WICHITA – The regular season is now, as they say, in the books.
It was a regular season the Barton men’s golf team hasn’t experienced for quite a while.
The Cougars wrapped it up with the final Jayhawk Conference meet of the season, placing second in the final meet as well as in the standings.
Dodge City won the final meet and the conference championship with a 54-hole total of 873 – just nine over par as a team. Barton was second at 897 with Hutchinson (901) and Garden City (906) close behind.
Four of those teams are among the Top 25 in the nation. Dodge is ranked No. 12, Hutchinson No. 13, Barton No. 15, and Garden City No. 23.
The Conquistadors won or shared the title tie in all three conference meets. Barton tied Dodge for first once and finished second the other two times. Hutchinson was third all three times.
The second place finish for the season was the best in the eight years of coaching for Doug Kaiser.
In the final meet at Auburn Hills Golf Course in Wichita, Dodge City took a commanding lead after the first round, shooting an even par 288 while Barton and Hutch were nearly 20 strokes back at 306. In the afternoon round Monday, the Cougars gained on the Conquistadors and moved ahead of Hutch with the best score of the round, 296.
The final 18 on Tuesday saw four teams break the 300 barrier with the Conquistadors blistering the course at 4-under par, 284. Barton and Hutch both shot a 295 and Garden City a 296.
The Cougars placed three in top 10 and four in the top 11. But two of those were playing as individuals. Adrien Bonnet led the Cougars with a 4-over par 220. The freshman shot even par the final two rounds to place sixth.
Thitipong Homruen, like Bonnet, shot a 4-over 76 in the first round then rebounded for rounds of 72 and 73 for a 5-over total of 221. Ryotaro Tsuji had an identical scorecard at Homruen to tie for seventh. Tsuji was one of the Cougars playing as an individual.
The other was Jacob Roth, who finished 11th with a 72-75-79 for a total of 226. Kylian Cavdar finished 13th at 11-over 227 and Oscar Elfvin shot a 229 for 19th. Rounding out the team was Kelby Titus with a 234.
Now it’s time for the post-season and the District III Championships. The Cougars will have their hands full in that meet.
In addition to those top four teams in the Jayhawk – KCK, Coffeyville, and Allen County all play D-II – two of the top teams in the nation from Iowa will be part of the district tournament. Indian Hills is ranked No. 1 in the nation and Iowa Western is No. 6. Hesston will also be part of the event at Sand Creek Station in Newton on Monday and Tuesday.
Of those seven teams, of which six are ranked in the Top 25, only four will qualify for the NJCAA Championships in Lubbock, Texas in May.
Team Scores (Par 288-288-288 – 864)
1 Dodge City 288-301-284 – 873
2 Barton 306-296-295 – 897
3 Hutchinson 306-300-295 – 901
4 Garden City 314-296-296 – 906
5 Kansas City Kansas 308-304-301 – 913
6 Coffeyville 320-325-321 – 966
7 Allen County 324-340-354 – 1018
Top 10 Individuals (Par 72-72-72 – 216)
1 Saksit Jairak, Dodge 71-70-72 – 213
2 Ekkarat Leksuwan, Dodge 70-75-73 – 218
2 Jake Bay, Garden 75-69-74 – 218
2 Nick Kagy, Dodge 72-77-69 – 218
5 Matthew Percy, Hutch 77-72-70 – 219
6 Adrien Bonnet, Barton 76-72-72 – 220
7 *Ryotaro Tsuji, Barton 76-72-73 – 221
7 Thitipong Homruen, Barton 76-72-73 – 221
9 Andrew Rios-Ceballos, Hutch 73-73-76 – 222
10 *Logan Durst, Dodge 73-75-75 – 223
* - Played as individual
2 Barton (897)
6 Adrien Bonnet 76-72-72 – 220
7 Thitipong Homruen 76-72-73 – 221
13 Kylian Cavdar 78-74-75 – 227
19 Oscar Elfvin 76-78-75 – 229
27 Kelby Titus 79-80-75 – 234
Barton Individuals
7 Ryotaro Tsuji 76-72-73 – 221
11 Jacob Roth 72-75-79 – 226
