Girls’ golfers win home triangular

The Rhinelander High School girls’ golf team added a few more historical notes Thursday in the second match of its inaugural season. The Hodags played at home for the first time and also collected their first victory.

The Hodags shot 260 as a team to win a nine-hole triangular at Northwood Golf Club. Rhinelander took on a pair of varsity reserve squads from Wausau East/West. 

“They got to pull the W in, so that’s good,” coach Adam 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.”

    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 finished second individually, shooting a 62. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The Hodags had the top three finishers overall in the contest. Nevaeh Anderson, despite making a pair of nines over the final three holes, still managed to shoot a 58 to beat senior teammate Claire Yunkers (62) by four strokes. Junior Ella Miljevich carded a 63 to finish third, five shots back.

“Claire’s got a really nice swing. She hits the ball nice,” Schmidt said. “I talked to her a couple holes and she said she was really hitting the ball straight. That’s allowed her to play a lot better. Nevaeh said that she’s got to work on her putting. She had a lot of three-putts. We know something we can focus on. Then Ella, every time I watched her she had some really nice shots. She’s got a nice swing and just plugs along.”

Karlie Yunkers and Hayley Schiek each shot 77. Lindsey Hoerchler carded a 78, but was the only player on the team to record a par, and did it on one of Northwood’s most daunting holes — the par-3 11th with its island green. 

“Her swing looked night-and-day different than a week and a half ago. I mean she’s making good contact with the ball,” Schmidt noted. 

Wausau’s first varsity reserve squad shot 282, 22 shots behind Rhinelander. Its second squad shot 291 and finished third. 

The Hodags originally hoped to play another first-year team, Amherst, during Thursday’s meet. The Falcons were unable to attend, however, have scheduled a dual meet against Rhinelander that will take place Sept. 25 at Northwood. 

Rhinelander was set to play Monday in a nine-hole invite hosted by Stevens Point at Wisconsin River Golf Club, which concluded after press time for today’s edition. Rhinelander will head to Iola next Monday to take part in an invite hosted by Amherst at Glacier Wood Golf Club. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].