Golfers’ scores are coming down

The Medford golfers earned their first team championship of the 2024 season, claiming Monday’s 16-team Marathon Invitational behind top-five performances from their senior leaders Connor Lingen and Riley Viergutz.

The Raiders posted a season-low team score of 337 to win the meet by eight strokes over their Great Northern Conference rival Rhinelander. Host Marathon was 11 strokes off the pace on a gray and breezy day at Pine Valley Golf Course.

Lingen earned his third individual championship of the spring with a very consistent outing. He shot a 3-over-par 74 that put him six strokes ahead of his nearest competitors, Dylan Dodson of Marathon and Austin Lamer of Tomahawk. Viergutz shot an 81 to tie Prentice’s Eliah Harding for fourth place and earn a medal as well.

The team, however, lowered its score thanks to the efforts of its next three golfers. For the first time in 2024, no one was in danger of ending up in triple digits as freshman Cooper Klingbeil carded a 90 to place 19th out of 78 golfers and Aidan Ball and Grant Neubauer both shot 92s as part of a four-way tie for 23rd.

Lingen, who started his round on the course’s first hole, was 3-over on the first nine with seven pars. He bogey the par-4 seventh and got a double-bogey on the par-4 eighth.

A birdie on the par-4, 369-yard 10th hole set the stage for a solid back nine where Lingen shot an even-par 36 with seven pars and a bogey on the par-4, 426yard 12th.

Viergutz also started on hole one with his grouping and doubled that par-5, but he finished the front nine just 5-over-par with a 40 that included six pars. He birdied the 10th and par-5 11th holes as part of his 5-over 41 on the back nine.

Klingbeil shot 45 on both halves of the course with seven pars, including the par-5 1st and 14th holes. Ball closed with a solid 44 on the back nine with a par on the 11th and eight bogeys. Neubauer shot 46s on both halves with four pars.

Prentice placed fourth in the team standings at 349, led by Harding, Matti Heikkinen (eighth, 83) and Evan Lord (ninth, 84). Tomahawk was fifth at 350.

Newman Catholic (368), Three Lakes-Phelps (378), Hurley (384), Cadott (403), Marion (405), Wisconsin Rapids Assumption (406), Marathon II (409), Stanley-Boyd (425), Colby (431) and Thorp and Phillips (both 473) rounded out the field.

The Raiders were scheduled to play Wednesday at the Nekoosa Invitational. Their busy May continues today, Thursday, with the third Great Northern Conference meet of the spring, which will be hosted by Rhinelander at Northwood Golf Club. The Raiders take their annual trip to the Hartland Arrowhead MACC Fund Invitational on Saturday before returning to GNC play at Antigo Tuesday.

4th on Friday

The second Great Northern Conference meet of the season and the second meet in as many days on Medford’s Black River Golf Course resulted in a fourth-place finish for the Raiders with a team score of 345. That bumped the Raiders out of last place in the league standings and into a fifth-place tie with Tomahawk with five meets remaining.

Lakeland won its second straight GNC meet with a score of 309, well ahead of runner-up Mosinee (327) and third-place Rhinelander (339). Medford outshot Northland Pines (357), Tomahawk (375) and Antigo (407).

On a cool, gray, windy afternoon on the course, Lakeland’s Jack Rubo was the day’s top golfer with a strong 1-under-par round of 71, three strokes better than his teammate Matt Haggart.

Lingen tied Mosinee’s Jett Walters for third as both carded 4-over-par 76s. Lingen’s round included an eagle on the par-5, 500-yard fifth hole on his second time through. He birdied the hole the first time he played. He started his day with a birdie right before that on the par-4 fourth.

Lingen has 17.5 individual points through two GNC meets, good for second place behind Rubo (19).

A day after winning the Medford Invitational, Viergutz got his first three GNC points of the season by taking eighth with an 81. He started his round on the fifth hole and birdied it both times he played it. He added a birdie on the par-4, 400-yard third hole the first time he was on it.

Ball and Neubauer both shot 94s to tie for 23rd place. Playing as Medford’s number- four entry, Alex Wanke was 32nd with a 106. Klingbeil filled the home team’s sixth spot and shot a 101 to place 28th out of 36 golfers. Ball carded five pars and seven bogeys. A plus-five on his first hole, was his only hole higher than double bogey. Neubauer had four pars, seven bogeys and just one triple, which came on his first hole, the eighth.

Other high scorers for the day included Ryder Will of Northland Pines, who was fifth with a 78, Lakeland’s Gray Wagner, who was sixth at 79, and Rhinelander’s Blake Petroff, who was seventh with an 80.

Viergutz wins, Raiders 4th

On a sun-splashed Thursday at the Black River Golf Course, Viergutz won the Medford Invitational’s individual championship with his best-ever varsity score of 74, just 2 over par. He was one shot ahead of Haggart and Rubo, while Lingen tied Rhinelander’s Brody Kowieski for fourth with his 77.

The Raiders improved to a team score of 343, good for fourth in the nine-team meet, which included a Medford II squad that placed eighth at 388.

Lakeland won the meet at 313, easily outscoring Rhinelander (334) and Prentice (336).

“He’s been so capable for so long,” Medford head coach Matt Haase said of Viergutz’s round. “I’m so happy he put it all together. Hopefully this is a confidence booster that takes him to the next level throughout the rest of the season. We’ve been working on staying positive and staying current for so long, not letting past shots affect our mindset. He’s got a lot more gas in the tank yet.”

Viergutz started on hole one and had a bogey and a double before turning things around with a birdie on the dogleg-right, 400-yard par-4 third. He came up short on an eagle putt but birdied the fifth hole, then parred eight straight holes before getting another birdie on the five.

Lingen also started on hole one and carded rounds of 38 and 39 for his 5-over 77. He had one double on the fifth hole on his second round and he birdied the third, also on his second round.

Ball got down to a 95 to tie for 23rd, Neubauer was 29th with his 97 and Cameron Bull tied for 30th, lowering his score to an even 100. Ball started his round with a string of five straight bogeys and had one rough hole ruin his chance of breaking 90. Neubauer birdied the par-3 ninth holes and the 276-yard, par-4 fourth during his round. Bull had five pars.

Klingbeil got off to a solid start with pars on four of his first nine holes and led Medford II with a 92 that placed 19th overall. Cody Weiler tied for 26th at 96, Fischer Thums was 36th at 105 and Evan Fechhelm was 38th at 108.

Wagner, Harding and Heikkinen all tied for sixth with 79s. Newman Catholic was fifth in the team standings at 370, followed by Marathon (380) and Hurley (387). Phillips was ninth at 528.

9th at The Bull

Lingen and Viergutz were one shot apart with scores of 82 and 83 during Medford’s ninth-place finish at the 16team Sheboygan Falls Falcon Invitational held at The Bull on April 24.

Lingen’s 10-over-par put him in a fourway tie for fifth-place with West De Pere’s Mason Haupt, Kettle Moraine Lutheran’s Andrew Luebke and Plymouth’s Brennan Helmer. Viergutz then tied for ninth with Kettle Moraine Lutheran’s William Strohm.

An eight on the par-4 11th was the only thing that kept Lingen from competing for the meet championship, which was shared by Jack Guentner of Sheboygan Falls and Darrien Thomas of West De Pere, who both shot 79s. Otherwise Lingen had seven pars, eight bogeys and birdied par-5 13th and par-5 17th holes.

Viergutz birdied the par-4 fifth and par-4 11th holes and recorded six pars in his 11-over outing that was his best of the season to that point.

Neubauer tied for 50th with a 97 that included a birdie on the par-3 third hole. Bull improved by five strokes over his first varsity meet the day before with a 106 that might have gotten under triple digits had it not been for a rough 16th hole. Ball shot a 111 that included pars on the par-3 sixth and 12th holes.

Collin Draeger of Kettle Moraine Lutheran and Anthony Pietrangelo tied for third with 80s.

Kettle Moraine Lutheran won the meet with a team score of 332, four strokes better than Plymouth and seven ahead of West De Pere. West Bend West was fourth at 345 and Sheboygan Falls (350), Howards Grove (357), Sheboygan South (362), West Bend East (367), Medford (368) and Waupun (371) rounded out the top 10.

Watched by Rhinelander’s Blake Petroff, Medford’s Grant Neubauer wedges out of the sand and on to the seventh green during Thursday’s Medford Invitational at Black River Golf Course. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS

Medford’s Cameron Bull taps in a short par putt on the seventh green during Thursday’s Medford Invitational. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS