Hodag golfers score win ahead of GNC opener

If Rhinelander’s preseason tune-ups are any indication, the Hodag golfers will definitely be in the mix when the Great Northern Conference tournament begins later this week.

The Hodags went into conference play on a high note this past Thursday winning the eight-team Medford Invite at Black River Golf Course. That came on the heels of a fifth-place finish the prior two days in a tournament hosted by Mosinee at Wild Rock Golf Club in Wisconsin Dells.

The majority of the GNC was in that meet, and three conference squads were in the field Thursday. Given the results, Hodag coach Adam Schmidt said he is anticipating a very competitive conference season once it gets going this coming Thursday at Indianhead Golf Course in Mosinee.

“We feel really good. Our conference, there’s going to be a lot of really, really good schools this year, a lot of really good players but I feel like you know we’ve got better players. It should be an exciting conference this year,” he said.

Medford Invite

    Rhinelander’s Brody Kowieski putts on the par-5 fifth hole at Black River Golf Course in Medford during the Medford Invite Thursday, April 24. Kowieski took home co-medalist honors with a 4-over round of 76. (Matt Frey/Star News)
  

Rhinelander shot a season-best 323 on Thursday and placed four of its five golfers in the top 10 as it won the Medford Invite.

The Hodags beat Prentice by six strokes for the top spot and much of it had to do with how Rhinelander played the second time around Black River’s nine-hole loop. The Hodags were, collectively, 14 strokes better on the second nine compared to the first and rallied down the stretch to beat the Buccaneers. 

“They definitely held it together and finished strong,” Schmidt said. “It helps that Black River, we get to play it twice. That helps. It was quite a difference playing Wild Rock to Black River, but the boys adjusted and they came out and shot some good scores. That was pretty exciting.”

Senior Brody Kowieski led the way for the Hodags, tying for medalist honors with a 4-over round of 76. His card included a pair of birdies but, more importantly, no score worse than a bogey as he posted nines of 39 and 37.

“His mental game is really there. He had like a bogey or something and he was just like, ‘Eh, whatever.’ He had a lot of good shots. He put himself in a lot of really good places,” Schmidt said. “His tee shots, he kept his ball in play and it put them in good places. He didn’t have any out of bounds or in the water. He just really set himself up to have good approach shots.”

Schoppe, Rhinelander’s top finisher in the GNC standings last year after taking sixth individually, played his first match of the spring on Thursday and improved from an opening-nine 42 with a second-nine 39 that included pars on his final four holes. He finished tied for sixth with a round of 81.

Schmidt noted that Schoppe’s round got off to an interesting start after hitting his second shot on the par-4 first into the penalty area. He proceeded to stick his fourth shot to 3 feet and convert the short bogey chance. 

“Just being able to do that, that just really helps. A lot of kids get really frustrated when they shank one off into the water or something,” he said. “It’s definitely growth from this year to last year, you can tell there’s a lot of growth just in like the head game.”

Hank Kowieski and Grant Gremban each shot 83s to tie for eighth on the day. Blake Petroff took 15th with an 87 after a late rally to save his round. Petroff played his first nine in 48 and sat 18-over through 11 holes. He played his final seven in 1-under, including birdies on the par-4 seventh and par-3 ninth. 

“Hank and Grant shooting 83s, that was awesome,” Schmidt said. “That really helped a lot. Blake struggled and then last like five or six holes, he got it back so that was good to see.”

Brody Kowieski tied Mosinee’s Braiden Hoehn for the low round of the day. Mosinee shot 337 to take third and Medford was fourth with a 362.

Mosinee Open

The Hodags shot rounds of 346 and 345 at Wild Rock Golf Club in Wisconsin Dells Tuesday and Wednesday as they finished fifth in a competitive two-day invite hosted by Mosinee. 

The meet featured five of the seven teams in the GNC and confirmed preseason assumptions. Lakeland, the defending D2 state champion, won the meet, but the gap between the T-Birds and the rest of the conference has closed significantly. Rhinelander finished only 18 strokes out of first but was still the fourth-best GNC team in the field behind Lakeland (673), Mosinee (third, 681) and Northland Pines (fourth, 686).

“We should have some good scores and some good competition this year, it looks like from watching the teams play. So that’s good,” Schmidt said. 

Brody Kowieski led the Hodags, taking eighth individually with a two-day total of 163. Kowieski shot an 81 on Tuesday, the only real hiccup coming with a 10 on the par-4 second hole, his ninth of the day. He played his final nine holes in 1-over, including a birdie on the par-5 10th.

Kowieski got off to a slow start Wednesday, playing his first five holes in 6-over, but bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 13th. He closed the back nine with three straight bogies but played his final eight holes in 2-over to close out his round.

“Brody played OK,” Schmidt said. “You know he had one big hole, a 10 I think he had and then they got her back. Today he was kind of just struggling putting.”

Gremban also cracked the top 10 overall with a two-day score of 167. He shot 85 Tuesday before matching Brody Kowieski for the team’s lowest score Wednesday with an 82, closing his round with seven straight pars. 

Early in the season Schmidt said Gremban, a freshman, is proving to be a valuable addition.

“He’s pretty happy that he’s beating the other freshmen by like 20 strokes or something. Just having a freshman to come in and that is pretty awesome,” he said.

Petroff shot 174 to finish 18th overall. After playing his first eight holes in 10 over on Thursday, Petroff had a strong finish to his opening round, that included an even-par 36 on the course’s front nine and birdies on three of his final six holes to shoot 82. He was not able to carry that momentum into the second round, however, as he shot 92 without recording a birdie. 

Hank Kowieski had rounds of 98 and 89 as he placed 29th with a score of 187. Chase West had his first-round score disallowed due to a rules infraction and shot 98 on Day 2. 

Schmidt said, overall, the team struck the ball well but struggled on Wild Rock’s challenging greens. 

“Wild Rock, their greens are hilly and a lot of weird break to them,” he said. “A couple of them said they putted it pretty good, and then a couple of holes they didn’t putt very good. Putting was definitely a challenge. 

“It was good for our kids because they got more confidence hitting some shots and we found what we got to work on. We got to work on putting and chipping. A lot of the stuff that I saw that we can improve on was we might run it by about 7 feet and you got a longer putt to get back. The short game we’ve got to work on.”

Platteville’s Chase Herbst took medalist honors posting a 10-over total of 154 over the two days. Lakeland’s Jeremy Hensen tied for the low round on Wednesday, shooting 78, to finish two strokes back.

The first two rounds of the GNC tournament take place this week. Following Thursday’s opener in Mosinee, the conference will head to Inshalla Country Club in Tomahawk for round 2 of the seven-leg event.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].