Red Demon boys golf looking to advance to state

    The Dodge City High School boys golf team will be looking for a little redemption today as it plays in the Class 6A regional at Wichita's Tex Consolver Golf Course.
    The Red Demons will be looking to return to the state tournament after missing the cut last year, and head coach Jim Mapel said he feels the chances are good if the players perform like they have most of the season. The top three teams in the eight-team regional will qualify for the state tournament next week in Olathe.
    The Demons got a chance to practice on the course Sunday afternoon. Golfers have to deal with water on six of the first nine holes, and coach Mapel said he talked to his players about how to play certain holes on both the front and back nine.
    “The golf course is in pretty good shape,” he said after Sunday's practice round. “It received some moisture last week, but the course is starting to firm up a little bit. The better teams will adjust to whatever the conditions are. We just have to have a game plan on how we want to play the hole and execute.”
    The foundation for the Red Demons is seniors Aaron Mapel and Jarret Tagtmeyer, the two players from Dodge City who qualified for last year's state tournament. Tagtmeyer finished seventh last year at the state meet, while Mapel placed ninth.
    Aaron Mapel, who has signed to play collegiate golf at Fort Hays State, was the Western Athletic Conference individual champion with 119 1/2 points during the season. Tagtmeyer, who signed last week with Dodge City Community College, finished second with 109.
    “They are just two strong players,” Coach Mapel said. “They won five tournaments between the two of them this year. They have played a lot of competitive golf growing up and if you play a lot of golf and play in a lot of tournaments over the summer, that helps experience-wise. They have both worked hard on their games to get better.”
    That's not to say this is only a two-player team. The consistent play of the other Demons — Mitch Goedeken, Zach Schneweis, Mykael Thompson and Brannan Savage — has helped the team stay competitive this season.
    Goedeken finished 10th in the final WAC individual standings.
    “When we've played well, we've had four solid scorers,” coach Mapel said. “Usually, we've been getting three out of four. A key to our success (Monday) is to get four good scores, or even five good scores. We just have to treat it like any other golf tournament: play shot by shot and do the best that we can.”