NEWTON – The Jayhawk Conference men’s golf is some of the best in the country. With three teams ranked in the top 16 and another just outside the Top 20, a few strokes here and a few strokes there can make a difference in the standings.
That was the case for the Barton men. The Cougars sat in third place after round one of the Jayhawk Championships at Sand Creek Station in Newton. But Barton did not match that first round score the final two rounds and slipped to fourth after the second round and eventually fifth after the third and final round.
Dodge City won the Jayhawk Championship with a 3-round total of 14-over par 878. Garden City was second at 883 and Hutchinson third with 894. Kansas City Kansas, a D-II top 10 team at last year’s NJCAA Championships, passed Barton on the final round for fourth with an 899 while Barton took fifth at 905.
The Cougars opened play with a 295 but lost one of its top golfers after the opening round. Sophomore Thitipong Homruen shot a 77 to open the tournament but withdrew from the second round with back issues. He tried to return for the third and final round, but called it quits again after four holes.
That left Barton little room for error with just four golfers left and all four scoring toward the team.
Without him, the scoring topped the 300 plateau with a 301 and 309. That allowed Hutchinson to pass Barton after the second round and KCK after the third.
“It hurt not having a full team,” Coach Doug Kaiser said. “There is a little more pressure on everyone when you only have four scores out there.”
Witchayapat Sinsrang of Dodge City won the individual title with a 5-under par 211 for 54 holes. That edged Dominic Pollock Garden City by a single stroke. Pollock closed with a 2-under par 70 and made up three strokes on Sinsrang, but it wasn’t enough.
Adam Berg-Capin of Dodge City was third at 2-under 214 followed by Bobby Armstrong of KCK at 215 and Wil Arnold of Hutchinson at even par 216 in fifth.
Jakkapat Horsangchai and Kylian Cavdar led Barton with a 4-over total of 220, tied for ninth. Both golfers were the mix for top five spots with 18 holes to play. Horsangchai was even Par 144 and Cavdar 1-under 143. But a 76 by Horsangchai and a 77 by Cavdar moved them back to ninth.
Seokhun Kang finished strong with an even par round to shoot 6-over 222 and in 14th place. Sophomore Jaron Kellerman finished with a 247.
Now it’s on to the District III meet and a shot at the NJCAA Championships at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course in Garden City.
The District III meet will be held at Firekeeper Golf Course in Topeka Monday and Tuesday. The meet includes No. 1 Indian Hills, No. 3 Dodge, No. 8 Iowa Western, No. 10 Hutch, No. 16 Barton and Garden City receiving votes. Hesston will round out the field.
Garden City has an automatic spot in the NJCAA Championships since the Broncbusters are hosting. Of the remaining seven schools, four will earn spots for the NJCAA’s.

Team Scores (Par 72; 288-288-288 — 864)
1 Dodge City, 288-291-299 — 878
2 Garden City, 292-293-297 — 882
3 Hutchinson, 289-295-301 — 894
4 KCK, 297-301-301 — 899
5 Barton, 295-301-309 — 905
6 Allen County, 319-312-317 — 948
7 Coffeyville, 341-310-321 — 972
8 Independence, 327-333-330 – 990

Top 10 Individuals (Par 72-72-72 – 216)
1 Witchayapat Sinsrang, Dodge, 70-68-73 — 211
2 Dominic Pollock, Garden, 71-71-70 — 212
3 Adam Berg-Capin*, Dodge, 73-66-75 — 214
4 Bobby Armstrong, KCK, 71-70-74 — 215
5 Wil Arnold, Hutch, 68-71-77 — 216
6 Evan Shartzer, KCK, 73-75-70 — 218
6 Doug Rios-Ceballos, Hutch, 74-70-74 — 218
8 Marc McClain*, KCK, 72-73-74 — 219
9 Nick Kagy, Dodge, 74-72-74 — 220
9 Jakkapat Horsangchai, Barton, 73-71-76 — 220
9 Kylian Cavdar, Barton, 71-72-77 — 220

5 Barton (905)
9 Jakkapat Horsangchai, 73-71-76 — 220
9 Kylian Cavdar, 71-72-77 — 220
14 Seokhun Kang, 74-76-72 – 222
36 Jaron Kellerman, 81-82-81 — 247
WD Thitipong Homruen, 77-WD-WD — WD

Barton Individuals
43 Tristan Titus, 92-89-86 — 267