The Barton Community College men’s golf team recorded its lowest conference finish of the season with a seventh-place finish at the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference championship at Sand Creek Station in Newton on Monday and Tuesday.
Barton shot a team total of 1,011 over the 54-hole event — 20 strokes from fifth. The Cougars still finished the conference season in fifth place overall out of the nine-team race.
Hutchinson won the conference, finishing first in four of the six events, including the final one, edging Dodge City.
The teams will now focus on the NJCAA District III tournament at Alvamar Country Club in Lawrence on May 2-3. That will determine the golfers that move on to the NJCAA championship at Odessa, Texas later in May.
Barton struggled out of the gate, shooting a 339 the opening 18 holes on Monday morning over the Par 72 layout. That put the Cougars in eighth place after the opening round.
Barton battled back into seventh to end the opening day, improving its afternoon total with a 331, but still well behind fifth and sixth places.
The Cougars shot a 341 the final round on Tuesday. Hutchinson passed Dodge City in that final round for the conference championship, shooting a 310 to Dodge’s 321.
Barton was paced by Travis Kleweno. The freshman from Hays was a model of consistency through the event with an 80-82-81—243 total. That tied him for 21st overall.
Timothy Spare had the best round for Barton, shooting a 79 during the afternoon round on Monday. He finished five strokes behind Kleweno with an 84-79-85—248.
Tanner George shot 84-80-91-255 and tied for 33rd overall. Tanner Berning went 91-90-86—267 and Casey Hitch 91-97-89—278.