Hodag golfers take third in Mosinee

The Rhinelander High School golf team defeated rival Mosinee for the first time during the Great Northern Conference season, but still lost ground in its fight for third place in the GNC on Tuesday as the conference season entered the home stretch. 

Rhinelander shot 326 and edged host Mosinee by a stroke as it took third in the fifth leg of the conference tournament at Indianhead Golf Course. That was the good news. The bad news was that Northland Pines snuck in with a 324 to finish second, and close the Hodags’ lead over the Eagles for third in the standings to a single point entering the final two rounds of the tournament.

The conference season was set to conclude Wednesday at Bass Lake Golf Club in Deerbrook and Thursday at Trout Lake Golf Club in Arbor Vitae in matches that finished after press time for today’s edition.

“It will be close for third place. It will be a fight,” Hodag coach Adam Schmidt said. 

Hodag junior Sam Schoppe maintained fifth position in the GNC standings as he posted a career-best round of 2-over 74 on Tuesday, taking fourth overall on the day. Starting on the fifth hole, Schoppe parred his first five holes before making a double bogey on the 10th and bogeys on 12 and 13. He later played a four-hole stretch in 3-under with birdies on the 16th, 17th and first before making a bogey on the second and parring his final two holes of the day.

Fellow junior Brody Kowieski also finished in the points, landing in a four-way tie for ninth with an 81. After a bogey-bogey start, Kowieski made back-to-back birdies on the eighth and ninth to get back to even par, but followed with a double bogey on the 10th and a triple on the 11th. He played his final 11 holes in 4 over. 

“Sam played pretty good, shooting 74. That was a good round,” Schmidt said. “Brody was doing really good for a while and then he had a couple of doubles. He had two birdies and then he had two doubles. He said he just hit the ball in some wrong places. He was hitting good shots and just played the ball to the wrong spot and it’d lead to a bogey or a double.”

Sophomore Blake Petroff bogeyed his final hole of the day, the par-3 third, to shoot 82 and miss earning conference points by a stroke. His round included a pair of birdies on the 17th and the second and a double on the 11th.

“Blake played really good, 82. That was awesome and he told me he was disappointed in his round,” Schmidt said. “He said ‘I can shoot way better than this.’ That’s awesome to hear out of a sophomore. He know he’s better. I know he’s better. He’s starting to see it too. That’s exciting to have him see that.”

Freshman Chase West shot 89 for Rhinelander while Hank Kowieski carded a 103.

“Hank just struggled today. He just really struggled minimizing bad shots and keeping the ball in play. He struggled. I don’t how we get him back on track again,” Schmidt said. “Chase, as a 5-man, he came out playing good, shooting 89. That was awesome. That really saved us. If we would have had to take Hank’s score, that changes everything. That was huge. It was nice to have that.”

Lakeland shot 302 to win the meet and T-Bird senior Jack Rubo earned medalist honors again with a bogey-free 5-under round of 67. It was his second straight 67 in conference play.

Brody Kowieski maintained 11th in the standings while Petroff clung to the 15th and final spot on the all-conference team after the fifth leg of the tournament.

Rhinelander concludes a string of four matches in four days this morning as it host the Hodag Invite at Northwood Golf Club. The Hodags will then turn their attention to WIAA Division 1 regional play this coming Tuesday at RiverEdge Golf Course in Marshfield. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].