Hodag golfers 2nd again at Inshalla

The Rhinelander High School golf team found itself as the bridesmaid again Tuesday during a blustery Great Northern Conference round at Inshalla Country Club in Tomahawk.

The Hodags shot 333 and finished second in the second leg of the conference tournament. The results were mirrored from round 1 April 24 in Merrill with defending conference champion Lakeland beating Rhinelander by five strokes for first place and Mosinee taking third, two strokes behind the Hodags. All three teams sit tied for first a quarter of the way through the conference schedule.

Only five golfers broke 80 on a day where the winds kicked up on Inshalla’s tree-lined layout. Hodag junior Chase West was one of those players as he tied for fourth with a 9-over round of 79.

Starting on Inshalla’s 17th hole, West found himself 6-over through the first seven holes before playing a nine-hole stretch in even par —with a birdie on the par-4 seventh offset by a bogey on the par-5 10th. West made a double bogey on the 15th and closed with bogey on the 16th to finish his round. 

Blake Petroff also scored conference points, shooting 81 to take ninth place on the day. He opened his day with a birdie on the par-3 12th, gave the stroke back with a bogey on 14 and then ran into a tough patch with a double bogey on 16 and a triple on 17. Like West, Petroff responded with a seven hole stretch of par golf that included a birdie on the par-4 fourth, but played his final five holes in 6-over to settle for an 81.

Grant Gremban shot 86 for the Hodags. His card included five double bogeys and only one birdie, coming on the par-4 first. Hank Kowieski had four doubles and no birdies on the card as he shot 87. Dylan Shefveland had a triple-triple-double start and played the remaining 15 holes in bogey golf to shoot 93.

Northland Pines junior Sam Shrock took medalist honors with a 75, one stroke ahead of Mosinee’s Braiden Hohen. Lakeland’s Talan Pockat shot 78 to finish third and maintain the lead in the individual conference standings through two rounds. 

Gremban fell to a fifth-place tie in the points. West vaulted into seventh with his performance, Petroff sits eighth and Kowieski is tied for 13th. The top 15 players at the end of the eight-leg conference season will earn all-conference honors. 

Coach Adam Schmidt was unavailable for comment after the round, as the team headed straight for Somerset to continue its busy week of golf. The team played at Saint Croix National Wednesday and at Troy Byrne Golf Club in Hudson Thursday as part of the Wisconsin-Minnesota border battle and returns home this afternoon to host the third leg of the Great Northern Conference meet at Northwood Golf Club.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].