Published: May 5, 2016
A battle for par
West’s Rohlinger is low medalist
Daily News
TOWN OF HARTFORD — At first, West Bend West’s Max Rohlinger hit into
the wind. Then he hit downwind. Going from one direction to the other
frustrated the junior.
He either overestimated the wind or underestimated it.
Then, after sticking his second shot on the par-4 294-yard No. 8 about
12 feet from the pin, Rohlinger gently rolled a right-to-left breaking
putt for a birdie.
From there, he found a groove.
Rohlinger shot an even-par 36 to take low-medalist honors in
Wednesday’s Wisconsin Little Ten Conference mini-meet at Washington
County Golf Course.
“I was happy with how I played,” Rohlinger said.
Beaver Dam took first with 162 and Oconomowoc was second with 166. West
finished third with 168, followed by Hartford Union (170), West Bend
East (174), Slinger (175) and Watertown (184).
“The conditions were a little windy, so you figured scores would be up
a little bit,” West coach John Minz said. “The first two guys did their
job. They came in with great scores.
“Our next three guys have to see where they can find a stroke here and there.”
Kevin Albrecht shot a 41 for West from the No. 2-spot.
For West, the day was a hit in its quest for a second straight WLT championship.
Going into Wednesday’s meet, the Golden Beavers led the Spartans by
one point (10-11) in the standings. After Wednesday’s round, the Golden
Beavers hold a three-point edge on the Spartans (11-14) with two
nine-hole matches to go.
The May 18 conference championship meet at Horicon Hills is worth
double points and the team with the fewest points at the end of the
tournament wins the conference championship.
West isn’t ready to relinquish the title.
“We’re at the point where we’ve got to try to put up some numbers in
order to see if we can’t get the conference championship again,” Minz
said.
Washington
County Golf Course is one of the toughest courses WLT teams play on
throughout the season. Factor in the wind, and the course’s difficulty
only goes up.
However, several scores showed
otherwise. There were five sub-40 rounds and 15 birdies by the players —
eight on the par-5 494-yard No. 3. Rohlinger had three birdies in his
round, all on a five-hole stretch, starting with the par-4 No. 8. He
also birdied No. 3.
But
the eighth hole set a different tone for his round after he started
with a bogey on the par-5 No. 5 and double bogey on the par-3 sixth
hole.
“It gave me a lot of confidence with my putting,” Rohlinger said.
This season, Rohlinger believed his ball-striking off the tee and in
the fairway has been good. It’s been his game within 100 yards of the
pin that has struggled. Specifically, Rohlinger hasn’t felt comfortable
with the speed of his putts.
On a pivotal hole in his round however, he got it perfect.
“It was a tough putt,” Rohlinger said.
He thought he left a couple other birdie opportunities out on the
course, pointing to his play on No. 9 and No. 1. Still, the 36 tied a
seasonlow, something he hadn’t done since the season’s first WLT meet
April 12 at New Berlin Hills Golf Course.
Rohlinger’s 36 also broke a tie with him and East’s Devon Hanson in
the race for WLT Player of the Year. Hanson, last season’s Player of the
Year, shot a 37 on Wednesday.
Hartford was led by Ryan Ruona with a 40 and Slinger was led by Nick Gliniekio with a 42.
To get the putting down Wednesday was big for Rohlinger because he
knows it’s the weakest part of his game. He believes it’s getting
better.
Unfortunately for the Spartans, they’ve struggled of late on the greens.
After taking first twice and second twice in the first four WLT meets
of the season, the Spartans have taken fifth and third since.
“The best we can do is try to manage the bad days, make them average
days instead of bad days,” Minz said. “We’ve been rotating guys.
“We’ve got to regroup and get our games back in order. We’ve been a little sloppy around the greens.”
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