Golfers win two meets, 2nd twice on home course

Thirty-six holes in two days on their home course produced two second-place finishes last week for the Medford golf team, who inched closer on Friday to knocking off the Great Northern Conference’s recent dynasty.

The Raiders carded a team score of 328 in the second GNC meet of the spring to fall just six strokes behind Lakeland, who put three golfers in the top 10 and shot a 322 to open up a two-point lead over Medford in the team standings at this early point in the season.

The most common comments heard on the course Friday were about the challenging pin placements on the Black River Golf Course greens, which added some strokes to players’ scores early on, but most golfers seemed to make adjustments and produced some solid scores by day’s end.

The Raiders actually improved by five strokes over the previous day and were led by Connor Lingen, who tied Antigo’s Cody Parsons for third place in the individual standings with a round of 75. He was actu- ally 2-under-par through 14 holes with one triple bogey on his second time on the course’s eighth hole ruining his run at a par-72 score and a shot at winning the meet’s individual championship.

Lingen shot an even-par 36 on his first nine holes, including birdies on the par-4 third and seventh holes and one on the par-5 fifth. Back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes the second time through temporarily put him under par late.

Mosinee’s Jett Walters was the day’s champion with a 2-under-par 70. He was 1-over after nine holes but turned four birdies and four pars into a 3-under-par 33 the second time through. Lakeland’s Matt Haggart shot a 2-over-par 74 with rounds of 38 and 36.

Walters holds the lead in the GNC’s individual standings through two meets with 19.5 points. Lingen is in second place with 14.5, just ahead of Lakeland’s Gray Wagner (13) and Haggart (12).

Medford’s Zach Hintz started his day on hole two and was 4-over through three holes before settling in. He played evenpar golf through the next 10 holes and wound up with a 78 for the day, good for sixth place, one shot behind Rhinelander’s Andrew Henrichs. Hintz birdied the second hole to start his second round.

Riley Viergutz placed 12 for Medford with an 87 and Lucas Liske was 13th with his best round of the season so far, shooting an 88 that included four pars and a birdie on the par-4 third hole that began his second round. Aidan Ball equaled his 97 from the previous day. Nick Cipar filled a spot in the last threesome and shot a 125.

The Raiders were seven strokes ahead of Rhinelander, who took third at 335, 18 shots better than the previous day at Black River. Mosinee was fourth at 347, followed by Antigo (355), Northland Pines (365) and Tomahawk (375).

The Raiders hold a three-point lead over third-place Mosinee through two meets.

The next GNC meet is in Rhinelander on Monday, followed by Antigo on Tuesday. The league meet scheduled for today, Thursday, at Northland Pines has moved to May 12, bumping the Lakeland meet to May 15.

The Raiders were at the Holmen Invitational Wednesday and will head to Erin Hills for Saturday’s MACC Fund Invitational hosted by Hartland Arrowhead.

Medford Invite

The Raiders prepped for Friday’s conference meet with a second-place finish in Thursday’s Medford Invitational on the Black River Golf Course. Lakeland again won the meet with a team score of 316, while the Raiders were 17 shots back at 333. Medford finished with a 20-stroke margin over third-place Rhinelander.

A Medford II team placed seventh at 456, trailing Marathon (366), Prentice (380) and Hurley (393).

Lingen led Medford with a 77, shooting rounds of 40 and 37. That was good for third place individually behind Lakeland’s Haggart (74) and Jack Rubo (75). Lingen had four birdies to his credit to help him stay 5-over-par for the day. He got back-to-back birdies during his first round on the par-5 fifth and par-4 sixth holes. He birdied the fifth again as well as the par-4 eighth his second time through.

Hintz started with two double bogeys but then got into a consistent groove and had just one more double bogey the rest of the day and finished with a 79, good for a fourth-place tie with Rhinelander’s Samuel Schoppe. Hintz parred 12 holes and birdied the par-3 ninth late in the meet.

Viergutz tied Hurley’s Gavyn Moncher and Wagner for ninth with his 82 (3943). After a double bogey on hole two, he got on a nice run on the last seven holes of his first nine, notching birdies on the par-4 third and par-5 fifth and three pars.

Liske was 18th with 95 and closed with pars on three of his last four holes and Ball tied Prentice’s Daemen Hartmann for 19th with his score of 97.

For Medford II, Grant Neubauer tied for 27th with a 108, Cipar was 29th with his 110, Alex Wanke tied for 31st at 114 and Evan Fechhelm tied for 41st at 124.

Hurley II was eighth in the team standings at 486 and Phillips was ninth at 540.

Champions at The Bull

Medford claimed its first event championship of 2023 on April 26, taking the 16-team Sheboygan Falls Invitational which was played at The Bull at Pinehurst Farms, the only golf course in Wisconsin designed by golf legend Jack Nicklaus.

The Raiders tamed the par-72, 7,300yard course with a score of 330, that beat runner-up West De Pere by four strokes. The host Falcons were third at 339, Manitowoc was fourth at 344 and Sheboygan Lutheran was fifth at 351.

Lingen shot a 5-over-par 77 that included just one double bogey, eight pars and three birdies. He birdied the par-4, 416-yard second hole and par-3, 216-yard third hole, along with a long par-4 10th. Lingen tied West De Pere’s Mason Haupt for second place individually. They were two shots behind Landon Stanislowski of Manitowoc.

Viergutz was fifth with his 81 that also featured just one double bogey. His consistent round featured eight pars and a 10th-hole birdie. Hintz tied Jack Macgillis of Sheboygan Lutheran for eighth place out of 79 golfers with a round of 83. He had a mid-round run of par or better on eight of 10 holes that included a birdie on the par-4, 475-yard 14th.

Liske carded his second straight 89 to start the season and tied for 18th place. His round included a birdie on the 560yard, par-5 eighth hole. Ball tied for 63rd place with a 111 that included a par on the par-3 15th hole.

The rest of the team scores were: 6. Plymouth and West Bend West, 364; 8. Kewaskum, 377; 9. Sheboygan South, 384; 10. Waupun, 391; 11. West Bend East, 396; 12. Cedar Grove-Belgium, 404; 13. Valders, 413; 14. Sheboygan North, 423; 15. Chilton and New Holstein, 453.

Marathon meet

Meet championship number two of the 2023 season came Tuesday when the Raiders won the Marathon Invitational held at Pine Valley Golf Course.

With cold temperatures and winds still howling out of the north, scoring low wasn’t easy. But the Raiders made the best of it and posted a team score of 349 to edge conference rivals Mosinee and Rhinelander, who tied for second at 354.

Lingen shot a 9-over-par 80 to place fourth out of 52 golfers in the meet. He had just one double bogey and parred 10 holes during his round. Hintz was one place and two strokes behind Lingen. He had one of Medford’s two birdies on the day, with his coming on the par-4 15th hole. He too had just one hole that wasn’t bogey or better.

Viergutz tied for 11th place with his 88 that included a birdie on the par-5 first hole. He had a solid 41 on the front nine. Neubauer filled a varsity spot for Medford and shot a 99, while Ball shot a 50 on the back nine to finish at 108.

Newman Catholic’s Connor Krach was the meet medalist with a 6-over-par 77 that led the Cardinals to a fourth-place team score of 356. Schoppe and Walters tied for second with 79s.

Prentice was fifth in the team scoring at 367, followed by Marathon (370), Tomahawk (373), Wisconsin Rapids Assumption (403), Hurley (421) and the Marathon JV (435).

Zach Hintz chips on to the seventh green during Thursday’s Medford Invite.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS

Lucas Liske watches a long putt roll toward the cup on the fifth green during Friday’s Great Northern Conference meet at Black River Golf Course. He made a par putt on this hole and posted a solid score of 88 for the day.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS

The Medford golfers earned the team championship at Wednesday’s Sheboygan Falls Invitational with a team score of 330. Golfers include Zach Hintz, Aidan Ball, Lucas Liske, Connor Lingen and Riley Viergutz.