Doug Kaiser, Barton Men's Golf Head Coach

Bio

Doug Kaiser is in his 16th year as the men's coach, while entering his 18th year as the women's coach.

Facing another highly competitive field in 2024-25, Kaiser’s golfers narrowly missed qualifying for the NJCAA National Tournament, finishing tied for fifth at the Central District Championships and closing the year out ranked No. 30 nationally.

Sophomore Kaleb Lambert led the Cougars with a pair of excellent postseason performances, earning two individual accolades. Lambert captured a First Team All-Region 6 honor with a fifth place finish at the Region 6 Championships and added All-Central District recognition following a 10th place effort falling just one spot shy of qualifying for the national tournament as an individual.

Freshman Ted Gemzell also made a strong impact in his first season, finishing 10th at the Region 6 to earn Secon Team All-Region honors.

The Cougars posted six top-10 finishes across seven meets, including four top-5 performances. Highlighting the season was winning the annual Barton Invitational, along with two fourth-place conference finishes and a strong fourth-place showing at the Region 6 Championships.

Kaiser’s 14th season, saw the Cougars knock down the door, by returning to the NJCAA division I National Championship for the first time since 2014. Barton earned its national berth with a 4th-place finish at the Region 6/Central District Championships, an event stacked with seven nationally ranked teams-before finishing 19th on the national stage.

Sophomore’s Axel Bolander and Kaleb Lambert both earned postseason recognition for their standout performances. Bolander placed sixth in the final KJCCC standings to secure Second Team All-KJCCC honors, while also finishing as the Region 6 runner-up and fifth overall in the district, that earned him All-District and a spot on the PING NJCAA Division I All-Central District Team. His national finish marked the program’s highest individual postseason placement since Jermie Eloy’s Region 6 title in 2014. Lambert garnered his postseason honor, receiving All-KJCCC Honorable Mention.

The season saw Barton record top-six finishes in nine of its 10 tournaments, including three tournament victories, one runner-up showing, and three fourth-place finishes.

2022-23 saw Kaiser guide his Cougars to national recognition, climbing as high as No. 17 in the NJCAA rankings. Competing against some of the top junior college programs in the country, the Cougars capped the year with a sixth-place finish at the Region 6/Central District Championships.

While narrowly missing a national tournament berth, the squad turned in a consistently strong season, finishing inside the top five in eight of their 10 tournaments. The Cougars also captured three team titles, including a victory at their home Barton Invitational.

In conference play, Kaiser’s squad posted its best finish at the KJCCC Championships, placing third overall. On the individual side, Worathan Thammachokecharoen delivered a standout performance, finishing third for the highest individual conference finish by a Cougar since 2015. His efforts secured a tie for seventh in the final KJCCC individual standings, earning him second-team All-Conference honors.

The 2021-22 season the 20th ranked Cougars placed 7th at the nationally ranked packed Region VI/Central District Championship to finish outside of the automatic national tournament qualifiers.  Pontus Nordstrom led the team with a 25th individual finish as Tom Gehring was the loan member to earn a spot on the All-KJCCC awards in landing on the second team.

The fall season had great success as the men won three meets in a row at the Central Kansas Classic, Barton Invitational, and Blue Devil Invitational. In addition, four Cougars took home individual titles in the Fall:  Peernant Suporn captured the Iowa Central Tournament, Nordstrom took the Central Kansas Classic and the Barton Invitational, and Gehring grabbed the individual title at the Blue Devil Invitational.

The defending NJCAA Academic Team of the Year, the 2021-22 team still had an outstanding year in the classroom carrying a 3.48 cumulative GPA in placing 14th nationally.  Gehring and Toby Woolf led the team with perfect 4.0 NJCAA All-America first team honors as Marshall Woolf garnered second team distinction.

In 2020-21 Kaiser’s squad concluded the season 7th in the nationally ranked packed Region VI/District II Championships. Ranked 20th in the pre-season polls Kaiser’s five-pack claimed the Ottawa Invitational while dialing up three other top-five performances over the course of the year.

In the classroom Kaiser’s club captured the national crown off the links, compiling a 3.78 GPA earning the first academic team title in the programs history.

Kaiser had his Cougars ranked 25th in the polls heading into the spring portion before the 2020 season was cut short due to the global COVID-19 pandemic Barton remained consistent over the fall displaying top-five performances in four-of-the-five meets. The Cougars notched their lone team title of the season dominating its’ own course at the Barton Invitational.

The Cougars were also solid off the course, combining for a 3.0 GPA to earn national distinction.

In 2019 Kaiser’s Cougars placed 5^th in conference action, the fifth straight season of finishing in in the top five of the always tough KJCCC.  Ranked 21^st on the season, the Cougar squad again had the season come to an end in the nationally loaded District Championships, finishing a spot out of qualifying for the NJCAA National Championships after the final round was canceled due to weather.

Placing 10^th at the District Championships, Ryotaro Tsuji became the second straight Cougar to qualify for the National Championships. The sophomore made the most of the opportunity by shattering the program’s national tournament record by fifteen strokes to surpass the 2014 effort by Jeremie Eloy to become just the second Cougar to earn All-America status.

The 2017-18 season produced the highest conference placing under Coach Kaiser as three Cougars were in the top seven leading the squad to a runner-up finish.

The 15^th ranked Cougars’ season ended at the District Championships as Barton finished in 5^th place behind a field loaded of nationally ranked opponents.  Despite the disappointment for the team, freshman Adrien Bonnet placed 8^th on the District leaderboard in earning a trip the National Championship and an eventual 26^th place.

Academically, three Cougars achieved a 3.60 GPA or better in leading the squad to a 7^th place national academic standing with a 3.33 cumulative GPA.

Sophomore Thitipong Homruen became Kaiser’s third consecutive player to earn a PING All-District III team award as the Academy of Art University signee and 1^st team All-KJCCC player ranked 82^nd in the country.  The award is presented by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) recognizing players among the Division I ranks of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). 

For the third consecutive season, the 2016-17 version of the Cougars finished in the top five of the competitive Jayhawk Conference, placing third in Region VI and fifth in the nationally ranked packed District III Championships to wrap up the season ranked No. 21 in the final NJCAA poll.

Sophomore Jakkapat Horsangchai became Kaiser’s second consecutive player to earn a PING All-District III team award as The University of the Pacific signee ranked 36th in the country. 

In 2015-16 the No. 23 ranked Cougars featured Natchapol “Putter” Srinoon who placed eighth in the conference championships while then-freshman Jakkapat Horsangchai went on to finish 14th in the District III Championships.   Srinoon wrapped up his Barton career earning the PING All-District III team award becoming the first of Kaiser’s time leading the Cougars.

Srinoon captured the 2015-16 season conference championship while Landon Fox finished the KJCCC Tournament in fourth place before an eighth place District III Championship propelled him to his second straight trip to the national championships.

Barton finished 21st in the nation in the 2014-15 season at the NJCAA Division I Men's National Championship held at Spirit Hollow Golf Course in Burlington, Iowa, as the Cougars qualified for the national championships for the first time since 2006.

It was also a season where the Cougars and Coach Kaiser saw the achievements of his first Region VI Men’s Champion and Barton’s first NJCAA All-American.  After winning the Region VI Tournament two weeks prior and becoming the first Cougar to do so since 2002, sophomore Jeremie Eloy continued to make his mark on school history becoming the first men's golfer to earn the NJCAA All-American award finishing fourteenth at the Championships.

The Cougars’ solid season in the competitive Jayhawk Conference began by placing third in the season’s first meet and remained steady in fourth place throughout the season.  Even though Barton slipped to fifth after the final week of conference play, the Cougars took fourth in the Region VI Championships to earn the NJCAA Championship berth. 

Kaiser played for Great Bend High School before becoming a top-15 Region VI Cougar golfer in the early 1980's along with former Barton Coach Steve Gotsche.

On the women’s side, Kaiser’s Cougars were represented for a 14th straight season at the national tournament in 2024-25.