Garden City’s Shook claims POY honor
Dodge City High School boys’ golf coach Jim Mapel has been around long enough, 30 seasons in fact, to know what helps develop winning programs in his sport.
“It’s a combination of having the numbers, and then having kids commit to working hard to become good players,” said Mapel, who guided his Red Demons to a repeat Western Athletic Conference title by winning all five conference tournaments. “We had 22 kids on the team, and I can think of only one other time when I had those numbers.”
The top returner for Mapel was junior Aidan Robinson, who as a sophomore outdueled Garden Cityi’s Maddix Shook for Player of the Year honors when it came to a sudden death playoff to determine the winner. Both players had tied for points through the five conference tournaments.
Robinson won that playoff to make a sweep of 2023 awards, but this time around it was Shook claiming the title by a margin of 3.5 points (points awarded on 15-14-13, etc.) for each of the five meets.
But for Mapel, the key this year was the addition of four freshmen who competed for varsity spots.
“We have a lot of interest in the program right now and those freshmen made a difference by competing against the older kids for spots on the varsity,” Mapel said. “We had competition from players 1 through 12 when we did preseason qualifying. I haven’t had that depth for quite awhile. It made us better.”
While Robinson came up just short of repeating his 2023 POY season, Mapel said his top player still had a strong junior campaign.
“He had our best stroke average and there were many of the events where the weather was not good,” Mapel said. “We had a lot of windy days for the competitions.”
The Demons’ depth was never more apparent than looking at the all-WAC first and second teams.
In addition to Robinson, who finished with 66.5 points (Shook had 70), Graydin Gamblin (64.5) and AJ Peters (62.5) also earned first team honors. Kevin Chala (28.5) and Keaton Bogner (21) were selected to the second team. Bogner, a junior, was a first-team selection in 2023, but was unable to finish this season.
“AJ and Graydin each won a varsity tournament and I can’t recall having three players win a tournament in the same season,” Mapel said. “We made some big steps forward. Others on the team were a little more up and down with their scores.”
One of the most compelling statistics for the past two seasons of winning WAC is the fact the Demons’ total strokes for the five WAC tournaments were exactly the same for both seasons.
The total strokes were 1,601 for an average team score (counting 4 of 6) of 320.2. In 2024, the five WAC scores were 337-316-320-318-310. In 2023, they were 334-317-318-313-319.
Mapel will lose Gamblin and Chela to graduation, but with Robinson and Peters back for 2024, the Demons seem position to go for a three-peat.
“The younger kids got better throughout the season,” Mapel said. “The varsity competition for them resulted in some growing pains, but each time out I think they handled things better.”
Mapel, a Dodge City High School graduate and outstanding player for the Demons, has retired from his classroom duties where he taught American History, Teacher Cadet (Education Career training) and History of Rock & Roll. For the immediate future, he plans to retain the boys’ coaching position after giving up the girls’ coaching job a year ago.
WAC Golfer of the Year – Maddix Shook, Garden City, Jr.
When Maddix Shook walked off the first playoff hole in 2023 that determined the Western Athletic Conference player of the year award, he was already making plans for the 2024 season.
He had lost to Dodge Cityi’s Aidan Robinson on the first hole of a sudden death playoff after both players had tied for total points through the five WAC tournaments.
In 2024, Shook found a way to avoid another playoff as he finished with 70 points to Robinson’s 66.5.
Over the course of the spring season, Shook won tournaments at Dodge City and Liberal, finished second at Hays and took thirds at Garden City and Great Bend. Robinson, meanwhile, was first at Hays, second at Dodge City and Garden City.
The big move for Shook came at Great Bend where he placed third to Robinson’s sixth, a three-point differential. In the final event at Liberal, Shook won and Robinson tied for second.
“It was nice coming into the clubhouse knowing that I had won,” Shook said. “We had some bad weather with windy conditions this spring and I think that’s why scores were a little higher.”
Shook has played in the 6A state tournament in both his freshman and sophomore seasons and was excited to have the 2024 state on his home course – Buffalo Dunes.
“The area where I’ve improved the most is in my mental approach,” Shook said. “I don’t get into my head as much as I did before.”
Shook said his putting was the one area that improved the most in 2024, but said he still had struggles with his tee shots.
“The game just kind of goes in waves,” Shook said. “I’m just trying to find ways to relax and play the best I can.”
Western Athletic Conference
2024 Final Standings
| SCHOOL | POINTS | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dodge City | 25 |
| 2 | Garden City | 18 |
| 3 | Hays | 16 |
| 4 | Liberal | 10 |
| 5 | Great Bend | 6 |
2024 Boys Golf All-Conference
| PLAYER | SCHOOL | POINTS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Team All-WAC | |||
| 1 | Maddix Shook | Garden City | 70.0 |
| 2 | Aidan Robinson | Dodge City | 66.5 |
| 3 | Graydin Gamblin | Dodge City | 64.2 |
| 4 | AJ Peters | Dodge City | 62.5 |
| 5 | Ryan Mein | Liberal | 37.5 |
| 6 | Caleb Thompson | Hays | 36.0 |
| Second Team All-WAC | |||
| 7 | Cooper Johnson | Hays | 30.00 |
| 8 | Braxton Banker | Hays | 29.25 |
| 9 | Kevin Chela | Dodge City | 28.50 |
| 10 | Keaton Bogner | Dodge City | 21.00 |
| 11 | Skyler Hubbard | Liberal | 20.00 |
| 12 | Jalen Jagels | Garden City | 16.75 |
Coach of the Year – Jim Mapel, Dodge City
