Team review: RHS girls’ golf

Improvement was always going to be the name of the game for the Rhinelander High School girls’ golf team in its inaugural season.

With the pieces for the team finally coming into place just weeks prior to the start of competition, the Hodags were behind the eight-ball a bit in terms of scheduling. They were not part of a conference and played only five regulation tournaments over the course of the season, plus a couple of fun exhibitions that featured scrambles or other team-style formats. 

The team did show improvement in the couple of short months it had together and, according to coach Adam Schmidt, had a positive experience overall.

“We had lots of fun. I had lots of fun. It was very enjoyable. So thank you for making the season great,” he told the team last month during its season-ending banquet. “We had lots of laughs in the car, lots of laughs on the course. It was definitely fun, so I really enjoyed it.”

Here are five storylines from the recently completed season.

Genesis

Talked about for several years, the pieces for a girls’ golf team did not come into place until late this past spring, when a student survey indicated enough interest to field a team this fall. 

Schmidt, who also coaches the boys’ golf team for the Hodags, was tabbed to lead the girls’ squad which held its first practice Aug. 12. The seven girls who came out for the team had a mix of experience, from those who played competitively in the past to those who were picking up a club for the first time. 

With only a handful of practices under their belt, the team played its first match Aug. 25 in Wisconsin Rapids. 

“It was a really good learning experience, because these girls had never played competitive golf before,” Schmidt said after the team’s inaugural match. “It was really good learning. When playing competitive golf, everything’s a little bit different. You really got to be careful. You got to follow the rules. Your integrity counts because other people are watching you too. That was really good for them just to have that experience.”

Highlights

Though the team finished last in that seven-team event, going against the six programs that make up the Wisconsin Valley Conference, it was a foundation it could build upon the remainder of the season.

Rhinelander’s next match was more low-key, a triangular against a pair of varsity reserve squads from Wausau East/West at Northwood Golf Club Sept. 4. The Hodags won that with a score of 260 and had the top three individual finishers in that event with senior Nevaeh Anderson, senior Claire Yunkers and junior Ella Miljevich.

“They got to pull the W in, so that’s good,” Schmidt said. “It’s pretty exciting. They got to play a whole match and then they ended up winning it, so that was good. The girls improved overall. As we were watching them, a lot of swings have got a lot better. A couple of them had a couple of rough holes, but we’ve seen improvement, so that’s really good news. They’re in very high spirits.”

There were a few other highlights over the course of the season. The Hodags shot 221 as a team in the Stevens Point Invite Sept. 8. Anderson took medalist honors there, recording a birdie on her final hole to shoot 45 and win the seventh by a stroke. 

Anderson was on the winning team in a scramble-style tournament Sept. 15 in Iola and claimed medalist honors again in a dual meet against Wausau East/West Sept. 18 at Trapp River G.C. Anderson and Claire Yunkers teamed up to shoot 45 in a Ryder Cup-style tournament Sept. 22 that included three holes of scramble, three holes of best ball and three holes of alternate shot.

Improvement

Back to the theme of improvement, Schmidt said there was plenty of it over the course of the year. The team improved 74 strokes from the season-opening Rapids Invite to its only other 18-hole stroke play event, WIAA regionals. The Hodags shot 453 at Brown County G.C. and had its lowest nine hole score of the year in that match, shooting 218 on the opening nine. 

Schmidt attributed the improvement to the team’s coach ability and work ethic.

“The growth from the experience of playing was really good. It was nice having the girls. All of them are very polite. It was just a fun time. I really enjoyed coaching them,” he said. “The girls are just so much (fun). They’re just so relaxed. And they’re just excited to improve, and they did. They improved a lot from the first day.”

Statbook

    In this Sept. 4, 2025 file photo, Rhinelander’s Claire Yunkers hits a shot on the par-4 12 hole at Northwood Golf Club during a non-conference girls’ golf match Thursday, Sept. 4. Yunkers had the second best scoring average for the Hodags this fall at 59.3 strokes per nine holes. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Anderson earned the team’s most valuable player award with the lowest scoring average on the squad — averaging 51.7 strokes per nine holes during the season. 

Anderson was top finisher at regionals, placing 23rd with an 18-hole round of 99.

Fellow senior Karlie Yunkers took the team’s most-improved award, dropping a whopping 41 strokes from the team’s first 18-hole invite of the season to the team’s last competition at WIAA regionals. 

Claire Yunkers had the second-lowest scoring average on the team with a 59.3, followed by Ella Miljevich (64.3), Karlie Yunkers (67.6), Hayley Schiek (71.0) and Lindsey Hoerchler (78.5).

“I look at them like Hayley, she started swinging a little bit harder at the ball. Her swing looks a lot better. Karlie and Claire, their swing looks great. They improved a lot. Ella’s short game, I think, improved. Nevaeh improved over the season,” Schmidt noted.

What’s next

With three of the seven members from this year’s team — Anderson and the Yunkers twins — graduating, and three more going to be seniors next year, the long-term longevity of the program may hinge on what it is able to do in the offseason to attract more players. 

That was a fact that Schmidt discussed during the team’s banquet.

“We’ve got to recruit. We’ve got to pound the sand,” he said.

To that end, the returning players mentioned they have talked to some of their peers and have some leads on a couple players to join the ranks next year. Schmidt said the positive experience the team had this year, should bode well for attracting more players in the future.

“The girls were like, yeah, we’re going to talk to some other girls. They’re excited. Everyone I talked to, they said they all wanted to come back, so that’s good news,” he said.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].