Addison Douglass couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment the idea of becoming a four-time state golf champion formulated in her mind.
 
“Probably at some point my freshman year, having those teammates I had that were so encouraging,” the Wamego senior standout said. “I guess that’s when it became a goal that I set for myself and started to work towards.”
 
Subliminally, however, the seed to join the exclusive four-timers club may have been planted well before Douglass won her first state championship that freshman season in 2022.
 
As a fifth-grader, Douglass already had poured herself into golf, playing at a high enough level that she competed in the US Kids Golf Tour in Kansas City. The director of that tour was Todd Misemer, who had a daughter who was a bit of a golfing prodigy herself.
 
When Julia Misemer played her first state tournament for Blue Valley West in 2018, Josh Douglass, Addison’s father, pulled her out of school to go watch. Misemer won the state title at Salina’s Municipal Golf Course that year by one stroke, setting her on her way to joining Columbus’ Jill Simpson as the only two girls golfers in state history with four state titles.
 

 
The club grew to three last year when Maize’s Kinslea Jones captured her fourth state crown. And now the four-timer’s club has fourth member with Douglass adding her name to the exclusive list Tuesday at Hutchinson’s Carey Park Golf Course.
 
After a tough opening-round 6-over 77 on Monday, Douglass bounced back in a big way and showed off the game that produced a dominant and undefeated season in Tuesday’s final round. An early eagle set the tone for her seventh sub-par round of the season in 10 tournaments as Douglass fired a 3-under 68 to turn a one-shot lead over Concordia’s Mya Niehues into a seven-shot victory.
 
It was a fitting final round to a career that certainly stacks up as arguably the greatest in Kansas history with Douglass winning 31 of the 36 high school tournaments she played in.
 
“I knew she was good and could make a run at it,” Wamego coach Kyrstie Miller said of Douglass’ arrival in the program and prospects at becoming a four-time champion. “Her work ethic, she’s just dominant out there working every day. I’m really proud of her and she’s such a great kid.
 
“She’s just been dominant.”
 

 
While Douglass was thrilled about her historic performance, she was even more excited about leading Wamego to the Class 4A team championship – the third for the program in the last five years. The Red Raiders not only got a title from Douglass, they also finished the tournament with five individual medalists, posting a two-day total of 658 to win by a whopping 40 strokes over runner-up Wellington.
 
“Really the team title means more to me than (winning her fourth individual title),” Douglass said. “It’s so incredible. I didn’t have them with me (at state) last year and to have them back and win it with them is just awesome.”
 
While the team race was never really in doubt as Wamego took a 21-shot lead on the first day, Douglass’ bid for history was very much up in the air after Monday’s first round. Seemingly on cruise control to another low round, making the turn at Carey Park at even par, Douglass hit her roughest stretch of golf all season.
 
Starting with a bogey on No. 11, she played each of the next five holes over par, including a crushing triple bogey on No. 12 when her second shot hit a tree and ricocheted out-of-bounds and compounded by a three-putt on the green. That left her at 7 over for the round with three holes to play.
 
Meanwhile, on the other side of the course, Concordia’s Mya Niehues – who had won four tournaments this season – was threatening to apply some pretty serious heat on her North Central Kansas League rival. Niehues was just 1 over through 11 holes and 2 over through 13.
 
But things flipped in a hurry. Douglass closed with a birdie on 17 to get back to 6 over and Niehues ran into trouble down the stretch, making double bogeys on Nos. 14, 15 and 17 to finish her round at 7 over, a shot back of Douglass for the tourney lead.
 
“I felt I had a shot,” Niehues said. “But I also knew she was ready to go.”
 
Even throughout her rough patch on Monday’s back nine, Douglass never let her struggles get to her, commenting that she “was hitting good shots, just not getting good results.” Keeping that level head allowed Douglass to start Tuesday’s round the way she’s approached pretty much any other tournament she’s played in, not letting the potential pressure of the magnitude of the situation get to her.
 
“The conditions out here yesterday were very difficult with the wind and pin placements,” Douglass said. “I just tried not to let it affect me. I’ve worked really hard on keeping my focus, worrying about things one shot at a time and not let things spiral. It’s a lot easier now than it would have been my freshman year.
 
“I was just trying to enjoy (Tuesday’s round) since it was going to be my last time out here. I wanted to have fun with my team and enjoy my last round. I wasn’t super-nervous, which humans can be by nature. As Tiger (Woods) said, that just means you care. I just wanted to have fun with it.”
 
Paired with Niehues as well as McPherson’s Brodie Kuhn, who began the second round four shots behind Douglass, and Wellington’s Taryn Viramontes, who was six shots back, Douglass sent an early message that they were going to have to go low to deny her history.
 
After lipping out a birdie putt on No. 1, Douglass found the green on the par-5 No. 2 in two shots and drained a 20-foot putt for eagle. She then hit her approach on No. 3 to six feet and made the birdie to immediately get to 3-under, just missing a birdie putt on No. 4 as well.
 
“It helped a little bit, but I was just in the moment of going one hole at a time,” Douglass said of the early eagle. “It was awesome because I’d been burning the edges all week and it was nice to see one go in the cup.”
 
Douglass gave a shot back with a bogey on No. 5, but then made a birdie early on the back nine to get back to 3-under. She finally ran into her first real trouble of the day when she three-putted No. 14 for a double bogey after missing the green with her approach.
 
But she quickly extinguished any chance of letting it spiral, driving the green on the par-4 15th and making a 12-footer for her second eagle of the day. That putt drew a slight fist pump from the normally stoic Douglass and she parred her way home, making a nice comebacker on 18 after sending a birdie putt from the fringe eight feet past the hole.
 
And with that, Douglass made history.
 

 
“It’s incredible to be in the company with those other four-time winners,” Douglass said. “I never really envisioned this my freshman year. I was just excited to come in and play with my teammates. I love team golf, it’s second to none.
 
“I’m just in awe of what I’ve been able to accomplish.”
 
Her senior season was enough to leave anyone in awe. Not only did Douglass win all 10 of her tournaments, but she was spectacular in doing so. Prior to her 77 at state, Douglass’ highest round of the season was a 2-over at the Piper Invitational at Dub’s Dread. 
 
She finished at or below even par at seven of her other nine tournaments prior to state and had a closing stretch of tournaments where she posted rounds of 6-under 63, 6-under 66, 7-under 65 and 4-under 69. She also opened the season with a 3-under 68 at the 4A State Preview at Carey Park, bookending her season with such rounds.
 
“She really worked hard this offseason fine-tuning her short game a little bit and her wedge play,” Miller said. “It’s fun to see all that hard work pay off.”
 

 
Even with Douglass getting some early separation with her 3-under start, Niehues was able to hang in the individual race early on before a front-nine double bogey dropped her back. But that was her only real hiccup on the day and the Panther junior finished her round with a birdie, posting a 74 that put her at 152 for the tournament and in second place, seven shots behind Douglass.
 
“It feels really good and I think I played pretty well with the conditions,” said Niehues, who had finished eighth at state as a freshman and 10th last year as a sophomore. “I really focused on the things I didn’t do right yesterday and came out with a new mindset.
 
“I’m pretty happy with how I played today. I had one hole that got me, but I think I’m right there and I can have a great year next year. This will help me a lot and being able to have a good state round will help me because the last two years, I haven’t really played well at state.”
 

 
Kuhn improved by one shot on the second day to finish with an 80 and two-day total of 161, tying for third with Baldwin’s Peyton Wright, who bounced back from an opening-day 85 with a 76 on Tuesday to also finish at 161. Viramontes improved from an 83 on Monday to an 81 on Tuesday and finished at 164, tied with Hayden’s Izzy Glotzbach, who shot a 79 on Tuesday to also post a 164.
 
Ottawa’s Kathy Gillett, Winfield’s Lilli Sympson and Wellington’s Claire Ginter all finished tied for seventh at 166. 
 

 
Wamego’s Lillian Costa rounded out the top 10, posting a 168 after shooting an 86 in the final round. She was one of four Red Raiders besides Douglass who landed in the top 20 with Hailey Honeycutt tying for 12th with a 170 and Gentry McIntosh and Maizie Nickel each tying for 20th at 177. Sophia Hellman nearly gave Wamego a sixth medalist, tying for 23rd, one shot out of the medal spot.
 
“We have six girls that any given day, any of them can be in our top four,” Miller said. “They do a good job of keeping their head down and playing their game and trusting their preparation. That’s what they did (Monday), stuck to the game plan and grinded it out and then it was awesome to see everyone play well.”
 

 

 

 

 
A year ago, Wamego missed out on the state tournament as a team after claiming state championships in 2021 and 2022 and finishing runner-up in 2023. But a tough regional and an off day kept the Red Raiders home as a team with only Douglass, Costa and Hellman representing the team at state.
 
That fueled the Red Raiders the entire offseason.
 
On a mission this season, the Red Raiders put together a stellar regular season, winning all but one tournament, a third-place finish at the Washburn Rural Invitational which featured Class 6A state champion Manhattan and runner-up Shawnee Mission East.
 
At the end of the season, Wamego set team scoring records in three straight meets, including a 305 at the Basehor-Linwood Invitational.
 
“It was crazy,” Costa said. “I was not expecting that at all. The past couple of years we’ve been OK and then it just jumped from not making it to state last year, to winning it this year. All of us shooting in the 80s, that’s so hard to beat. We improved so much as a team this year and it’s the best team we’ve had and it’s great to know I’m part of history.”
 
Which is saying something given that the 2022 state title team set a state record with an 88-stroke margin of victory at the Class 4A state tournament. That team was loaded Douglass making her debut alongside returning veterans Ashten Pierson and Kirby McKee, among others.
 
Douglass was the lone holdover from that title team to this year’s and relished winning a championship with an entirely different supporting cast.
 
“(The 2022 team) is still a big part of me and they were texting me last night wishing us good luck,” Douglass said. “It’s awesome to get to win it with two different teams. They both have their unique dynamics but we’re just as close as we’ve always been.
 
“My career has been awesome and I’ve worked hard my entire life. I’ll always look back on the team titles a little more special than the individual because team golf is a little bit of a rarity and it means so much to me.”
 
Douglass’ team-first mentality played no small role in the Red Raiders’ run this year.
 
“Addison is my best friend and she has helped me with everything to do with golf,” Costa said. “She pushed not just me, but all of us to get out and work every single day in the summer and during the spring. She pushed us to our limits, and we couldn’t ask for a better teammate and friend. She looks out for other people before she looks out for herself and just pushes us to do the best we can.”
 
Miller agreed.
 
“She’s definitely rare, a special kid,” Miller said of Douglass. “It’s incredible what she does for this team. She’s said it all year long she’d much rather have a team title than win a fourth individual title and it’s just really cool to see her celebrate with her teammates. Golf is such an individual game and she does a great job of making it a team thing for her.”
 

 
CLASS 4A STATE GOLF
 
At Carey Park Golf Course, Hutchinson
 
TEAM SCORES
 
Wamego 658, Wellington 698, McPherson 701, Hayden 708, Baldwin 708, Augusta 721.
 
INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS
 
1. Addison Douglass, Wamego, 77-68—145; 2. Mya Niehues, Concordia, 78-74—152; 3. (tie) Brodie Kuhn, McPherson, 81-80—161; Peyton Wright, Baldwin, 85-76—161; 5. (tie) Izzy Glotzbach, Hayden, 85-79—164; Taryn Viramontes, Wellington, 83-81—164; 7. (tie) Kathy Gillett, Ottawa, 84-82—166; Lilli Sympson, Winfield, 83-83—166; Claire Ginter, Wellington, 84-82—166; 10. Lillian Costa, Wamego, 82-86—168; 11. Ashley Myers, Bishop Miege, 89-80—169; 12. (tie) Anika Paulsrud, Buhler, 88-82—170; Hailey Honeycutt, Wamego, 87-83—170; Lauren Borjon, Hayden, 88-82—170; 15. (tie) Macy Miller, Buhler, 85-86—171; Jessica Zimmerman, Coffeyville, 90-81—171; 17. Andi Buschbom, McPherson, 92-80—172; 18. Brooklynn Akers, Eudora, 95-80—175; 19. Ella Niederklein, Frontenac, 86-90—176; 20. (tie) Carson Chambers, Baldwin, 90-87-177; Maizie Nickel, Wamego, 90-87—177; Gentry McIntosh, Wamego, 91-86—177.