Kowieski shoots 87 at sectionals

Kowieski shoots 87 at sectionals

There will be no return trip to the WIAA state tournament for the Hodag golf team this year. 

Brody Kowieski shot 87 and finished in a tie for 24th Tuesday in a WIAA Division 1 sectional tournament in Hudson. That ended up being 10 strokes off the state cutline, which went to the top three individuals from Tuesday’s meet who were not on a qualifying team.

Kowieski was the Hodags’ lone qualifier out of the Marshfield regional last week. Though Kowieski posted the third-best score of individual sectional qualifiers, he found himself playing catch-up most of the day.

He got off to a slow start on Tuesday, bogeying his first two holes. Later in the front nine he double bogeyed the par-5 fifth and triple bogeyed the par-4 6th. 

“Yesterday he was hitting the ball really well,” Hodag coach Adam Schmidt said, describing Kowieski’s practice round on Memorial Day at Troy Burne G.C. “The way he was striking the ball and the way he was putting I thought he had a really good chance to go. He just kind of struggled getting it going today. Once he made a couple of big numbers, it took the wind out of his sail.” 

His front nine ended on a positive note with a birdie on the long par-4 ninth as he made the turn in 45. That started a string of eight holes that he played a combined 1-over. Schmidt said Kowieski did well to keep himself in the round, despite watching his chance at a state berth drift away and not having a team component to his round to keep him motivated.

“It was a real good experience for him to get there and be all by himself,” Schmidt said. “It’s hard, you’re just playing for yourself and just grinding. He kept a positive attitude and he kept grinding. He never like got so down and angry. He wasn’t like throwing clubs. He showed you can have a rough day and not freak out. I commended him on that.” 

After a double on the 10th Kowieski made three straight pars before a bogey on the 14th. He followed that up with a birdie at the short par-3 15th that put him at 11 over with three holes to play. 

It turned out Kowieski was five strokes off the cutline at that point, which prompted him to get ultra-aggressive coming in. He tried to reach the 580-yard, par-5 16th hole in two, but hit a poor second shot and scrambled to save par. He followed with a double on the 17th and a triple on the 18th — both of which were a product of playing aggressively, Schmidt said.

“He tried to make up some ground, playing better. Spots where we normally would have hit 3-wood we hit driver. A couple of holes it worked and a couple holes it didn’t,” he said. “If he would have just kept playing the golf he was playing, he probably would have shot 81, 82 but, at that point you might as well go for it because you have nothing to lose.” 

Already playing more than 6,400 yards on the card, Tuesday’s sectional venue played longer due to damp conditions and heavy rough.

“It played real long. Yesterday during the practice round they hadn’t mowed the rough yet and it had to be like five inches. You’d hit balls in it and lose you ball, even with four guys watching the ball,” Schmidt said. “We found two of the balls we lost yesterday, today. They mowed the rough this morning to like 3 1/2 inches. The rough was still long, but it was playable. If you hit your ball out of the fairway, it was a tough shot to get it back in. The greens were tough, very undulated.” 

River Falls’ Connor O’Malley shot 75, while Wausau East’s Ted Schlindwein and New Richmond’s Cole Langeness each carded 77s to earn the three individual spots in the next week’s WIAA state meet at Blackwolf Run. Eau Claire Memorial (311) and Hudson (320) took the two team positions up for grabs in the sectionals, with Hudson’s Sam Swavely taking medalist honors on his home course with a 1-under round of 70.

Kowieski’s round capped off the season for the Hodag golfers, who tied for third in the GNC but failed to make it out of a water-logged regional in Marshfield. Given that Rhinelander’s starting five this year was comprised of juniors, sophomores and freshman, Schmidt said the team has the potential for big things moving forward. 

“We’re a young team. We got to learn to lot,” Schmidt said, reflecting on the season. “We’re looking forward to talking about next year. The more and more times you put yourself in this awkward position, playing and having multiple people watch you, it just gets easier and easier. The more you do it, the better you get at it. That experience pays dividends.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].