Golfers finish 2nd in GNC; Lingen secures All-GNC spot
MEDFORD GOLF
The Medford Raiders fell off their blistering pace they were setting earlier in the month in their last two Great Northern Conference meets, but they still finished solidly in second place and captured four individual awards.
Medford closed out the league season by taking fifth in Tuesday’s seventh meet, which was held at Tomahawk’s par-70 Inshalla Country Club. Playing without their number-three man Zachary Hintz, the Raiders carded a 358 that put them well ahead of Antigo (384) and Tomahawk (396), who came into the meet tied for sixth place in the standings.
Lakeland put the finishing touch on its fifth straight GNC title with a round of 326, 17 shots better than Rhinelander. Mosinee and Northland Pines tied for fourth at 352.
Lakeland scored 48 points during the GNC season, one shy of perfection. Medford handed the T-Birds their only loss May 9 at Antigo. The Raiders totaled 40 points with one first, five seconds and Tueday’s fifth. Rhinelander made a late surge to finish third with 32 points.
Medford junior Connor Lingen clinched his spot on the 2023 All-GNC first team by tying Rhinelander’s Andrew Henrichs for fourth place in Tuesday’s meet. Both golfers shot 12-over-par 82s to finish one shot behind third-place Cody Parsons of Antigo. Jett Walters of Mosinee and Jack Rubo of Lakeland tied for first with 76s. Walters clinched the GNC’s Player of the Year award by finishing with 64.5 points, while Rubo took second with 59. Lakeland’s Matt Haggart and Gray Wagner and Rhinelander’s Brody Kowieski all shot 83s Tuesday to tie for sixth. Raider Riley Viergutz, who was in position to grab a top-five All-GNC spot coming into the meet, tied Lakeland’s Jeremy Hensen for ninth at 84 and wound up seventh in the standings with 23.5 points, good for a second-team spot.
Haggart finished with 48.5 points to end up third in the individual standings. Lingen had 46.5 and Henrichs, with his 6.5 points Tuesday, bumped up to fifth place with 27 points and grabbed the last first-team spot ahead of Parsons (24) and Viergutz.
Medford head coach Matt Haase was voted GNC Coach of the Year after the meet. The second-year coach also won the award last year.
Despite not playing Tuesday, Hintz finished ninth in the standings with 15.33 points and earned a second-team spot. Lucas Liske finished 13th with 6.5 points and got honorable mention.
Aidan Ball was Medford’s third scorer Tuesday with a 92, tying for 18th place out of 35 golfers. Grant Neubauer filled Hintz’s spot and shot a 100, while it was a tough day for Liske, who shot a 102.
Tuesday’s meet ended an incrediblybusy three-week stretch where Medford played in seven GNC meets and in six more non-conference tournaments. The Raiders will get a two-day break, then they’ll get a chance to test themselves Friday at Lake Wissota Golf course in Chippewa Falls, which is the WIAA Division 2 sectional course. McDonell-Regis is the host of Friday’s invitational, which starts at 10:30 a.m. and is a favorite to win the sectional, set for May 30.
First, Medford needs to get out of the WIAA Division 2 Rice Lake regional, which is Tuesday at Turtleback Golf Course. The 10-team meet includes the host Warriors, Medford, Antigo, Ashland, Cumberland, Hayward, Northland Pines, Northwestern, Spooner and Tomahawk. The top four teams advance to the sectional along with the top four individuals from non-qualifying teams.
GNC at Lakeland
Trout Lake Golf Club in Arbor Vitae hosted the sixth GNC meet of the season on Monday and the Raiders found it to be a bit challenging while barely holding on for the day’s second-place finish.
The Raiders shot a 344 to hold off Mosinee by one stroke and finished well behind the host Lakeland Thunderbirds, who carded a 322 to win their fifth GNC meet of the year and, for all intents and purposes, lock up the conference championship. The Raiders’ score was their highest in GNC play this spring.
Rhinelander was fourth for the day at 356, followed by Northland Pines (361), Tomahawk (365) and Antigo (378).
The Raiders did put three golfers in the day’s top 10. Lingen added five points to his individual total by placing sixth with an 11-over-par 83, while Viergutz moved back up into first-team All-GNC position by tying Tomahawk’s Sawyer Hanna for seventh at 84. Hintz tied Henrichs and Mosinee’s Andrew Carlson for ninth with his 88.
Ball continued his late-season surge, taking Medford’s fourth scoring spot with another personal-best score, this time an 89. He was part of a six-way tie for 12th by carding three pars and just two double bogeys. Liske cooled down from his recent hot streak and tied for 26th with a 93.
Haggart and Walters tied for the day’s top score at 3-over-par 75, while Rubo was third with a 78, Lakeland’s fifth golfer, Hensen, had a big day, taking fourth with a 79 and Tomahawk’s Owen Dickrell made a move up the standings by placing fifth at 82.
GNC at Pines
In the fifth GNC meet of the spring hosted Friday by Northland Pines at the Eagle River Golf Course, Medford wasn’t able to duplicate its May 9 victory over Lakeland, sliding back to second with a score of 323.
Lakeland was 11 shots better at 312 and opened up a three-point in the team standings at the time.
Lingen led Medford with a 6-over-par 78 that put him in a three-way tie for fifth with Dickrell and Kowieski. He birdied the par-4 third hole and was 1-over-par with a 37 on the course’s nine holes. He started on the back nine and just had a stretch of three bogeys and a double on holes 13-16 that prevented him from threatening par and the day’s champion, Rubo, who shot a 73 to beat Walters by two shots. Haggart and Henrichs tied for third with 76s.
Viergutz tied Lakeland’s Lawson Bain for eighth place with an 8-over-par 80. Bain, Lakeland’s fourth man, had his best day of the spring in GNC play. Viergutz hit back-to-back birdies on the par-4 fifth hole and par-3 sixth hole to highlight his round. He also birdied the par-5 17th.
Hintz tied Rhinelander’s Samuel Schoppe and Anthony Gaetano of Northland Pines for 10th. They shot 81s. Hintz got birdies on the fourth and 16th holes. A triple bogey on the long 17th was the primary culprit keeping him from the 70s.
Liske was 15th with an 84 that included a third-hole birdie and eight pars. Ball was part of a four-way tie for 23rd and lowered his score by another stroke to 90, parring four holes and bogeying 10 more.
Rhinelander’s second-half surge continued as the Hodags were just two shots behind Medford at 325 and took over third place in the team standings. Northland Pines was fourth at 338, Tomahawk had its best showing with a fifth-place score of 348, Mosinee slumped to sixth at 351 and Antigo was seventh for a second straight meet at 353.
Oriole Invitational
On Saturday, Medford made its annual trip to Whispering Pines Golf Course in Cadott for the 15-team Stanley-Boyd Invitational. The Raiders took third behind two teams they’ll probably run into during WIAA Division 2 tournament competition, McDonell-Regis (300) and Bloomer (316). Durand-Arkansaw was fourth at 329 and Neillsville was a distant fifth at 354. Lingen and Hintz had solid days on the par-72 course. Lingen was sixth out of 75 golfers with his 5-over-par 77. He hit par on 13 holes and birdied the 432-yard, par-4 16th. Double bogeys on the par-5 seventh and 17th holes added just enough to Lingen’s score to keep him out of the top five.
Hintz’s round of 78 tied him with Josh Brickner of McDonell-Regis for seventh place. He was strong on the course’s back nine holes, shooting 3-over the par of 36 there and parring seven holes. He birdied the par-4 second and par-5 seventh holes and was plus-3 on the front nine as well.
Viergutz was part of a three-way tie for 14th at 83, including birdies on the second and seventh holes. Starting on hole nine, he had a strong finish to his day by going 1-over on the course’s front nine. Liske tied for 20th with his 85 that included eight pars and just two double bogeys. Ball was again among the best fifth men of the field, shooting a 92 that included just two double bogeys, both on par-5s.
Andrew Bauer of McDonell-Regis had an outstanding round, shooting a 4-under-par 68 to win by three shots over Logan Weissinger of Durand-Arkansaw and Ben Biskupski of McDonell-Regis. Neillsville’s Tucker Johnson (75) and Bloomer’s Connor Gould (76) were fourth and fifth.
Holmen was sixth in team scoring at 358, followed by Colfax-Elk Mound (375), Osseo-Fairchild (376), Columbus Catholic (388), Marathon (399), Whitehall (403), Stanley-Boyd (405), Cadott (420), Eleva-Strum (425) and Colby (477).
Riley Viergutz Second Team
Zach Hintz Second Team
Lucas Liske Hon. Mention
Matt Haase Coach of Year
