Hodag golfers third at Eagle River

The Rhinelander High School boys’ golf team saw the gap in the Great Northern Conference race grow a little bit Friday in the fourth round of the season at Eagle River Golf Course.

The Hodags shot 332 on the day, which was good enough for third place. The bad news for Rhinelander is that the two teams it is chasing in the standings — Lakeland and Mosinee — finished first and second. 

That put the Hodags five points back of Lakeland and three behind Mosinee at the halfway point of the conference season. 

“I think we’re still in third, but I think it’s relatively close,” Hodag coach Adam Schmidt said. “If we could beat Lakeland, or if we could beat Mosinee, it would help us out, you know? Get some of points back. Just keep chugging along, I guess. We got  a busy week next week.”

The Hodags had three golfers place in the top 10 on Friday, led by junior Chase West, who tied for third overall with a six-over round of 77. West had plenty of offense on his card, with three birdies on the day. The last, a birdie on the par-5 first hole, got him to four-over with two holes remaining in his round. After a par at the second West made double bogey on the drivable par-4 third to drop from alone in second to a third-place tie. 

“Chase played really well, so, good. He was four-over and they doubled the last hole so that was a bummer,” Schmidt said. “Chase said he was making long putts. I think he said he had like 26 or 28 putts. He putted really well, he said. Then he hit his irons really well.”

    Rhinelander’s Grant Gremban pitches on to the green on the par-4 11th hole during the fourth leg of the GNC golf tournament Friday, May 8 at Eagle River Golf Course. Gremban shot 80 on the day to finish in eighth place. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Grant Gremban shot 80 to take eighth on the day and, like West, made a double on his last hole of the day — the par-4 eighth. Gremban’s lone birdie came at the first. He had six bogeys and a pair of doubles. 

Conversely, Blake Petroff had a strong finish to his round to sneak into the top 10, taking 10th with an 82. Petroff was nine over though his first seven holes, including a triple at the par-4 11th, but played his final five holes in one under, including a birdie on the short par-3 fifth to end his round.

“Grant just kind of chugged along. Grant didn’t putt very well, you had three, three-putt bogies,” Schmidt said. “I watched him for a couple holes and he was getting up and down, which was cool. Blake struggled a little bit, and I start falling around, and he just started hitting fairways and hitting greens and kept getting the ball and playing. He just kind of started chugging along. So that worked out really good for us.”

Hank Kowieski made triple bogeys on two of his first five holes and could never get his round on track, shooting 93 on the day. Dylan Shefveland was eight over though his first four holes and wound up with a 95.

West and Gremban, with their top 10s, stayed in the running for second-team all-conference honors at the midway point of the season. West sits seventh in the standings while Gremban is ninth. Petroff sits tied for 11th and Kowieski is tied for 14th. The top 15 at the end of the season earn all-conference honors. 

Merrill Best Ball

Rhinelander’s top four golfers teed it up Saturday in a non-conference invite at Merrill in which players  were put in teams of two to compete in a mix of scramble, best ball and alternate-shot formats. 

West and Gremban were Rhinelander’s top pair on the day, shooting 1-over 73 to tie for 14th overall on the day. Kowieski and Petroff shot 76 and tied for 17th.

Up next

It’s a busy week for the Hodags, with four rounds scheduled in five days. The first was the Round 5 of the conference tournament Monday at Black River Golf Course in Medford. Rhinelander will then be home Wednesday to make up their scheduled leg of the GNC tournament before heading to Trout Lake Golf Club in Arbor Vitae on Thursday for the penultimate leg of conference. 

The Hodags will wrap up the week Friday with the Northland Pines Invite at St. Germain Golf Club.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].