RHS golfers first in regular season finale

The Rhinelander High School golf team ended the regular season on a positive note at home Thursday, May 21.

The Hodags shot 341 and won their eight-team home invite at Northwood Golf Club. Rhinelander edged runner-up Three Lakes by five strokes and had two golfers place in the top five. The Hodags also won the JV portion of the meet, making it a solid day all around from the program.

“We took first place for varsity and JV, which is pretty awesome,” Hodag coach Adam Schmidt said.

Sophomore Grant Gremban, despite an adventure on his final hole, shot 79 and held on for medalist honors by a stroke over Wausau Newman’s Jacob Fox. Starting on the 10th hole, Gremban birdied two of his first four holes and played Northwood’s back nine in 1-over 37. He had fallen to 4-over coming to the ninth hole when his tee shot caught a tree and went roughly 50 yards. He then pulled his second shot into the penalty area before dropping, pitching short of the green, chipping on and two-putting for a closing triple bogey. 

That put Gremban in a three-way tie for first with Fox, and Rhinelander’s Hank Kowieski, each with one hole to play. Fox bogeyed the par-3 11th to shoot 80 while Kowieski made a double bogey on the par-4 12th to settle for an 81.

Schmidt said, apart from the final-hole hiccup, Gremban played a great round.

“I mean, he was just chugging along, just keeping the ball in play,” he said. “I watched him and he just kept the ball in play out here. That’s the same idea we can have for regionals, so he keeps up on play, he’ll, no problems at all.”

    Rhinelander’s Hank Kowieski hits his second shot on the par-5 second hole during the Hodag Invite golf meet at Northwood Golf Club Thursday, May 21. Kowieski shot 81 to finish fourth overall on the day. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Kowieski wound up fourth when the dust settled as he and Trenton Peterson of Three Lakes played off for third place. Kowieski drove his tee shot into the woods on the par-4 first hole, was forced to take a drop and eventually made an eight. Peterson bogeyed to claim the playoff. 

Kowieski shook off a couple of early double bogeys and was 3-over through his first nine holes. He went on to play Northwood’s front nine in 2-over 38, but ended his round with bogeys at 10 and 11 before the closing double at the 12th.

Drake Nelson shot 89 to finish 14th on the day. Blake Petroff was 21st with a 92 and Chase West too 22nd with a 94. 

“Hank, he doubled last hole for an 81, so if he would have kept it together a little bit longer, he could have been shot in the 70s too, which was good. Then the other boys just put together some good rounds enabled us to pull up the W,” Schmidt said.

Attention for the team shifts to today’s WIAA Division 1 regional at Greenwood Hills Country Club in Wausau. The field includes all six Wisconsin Valley Conference schools plus Lakeland, Merrill and Rhinelander from the GNC. The Hodags will go off in the second of the three waves, based on their season-long scoring average. The top four teams will advance to sectionals along with the top four individuals not on a qualifying team. 

“When we look at some of the scores, I think that, third, fourth team spot could be a little bit of a dogfight,” Schmidt said. “And if not, like, the individuals, I mean, getting an individual through or a couple individuals through would be good. It all depends on what they shoot.” 

“It’s good to see that, like Hank’s starting to play a little better. He was working on the range trying to get fix his little cut. So he played a little better, got the ball in play and putted well. If he can do that at down there, him and Grant, I think they should do (advance). And Blake’s definitely capable. Blake’s shot some good rounds. So he’s capable of it. Then, Dylan (Shefveland) or Drake. I mean, Drake shoots up 84 at the practice round. We talked about some of the shots that he hit and as long as he keeps his ball in play, like him and Dylan could be in that low 80s. So that would really help us. That would definitely give us an opportunity to move forward.”

Rhinelander played a practice round at Greenwood Hills May 20. Schmidt said keeping the ball in play will be paramount on the nearly 6,300-yard layout.

“Down there, you gotta hit the fairway,” Schmidt said. “You need to hit the fairway. You get a whole lot better odds if you hit the fairway, to hit the green. The rough’s way thicker. The fairways are a lot bigger, but like, you know, if they want to score, they got to keep the ball in play. Make smart decisions, and then they should be OK.”

Today’s regional gets underway at 9 a.m., with the Hodags’ tee times ranging from 9:50 to 10:30 a.m.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].