WIAA DIV. 2 GOLF - Hintz is top individual qualifier at regional; team places ninth

WIAA DIV. 2 GOLF

Medford golfer Zach Hintz nearly qualified for the WIAA Division 2 state tournament as a freshman and he’ll get one more shot at it as a senior.

Hintz shot a 9-over-par 81 Tuesday at the WIAA Division 2 Northwestern regional, a score that made him the top individual sectional qualifier from the 10team meet.

Hintz tied Lakeland’s Talan Pockat for ninth overall out of 50 golfers, but the eight golfers above him were all from the four teams that advanced to the sectional meet set for Wednesday, June 4 at the Hayward Golf Course. Hintz as well as Tomahawk’s Sawyer Hanna and Spooner’s Simon Allatt, who tied for 13th with 83s, earned three of the four individual sectional berths. The fourth came down to a three-way playoff between Tomahawk’s Jake Albert, Northwestern’s Noah Bourque and Barron’s Wesley Mickelson, who tied for 15th with 84s. Bourque won the playoff by parring the first hole.

As a team, Medford finished ninth with a score of 384. The Raiders beat Ashland by four strokes. The top two teams this spring in the Great Northern Conference, Lakeland and Northland Pines were the top two teams Tuesday with scores of 317 and 320 respectively. Rice Lake took third at 326 and Hayward was the fourth sectional qualifier at 337, eight shots ahead of the Northwestern Tigers.

Tomahawk (347), Barron (362) and Spooner (381) also finished ahead of Medford.

Hintz had just one double-bogey on the 6,155-yard course at Hidden Greens North, located in Solon Springs. That came on the par-5, 470-yard 16th hole. He parred 10 holes overall, shot a 4-over-par 40 on the front nine and was 5-over with a 41 on the back nine.

Lakeland’s Davis Koch won the regional’s individual championship with a 74, two shots better than Rice Lake’s Ben Vande Voort and three strokes ahead of Anderson Kielty of Northland Pines. Lakeland’s Jeremy Hensen, the GNC Player of the Year was fourth with a 78. Ryder Will and Anthony Gaetano of Northland Pines and Keifer Kucko of Rice Lake tied for fifth with 79s and Carter Roach of Hayward was eighth with an 80.

At the Hayward sectional, the top two teams and the top three individuals from non-qualifying teams will advance to the June 9-10 state meet at University Ridge in Madison. This will be Hintz’s third sectional appearance. As a freshman at Antigo in 2022, he got into a three-man playoff for the last two state spots and came up short after shooting an 80. He also shot an 80 as a sophomore at the McDonell Central sectional, which was good for 20th place.

Senior Alex Wanke closed his Medford golf career with a 98 that tied him for 41st place. Two rough holes on the front nine hurt him, but he closed with a solid 47 on the back nine. Sophomore Cooper Klingbeil was 43rd with a 102. He parred three of his last six holes and shot a 48 on the back nine.

Senior Evan Fechhelm was 44th, one shot behind Klingbeil with his 103. He had one bad hole that put a damper on what was otherwise a decent front nine, where he wound up with three pars and a 49. Junior Talan Mitchell got Medford’s fifth spot in the lineup and tied for 45th place at 107, including a 51 on the front nine.