Demons to face challenging course in 6A golf tournament

    The Dodge City High School boys golf team had to travel across the state to participate in today's Class 6A state tournament at Olathe's Shadow Glen Golf Course.
    The fact that each hole has its own name will show that the rounds aren't going to be easy not just for the Red Demons, but for every other golfer in the tournament.
    The private course, which was laid out by golf legend Tom Watson, will be much different from the Tex Consolver course the Demons played on last week. Many of the holes have names that tell either the difficulty or the story behind each hole, like “Hangtime” (the par-3 No. 12 hole that has a 72-foot drop from tee to green); “High Road” (the par-4, No. 6, the toughest hole on the course); or “Stonewall.” (the par-5, No. 5, named for the stone wall that was the property boundary line. It's also the third toughest hole on the course.)
    The Red Demons come into the state tournament with two strong finishes — a victory in the WAC meet in Liberal, followed by a second-place finish behind Maize in the regional.
    There are a couple of keys for the Demons if they want to succeed.
    The first key will be the play of Jarret Tagtmeyer and Aaron Mapel. Both of them have experience playing in the state tournament — Tagtmeyer finished seventh with a 76 last year, while Mapel placed ninth with a 78 — and both continue to lead Dodge City this season.
    Mapel, who signed with Fort Hays State, won the season-long Western Athletic Conference individual title. Tagtmeyer won the regional title last week, again with a 76. Mapel shot an 81 in the regional.
    The second key will be for two of the other four golfers — Mitchell Goedeken (10th in the WAC), Brennan Savage, Mykael Thompson and Zach Schneweis — to get scores in the mid-80s to help keep the team score down. Goedeken shot 84 in the regional, Savage had 88, Thompson 90 and Schneweis 97.
    And, unfortunately, that still may not be enough.
    Manhattan and Washburn Rural are two of the favorites going into today's play. Manhattan won the Wichita Heights regional with a 303 (all four qualifying scores were 75 through 77), with Rural second at 310. The top Wichita school, Southeast was third at 316.
    Defending champion Olathe South won its regional and has three returners from last year (including individual state runner-up Chase Chamberlain). State runners-up Olathe East and Olathe Northwest finished second and third, respectively, right behind Olathe South. Blue Valley West was the other regional champion.