Buffs’ freshman Walter wins Player of Year
In his 33 years of coaching high school golf at Dodge City High School, Jim Mapel had never seen the Western Athletic Conference in such a tightly-contested race to see who would prevail as conference champions.
When the third WAC tournament of the five scheduled conference meets was completed, Mapel had watched the Hays Indians sweep all three while his team, the three-time defending WAC Champions, finish second.
With the point system awarding 5 points for first, 4 for second, etc., the Demons were trailing the Indians 15-12. Two meets remained.
“I knew it was a long shot for us to win the conference again,” Mapel said. “But I told the boys to just go out and play hard and see what happens.”
What happened in the final two conference meets — at Fort Hays Golf Course (hosted by Great Bend) and Liberal — was a Dodge team that found its way to a pair of first-place finishes. That alone was not enough to overtake the Indians, but in the final meet of the Year in Liberal, Hays faltered and tied with Great Bend for third, thus splitting the third and fourth-place points.
What that resulted in was Dodge City finishing with 22 points to 21.5 points for Hays to win by the narrowest of margins.
“I knew the conference would be well-balanced, but I don’t think anybody could have predicted how close this would turn out,” Mapel said. “We played well at Fort Hays with three good scores and when we won that, we just were able to carry that momentum to Liberal and played well there.”
Certainly this conference championship will be one for the scrapbook because starting next the five tournament schedule at each school’s home course will be abandoned for one, one-day championship. For Mapel, the WAC title was his 12th while the program owns 17 overall championships.
“We’re looking at some other avenues of ranking the teams like they now do for the playoffs,” Mapel said. “It might be something like that for the individual Player of the Year and all-conference teams. We’ll spend some time on it over the summer.”
Mapel said one of the major reasons for the change was the fact that in the final two tournaments, the field included just the five conference schools.
“I think there was a consensus that this change will give everyone an opportunity to go and play other tournaments and to see other teams and players, which should help for the postseason.”
This year’s Demon team was anchored by first-team selections Ty Presley and Nathan Schulte, who placed third and fourth in the individual points race for Player of the Year.
“I think of the main things that has helped us through the years is that we’ve had good numbers of kids out for the program and have had time to develop them,” Mapel said. “We usually find our best players when they are juniors and seniors.”
BRAYDEN WALTER, Garden City, Fr. – WAC Player of the Year
By the time Brayden Walter arrived for the start of his freshman season and high school golf, he already had been seasoned with many junior tournaments dating back to when he was a pre-teen.
He also had some idea of what his goals would be for his inaugural high school spring season with the Garden City Buffaloes’ team.
“I wanted to finish in the top five of every tournament,” said Walter, who earned WAC Player of the Year honors by doing just that.
He was third at Smoky Hill C.C. for the Hays Invitational (79), his high score for the season; He shot 68 at Mariah Hills G.C. in the Dodge City Invitational (tie 1st); was second in the Garden City Invitational at Buffalo Dunes G.C. (74); tied for first at the Great Bend Invitational (played at Fort Hays Municipal G.C.) with a 74; and tied for first (second by playoff) at the Liberal Invitational at Willow Tree G.C. (74).
In his non-WAC events he finished fourth at Manhattan C.C. with a 78; shot a 73 at Sand Creek Station (tie 4th); Shot a 72 at Derby Golf & Country Club (1st place) and shot a 77 at Buffalo Dunes in the Class 6A sub-state tournament. His season scoring average was 74.33.
“I think my consistency during the season was one of the main reasons I played well,” Walter said. “It’s the big thing for me to be sure my game stayed consistent in all areas.”
Walter says his strongest area of the game is his short game from 100 yards and closer to his green target.
“When I’m in that 40- to 100-yard range, I’m dialed in pretty good most of the time,” Walter said. “I’d say my driver is my next best area, just mainly keeping it in play.”
Putting is another key area of golf and Walter considers himself to be an above average player in that realm.
“The main thing is to avoid 3-putting so you have to adjust to the speed of greens, the weather conditions and everything else that affects putting,” Walter said. “I think the Dodge City tournament is where I didn’t have a single 3-putt. When it’s windy, it’s really tough.”
The Buff standout said the Dodge City tournament where he shot 3-under-par 68 was easily his best tournament of the season.
“Bye far, it was the best because everything there was working,” he said. “If I made a bogey, I came right back with a birdie. And then I finished birdie, par, birdie, birdie.”
Like any other golfers, Walter said there is room for improvement in all areas of his game. He plans to play a busy summer tournament schedule, continue to work on his game in the off-season with an eye to his sophomore year.
“I’ve made progress in the mental side of the game,” Walter said, giving much of that progress to the help from his head coach, Mitch Moore. “He’s made me understand how to stay level-headed and focus better on each shot.”
Walter said he can remember being at the golf course with his father (Brock) even before he started walking.
“I’m sure I’ve been playing since I was just really little,” Walter said. “He’s helped me a lot with the mental side of the game, too. I used to let bad shots get to me, but I’m much better under control now.”
When he sealed the WAC Player of the Year Award, Walter said he was and wasn’t surprised at the accomplishment.
“There are a number of good players in the WAC, but I felt like I was prepared to play at this level,” he said.
One of his biggest surprises at the outset of the season was learning that the tournaments were stroke play and not match play.
“I really thought we were playing individual matches against just one team,” Walter said. “That would have been fun, too, but with stroke play, every shot counts so you just have to remain focused.”
Walter also was the only freshman on the varsity which was predominantly a senior-lead team.
“They really welcomed me with open arms,” Walter said of his teammates. “They made the transition to high school golf really fun.”
Western Athletic Conference
2026 Golf Championship
Team Results
Based upon 5 tournaments)
(Points Awarded on basis of 5-4-3-2-0)
1. Dodge City, 22; 2. Hays, 21.5; 3. Garden City, 15; 4. Great Bend, 11.5; 5. Liberal, 5.
2026 All-WAC Teams
(Points award in each of 5 tournaments on 15-14-13-12-11, etc. basis)
| FIRST TEAM | NAME | SCHOOL | POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brayden Walter | Garden City | 69.5 |
| 2 | Caleb Thompson | Hays | 53.5 |
| 3 | Ty Presley | Dodge City | 48.5 |
| 4 | Nathan Schulte | Dodge City | 46.5 |
| 5 | Kale Miller | Liberal | 43.0 |
| 6 | Ethan Somers | Great Bend | 39.25 |
| SECOND TEAM | |||
| 7 | Braiden Bickle | Hays | 38.0 |
| 8 | Trey Oakley | Hays | 31.0 |
| 9 | Miles Weimer | Hays | 27.5 |
| 10 | Jhett Price | Garden City | 24.0 |
| 11 | Cru Lembright | Dodge City | 24.0 |
| 12 | Dalton Schmidtberger | Hays | 23.5 |
Coach of the Year: Jim Mapel, Dodge City
