MEDFORD GOLF - Hintz ties for 3rd in GNC finale; gets second-team spot

MEDFORD GOLF

Zach Hintz secured his second-team spot on the All-Great Northern Conference golf award list with a strong outing Monday at Medford’s Black River Golf Course.

Medford’s top senior golfer carded an 18-hole score of 79, 7-over-par, during the final GNC meet of the season, good for a third-place tie with Samuel Shrock of Northland Pines. They were three shots behind the day’s winner, Ryder Will of Northland Pines, and one shot behind runner-up Oliver Childers of Tomahawk. Tomahawk’s Jake Albert and Antigo’s Ean Perry tied for fifth with 80s.

By adding 7.5 points to his season point total, Hintz finished with 21.5 points in GNC competition, good for eighth place in the individual standings. He earned one of the five second-team spots for the third All-GNC award of his career. He also landed on the second team as a sophomore and got honorable mention as a freshman.

Teamwise, it was another tough day for the Raiders, who finished seventh at 376.

The meet started under partly cloudy skies and without much wind, but that changed midway through as a strong east wind blew in and made things more challenging for the 35 golfers.

Northland Pines handled the conditions the best and won the day’s meet with a score of 329, two shots better than Tomahawk. Mosinee was third at 341. Lakeland already had the conference championship clinched, but the T-Birds took a surprising tumble to fourth place at 350. That was Lakeland’s lowest finish in a GNC meet since 2016.

Rhinelander (352) and Antigo (357) also finished ahead of Medford.

Lakeland finished with 44.5 team points, while Northland Pines settled comfortably into second place with 39.5 points, eight more than third-place Mosinee. Tomahawk had a muchimproved season and took fourth with 29 points. The Hatchets jumped over Rhinelander (28.5) with their runner-up finish Monday. Antigo (14) and Medford (9) finished sixth and seventh.

Hintz started on hole five and settled into his game once he got to hole one. Six pars and a birdie on the par-4, 400-yard seventh hole gave him a 1-over-par 37 on that run through the nine-hole course. He then finished up with pars on one, two and three and a birdie on four as he pushed toward meet medalist contention.

Medford senior Evan Fechhelm shot a 95 to earn the team’s second scoring spot. He put three pars and nine bogeys on his scorecard. Senior Alex Wanke had a run of three straight pars at one point in his round of 98. Senior Grant Neubauer returned to action but, despite a birdie on hole one the first time he played it, it wasn’t his day with a 104. Cooper Klingbeil parred five holes while finishing at 106.

Lakeland’s Jeremy Hensen did not make the top 10 and did not score Monday, but he wrapped up the individual championship and the GNC Player of the Year award with 38.33 points. Mosinee’s Alex Steppke tied for eighth Monday and finished second overall with 34 points, one more than Will, who won the last two meets. Mosinee’s Braiden Hoehn (31.5) and Lakeland’s Talan Pockat (30.5) filled out the five-player All-GNC first team.

Medford next heads to the WIAA Division 2 regional meet, which will be hosted by Maple Northwestern Tuesday at Hiddens Green North. The top four teams and top four individuals from non-qualifying teams advance to the June 3 sectional at Hayward.

GNC #6 Golfers had to contend with some windy conditions Friday at the sixth GNC meet of the spring, hosted by Northland Pines at the Eagle River Golf Course.

Medford finished seventh with a team score of 373, 15 strokes behind sixth-place Tomahawk. Lakeland won the meet at 322 and opened up an eight-point lead in the standings, clinching the school’s seventh straight conference championship.

The T-Birds beat the host Eagles by two shots as those two teams separated themselves from the rest of the pack in this meet. Rhinelander was a distant third at 340, followed by Mosinee (345), Antigo (355), Tomahawk (358) and Medford.

The good news for Medford was the return to the lineup for Hintz. He led the team with a 14-over-par 85. It took him a few holes to settle in, but he had a strong back nine, going 4-over for a 39 there with six pars and two bogeys. He just missed adding to his GNC point total, tying Rhinelander’s Sam Schoppe for 12th place. They were one shot out of a 10th-place tie.

Wanke was 24th with his score of 90 (42-48). He parred five holes on the front nine of the course. Fechhelm shot a 45 on the front nine and finished at 96, tying for 29th place. Klingbeil was 33rd at 102 and Fletcher Frombach parred four holes while shooting a 46 on the front nine. A tough back nine put him at 111.

Will used the home course advantage and won the meet with a 5-over-par 76. Pockat and Hensen tied for second at 78. Hensen took over the GNC individual lead with 8.5 points as the leader going into the meet, Hoehn, missed the top 10 and did not score. Hensen left Eagle River Friday with a 6.83-point lead over Steppke, all but assuring he’d be the GNC’s Player of the Year.

Will moved up to sixth place with his 10-point day. Anderson Kielty of Northland Pines was fourth for the day at 80 and Steppke and Mosinee’s Brody LaPorte tied for fifth at 81.

Medford’s Evan Fechhelm executes a short chip shot, putting his ball on the holetwo green during Monday’s meet at Black River Golf Course. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS

Zach Hintz Second Team