MEDFORD GOLF PREVIEW - Lingen, Viergutz lead golfers; Raiders bumped up to D-1

MEDFORD GOLF PREVIEW

Three returning seniors figure to lock up 60% of the varsity lineup for Medford’s 2024 golf team, but from there the competition has begun to see who will fill the other two spots and who will take the lead roles on the JV side of things.

Third-year head coach Matt Haase saw his program’s roster double in the off-season, going from 13 at the end of last spring to 26 to start this year. Time on the courses to start seeing what he and new JV coach Stu Amundson was slim through the first two official weeks, but that worm started to turn when the Raiders were able to hit Whispering Pines in Cadott for a practice Friday and local courses on the verge of re-opening early this week with the return of spring weather.

“We’re doing well,” Haase said Friday. “We’ve been outside already at a golf course. We had a couple of captains’ practices, which is historic. We were able to have some captains’ practices on an open golf course before the season even started, so that was awesome. We had one shortgame practice out at Black River (before the snow returned).”

The Raiders are shooting to begin 2024 competition on Monday at Trappers Turn in Wisconsin Dells. Several Great Northern Conference squads are scheduled for two days of golf there, both at the varsity and JV levels. Medford, however, will duck out on Tuesday’s varsity play to compete instead at the Marshfield Invitational at RiverEdge Golf Course.

That Marshfield meet takes on a little more importance this year as Medford will be taking notes on the course in preparation for its May 21 return in WIAA competition.

One of the big stories for Medford this spring is its move back to Division 1 for WIAA post-season play. The Raiders haven’t been in D-1 since 2003. From 2004-23, Medford teams advanced out of regional tournaments to sectional play 14 out of 19 seasons and had individuals qualify in three of the five years the Raiders didn’t make it as a team. Medford had won Division 2 regional championships the past two years.

It will get a little tougher to advance this year, especially at the team level, with Medford facing mostly Wisconsin Valley Conference teams at the Marshfield regional and teams and players from the WVC and Big Rivers Conference at the May 28 sectional meet at Troy Burne Golf Club in Hudson.

Seniors Connor Lingen and Riley Viergutz are this year’s captains and senior Aidan Ball also returns after a strong finish to his junior season.

Lingen ended last season in WIAA Division 2 state competition at Black Wolf Run with a 22nd-place finish individually. He got there by earning the last individual spot from the McDonell-Regis sectional in a playoff tiebreaker. He finished fourth in the Great Northern Conference with 46.5 points to earn first-team All-GNC honors.

Viergutz had his best varsity season so far as a junior, earning second-team All-GNC honors. He placed seventh in the final standings with 23.5 points. Both Viergutz and Lingen are entering their fourth seasons in the varsity lineup.

“They’re our senior captains and they’ve already shown in the putting practices and the short game practice that they are top dogs, and I know the guys respect them and watch them,” Haase said.

After the state tournament, Lingen competed on the Wisconsin Junior Golf circuit over the summer and appears poised for a big season with the Raiders.

“Having a year like last year for Connor, where you go to the highest level and then you play in a lot of big events over the summer, he’s reached levels that not a lot of kids will ever reach,” Haase said. “Once you get there, the small-time high school varsity meets don’t seem like a very big deal anymore and you start shooting some really good scores. I think we’re going to see some really good stuff out of him. Riley too, I know he’s going to have his best year ever. He’s really matured over the years.”

Ball started last spring hovering around the 100 mark but he got his scores down in the second half of the year, finishing with an impressive 86 at the sectional.

“Aidan Ball is back and he has a great attitude, which he’s always had,” Haase said. “I expect him to be on the varsity all year. He’s got experience, he’s got a good head on him. I expect him to be a top contributor.”

Medford lost Lucas Liske, an All-GNC honorable mentionee, to graduation and, as of now, it appears Zach Hintz won’t be able to compete. He was Medford’s second-best scorer overall in 2023, won the individual regional championship and placed ninth in the GNC standings. Who will fill those two spots is uncertain right now. Juniors Evan Fechhelm, Grant Neubauer and Alex Wanke are back from last year and should be in that mix, Haase said. Neubauer played with the varsity a few times last spring, including the last GNC meet and Wanke was on the varsity roster for the last regular-season meet at McDonell-Regis. Others that Haase said showed some potential in their limited early-season practices included senior newcomers Cameron Bull and Cody Weiler and freshman Cooper Klingbeil. He is one of nine freshmen who are giving golf a try. Austin Klinger and Kadri Valdi also are new seniors, while Donavyn Scheinoha has been with the program the past two years.

“I went to the spring sports sign-up meeting and I was extremely pleasantly surprised,” Haase said. “Not necessarily the freshmen, I wasn’t too surprised with them, but I was surprised with all of the upperclassmen that joined.”

Haase was named GNC Coach of the Year the past two seasons after leading Medford to second-place finishes in each season. Lakeland is on a five-year run as conference champions, but Medford did become the first team to beat Lakeland in a GNC meet last spring at Antigo. The Thunderbirds, who tied for 11th in last year’s Division 1 state meet, have to remain the favorite until someone knocks them off their perch.

Lakeland fell back to Division 2 this year after two years in Division 1. The T-Birds tied for fourth in the 2022 Division 1 state tournament and were second in Division 2 in 2021. Medford and Rhinelander are now the GNC’s lone Division 1 squads. Rhinelander was eight points behind Medford while taking third in the GNC last spring.

Individually, the conference returns plenty of talent. Of the league’s 15 individual award winners last year, only three were seniors. The top three players, Mosinee’s Jett Walters and Lakeland’s Jack Rubo and Matt Haggart were all juniors, along with second-team golfers Gray Wagner of Lakeland and Owen Dickrell of Tomahawk.

“(Going to D-1 was) very much a surprise,” Haase said. “I don’t know that it’s that much of a difference individually, D-1 to D-2, to get to state. I’m guessing it would be a stroke or two less in the D-1 sectional, but I fully expect Connor and Riley to have a really good chance of making it down there. Both of them can shoot scores in the low 70s, mid 70s, which could get the job done on that day.”