MEDFORD GOLF - Golfers 5th at Rhinelander; four GNC meets still to come in final week

MEDFORD GOLF

Connor Lingen and Riley Viergutz both earned individual points Monday in the Great Northern Conference’s third meet of the season, which was held at the Rhinelander Country Club.

Medford placed fifth in the meet, just missing out on placing as high as third, with its team score of 345. The Raiders were two shots behind fourth-place Rhinelander and three strokes behind third-place Northland Pines.

Lakeland continued to dominate, winning its third straight meet of the season at 325, five strokes ahead of Mosinee.

By finishing ahead of Tomahawk (365), the Raiders moved ahead of Tomahawk into sole possession of fifth place in the team standings through three GNC meets. Antigo was seventh Monday with a team score of 388.

The meet was originally scheduled for Thursday at Rhinelander’s Northwood Golf Course, but a drenching rain that day forced the day and site to be changed.

On this more unfamiliar territory, Lingen started with a birdie on the par-5, 519-yard ninth hole and then carded a 3-over-par 39 on the course’s back nine holes. That included four pars and another par-5 birdie on the 525-yard 18th hole. Lingen’s 2-over 37 on the front nine included yet another par-5 birdie on the 456-yard first hole.

Lingen’s 76 was good for a threeway tie with Mosinee’s Jett Walters and Rhinelander’s Sam Schoppe for second place. The trio was one shot behind Lakeland’s Jack Rubo. With 29 points through three meets, Rubo holds the lead in the race for GNC Player of the year, 3.5 points ahead of Lingen.

Viergutz is tied with Northland Pines’ Ryder Will for seventh place in the individual standings after he gained five points Monday with his sixth-place score of 78. Viergutz and Will have eight points each.

In his round Monday, Viergutz was particularly strong on the back nine, shooting a 2-over 38 that included seven pars and two bogeys. He birdied the par-4 fourth hole as well.

Medford’s Grant Neubauer shot a 94 that included three pars and a birdie on the par-3, 122-yard 17th hole. He placed 26th. Cooper Klingbeil was 28th with his round of 97. He parred four holes and bogeyed seven more. Alex Wanke was the fifth man for the Raiders Monday. He was 32nd with a 106 that included 11 bogeys. Two tough holes hurt what otherwise was a solid round.

Mosinee’s Alex Steppke earned his first GNC points with a fifth-place score of 77. Anderson Kielty of Northand Pines was seventh with his 79, Lakeland’s Matt Haggart and Gray Wagner tied for eighth with 81s and Tomahawk’s Sawyer Hanna was 10th with an 82.

The fourth GNC meet at Antigo scheduled for Tuesday was postponed, meaning Friday’s meet at Northland Pines now becomes the fourth one. That will be held at the Eagle River Golf Course at 3 p.m. Mosinee hosts the fifth meet Tuesday at Indianhead Golf Course and Antigo will now host the sixth meet Wednesday at Bass Lake Country Club. Lakeland gets the seventh and final meet May 16 at Timber Ridge.

MACC Fund

Viergutz led Medford’s group of four with a solid 76 at Saturday’s 18th annual MACC Fund Invitational at The Club at Lac LaBelle, hosted by Hartland Arrowhead.

The event features meets at two courses, with Erin Hills, being the other and raises fund for Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer. The tournament has raised more than $1 million since its inception.

Medford placed 25th out of 28 participating teams at Lac LaBelle with a team score of 366, beating Ellsworth, Nicolet and the incomplete team from Brookfield Academy.

Viergutz was among 10 golfers who shot 5-over-par 76s and tied for 21st place out of 111 golfers. Starting on hole 10, he was 3-over on the back nine with a 39, including birdies on the par-5 12th and 16th holes, both of which are 500-plus yards in length. He parred both of the par-3s on that half. Viergutz was 2-over on the front nine at 37 with five pars and a birdie on the 492-yard par-5 fifth hole.

Lingen was one of six golfers who tied for 49th place with 79s. Lingen also started on hole 10 and shot a 41 on the back nine. Birdies on the par-4 first hole and par-4 seventh hole helped him go down to a 38 on the front nine.

Klingbeil shot a 104 and Neubauer shot a 107.

Peyton Albers of Waunakee was the individual champion with a 3-underpar 68, one stroke ahead of KC Nickel of Waunakee and Owen Kuepper of Hartford. Luke Weiss of Middleton was fourth with a 1-under-par 70. Germantown’s Cody Schmidt, Oconomowoc’s Jack Pilachowski and Waukesha North’s Brady Noble all were even with 71s.

Waunakee led the team standings with an outstanding score of 291. The Warriors were six shots ahead of Oconomowoc. Germantown and Waukesha North also broke 300 with 298s. Middleton (301) and Green Bay Notre Dame (302) were fifth and sixth.

Nekoosa Invite

Medford posted a team score of 362 and placed seventh out of 20 teams at the May 1 Nekoosa Invitational, held on The Lakes Course at Lake Arrowhead.

The meet brought teams from all three divisions, headed by nine Division 1 schools, seven of whom took the top spots. Wisconsin Rapids won the meet at 330, followed by Sauk Prairie (337), Hartford (338), Stoughton (345), Wausau West (349), Marshfield (359) and Medford. Division 2 teams Black River Falls (368), Wautoma-Wild Rose (369) and Wisconsin Dells (370) rounded out the top 10.

Lingen shot a 10-over-par 82 to tie for eighth place with Sauk Prairie’s Gavin Falde and Garret Mittelstaedt. He started on hole 10 and shot 6-over for a 42 on the back nine, including a birdie on the 125yard, par-3 16th. He was plus-four on the front nine with birdies on the par-3, 127yard third hole and the 335-yard, par-4 fifth.

Jax Pagel of Wisconsin Rapids shot a 4-over-par 76 to win the individual title. Pagel was three strokes ahead of Stoughton’s Camdyn Ketelsen. There was a four-way tie for third at 80 between Carter Morrison of Rapids, Trey Reilly and Carson Armstrong of Wautoma-Wild Rose and Owen Kuepper of Hartford. Marathon’s Blake Kraft was seventh with his 81.

Viergutz tied for 35th out of 99 golfers with a 90 that included seven pars and a birdie on the 364-yard, par-4 first hole. Klingbeil and Aidan Ball tied for 53rd with 95s. Klingbeil had four pars and a birdie on the par-5, 479-yard 12th hole. Ball parred three holes and bogeyed eight. Neubauer was 56th with a 96. He shot a solid 44 on the back nine with eight bogeys and a par after starting on hole nine.