Rhinelander golfers take 2nd in GNC opener

Following a couple of rounds the prior week in Wisconsin Dells and the Great Northern Conference opener on Friday at Merrill Golf Club, it is looking apparent that there could be a three-team race for the title — and the Rhinelander Hodags are right in the mix.

Rhinelander shot a 319 on Friday and finished in the runner-up spot in the conference opener. The top three teams were separated by just two strokes on the day. Mosinee claimed the title with a 318 while Lakeland, in search of its eighth straight conference crown, was third with a 320. 

Rhinelander had three golfers in the top 10, led by sophomore Grant Gremban’s 4-over round of 76. However, coach Adam Schmidt said his players left the course feeling far from satisfied. 

“I’ve only had this a few times in coaching, but when they got done, they were kind of upset,” he said. “They played well, but they were like, ‘Coach do you know how many shots we wasted out there?’  … I told the boys, it’s like, if you want to get better at it, you know the things you should work on. Like when we’re done practicing, if you know you gotta work on putting or you know you gotta work on chipping — and we didn’t do that in practice, because we focused on 100 yards or something — you gotta work on it afterwards. That’s the difference between your shooting a 78 versus a 79 or an 80. 

“It was cool to see them kind of upset that they like, they’re so close, and they know that they’re capable of doing better.”

After six straight pars to open his round, Gremban hit a bit of a rough patch with a bogey on the seventh hole, followed by back-to-back double bogeys on the eighth and ninth to turn in 40. Gremban rebounded with a birdie on the 11th and — after bogeying the 17th — added one more red circle on the par-5 18th to shoot a 1-under 36 on the second nine and finish three strokes behind Lakeland’s Talan Pockat for medalist honors.

“Grant shooting in 76 was an awesome, awesome round. It was his best round yet so that was pretty exciting,” Schmidt said.

Senior Blake Petroff also got it going on the back nine following a slow start. He turned in 42, but played the final nine holes in even par to card a 79 and finish ninth on the day. Schmidt said that number could have been lower had a couple of more putts found the bottom of the cup.

“Blake was like so close, like he was missing them, lipping them out,” he said. “It was like a half an inch off from shooting phenomenal, playing phenomenal golf and making key putts.”

It was a similar story for junior Hank Kowieski, who was 4-over through three holes, but played the rest of the opening nine in even par. His second nine included a hiccup with a triple bogey on the par-4 15th, but he birdied the closing hole to shoot 81, finish in a tie for 10th and, as a result, claim a share of the final individual conference point up for grabs. 

Chase West, despite feeling less than 100% during the day, narrowly missed the points, taking 13th with a round of 83. 

“Chase he kind of hurt his ankle a little bit, rolled his ankle,” Schmidt explained. “His ankle was hurting him, and he just toughed it out. Chase was doing really good for a while, but he could’ve like totally fell apart, and he didn’t.”

Dylan Shefveland rounded out the group with a round of 90, taking 22nd in the 40-player field.

Round two of the conference tournament takes place today at Inshalla Country Club in Tomahawk, kicking off a busy stretch for the Hodags, who will play on four consecutive days. 

Rhinelander travels to St. Croix National in Somerset Wednesday and Troy Byrne Golf Club in Hudson Thursday for the 36-hole Wisconsin-Minnesota Border Battle and will return home Friday, May 1 to host the third leg of the GNC tournament at Northwood Golf Club.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].