a 92.

The Hodags were supposed to play round 4 of the conference tournament Tuesday at Bass Lake Golf Club in Deerbrook, but the round was washed out due to rain and has been rescheduled for this coming Wednesday, May 15. 

The next round of the conference tournament takes place Friday at Eagle River Golf Course and then the Hodags will head to Merrill Golf Club on Saturday for the annual Merrill Best Ball Invite. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].