Lingen wins windy Marshfield Invite; Raiders 4th at the Dells

On a difficult day to score well, Medford senior Connor Lingen did it best at Tuesday’s Marshfield Golf Invitational held at RiverEdge Golf Course.

Lingen’s winning score of 81 topped a field of 81 golfers and led the Medford Raiders to a fifth-place finish in the nineteam event. The meet gave the Raiders a chance to scout the course the WIAA Division 1 regional meet will be held on next month.

The Division 1 teams who were there just hope the conditions will be a bit more favorable on May 21. The winds, gusting toward 40 mph at times on Tuesday, ranked among the top three windiest days Medford head coach Matt Haase said he could ever recall experiencing on a golf course.

Lingen navigated his way through a steady round that featured nine pars and nine bogeys on the 6,278-yard course. Lingen edged Merrill’s Jacob Schmeltzer by one shot to win the individual title. D.C. Everest’s Tanner Courtright was two shots behind and Wausau West’s Ryan Trucco and Stevens Point’s Carter Combs tied for fourth with 84s.

Stevens Point won the meet with a team score of 349. Merrill was 13 shots behind, Marshfield was third at 365 and D.C. Everest was fourth at 367, two shots ahead of the fifth-place Raiders.

Medford outscored Wausau West (373), Marathon (383), Newman Catholic (402) and Antigo (430).

Raider senior Riley Viergutz almost cracked the top 10, falling one shot short and falling into a four-way tie for 11th with a 90. He started on hole eight and then had a tough time on the back nine, shooting a 51, but he finished strong, with a couple of pars and birdies on the par-4 265-yard third hole and the 503-yard par-5 fourth hole.

Grant Neubauer was part of a six-way tie for 31st with his 97. He also birdied the third hole, which was his final hole of the day. Alex Wanke was part of a three-way tie for 46th with his score of 101. He birdied the third hole and added three pars. Aidan Ball tied for 63rd at 108.

The Raiders are off until Tuesday when they start a stretch of four meets in four days with the first Great Northern Conference meet of the season. Tomahawk is set to host that meet at 3 p.m. at Inshalla Country Club.

On Wednesday, Medford heads to the Sheboygan Falls Invitational at The Bull, a meet the Raiders won last year. Medford then hosts its annual invitational at Black River Golf Course at noon on April 25 and then hosts the second GNC meet on April 26 starting at 3 p.m.

4th at the Dells

The Raiders’ 2024 season teed off Monday at Trappers Turn in Wisconsin Dells, where five Great Northern Conference schools held a season-opening meet. The rest of the schools played a twoday event there. Medford only competed Monday so it could play at Marshfield.

The Raiders posted a team score of 343 to place fourth on Monday ahead of Northland Pines (365). Lakeland shot a 304 to finish comfortably ahead of Mosinee (317) and Rhinelander (330).

Lingen led Medford, shooting an even-par 72 on the 5,771-yard course to place third out of 40 golfers. Mosinee’s Jett Walters had the top score of the day with a 70, one shot ahead of Lakeland’s Jack Rubo. Lingen was two shots ahead of fourth-place golfer Matt Haggart of Lakeland.

Lingen was 2-over-par on the front nine, but birdied the par-4, 305-yard 10th hole and the 491-yard, par-5 12th hole. He also birdied the par-4, 469-yard 18th to offset a bogey on 11 to shoot a 34 on the back nine.

Neubauer was 17th with an 87 that included a birdie on the par-4, 272-yard fifth hole and four pars. Klingbeil was 19th with a 91. He shot a solid 41 on the front nine that included back-to-back birdies on the 133-yard, par-3 seventh hole and the par-5, 443-yard eighth hole. He was bogey or better on 13 of 18 holes.

Ball and Viergutz tied for 20th with 92s. While it certainly wasn’t Viergutz’s best day, he did earn birdies on the fifth, eighth and 16th holes.