The Montgomery County golf team will look to win its eighth Eastern Missouri Conference championship in program history as it competes in the EMO tournament at 9 a.m. on April 28 at Innsbrook Golf Course.

The Wildcats won conference titles in 1998, 1999, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022. They won two of those championships at Norwoods Golf Club in 2018 and 2021. MCHS also won the tournament at its home course (1998), Vandalia (1999), Wentzville (2015), Mexico (2017) and Fulton (2022).

MCHS will play at Innsbrook Golf Course for the second time this season. The Wildcats traveled there on March 27 to take on the Wright City Wildcats in a dual match and won by one stroke.

Wright City is the host of this year’s tournament that also includes Silex, North Callaway, Van-Far, Clopton and Bowling Green. North Callaway is the defending conference champion.

The Wildcats finished third in last year’s conference tournament at Woods Fort Golf Course in Troy and placed second in the league event at Elsberry the year before.

In the 2024 tournament, MCHS had four golfers earn medals, two of them – juniors Karter Reagan and Wyatt March – are back on the team this season. The Wildcats shot a four-team score of 391, six strokes behind North Callaway and five behind second-place finisher Van-Far.

The Wildcats have played seven dual matches and two tournaments this season. They are 14-6 in dual matches.

MCHS lost to Van-Far by 11 strokes (180-191) in a tri-match on April 17 at Vandalia Country Club that also included Bowling Green. On March 25, the Wildcats outscored Van-Far by three strokes in a five-team meet on March 25 at Wildcat Golf Course to start their season.

The Wildcats lost to North Callaway by seven strokes in that season-opening match on March 25, but outscored the Thunderbirds by eight strokes in a four-team meet that included Fatima and Missouri Military Academy on April 15 at Tanglewood Golf Club.

MCHS fell to Elsberry in a four-team meet that included Wright City and Clopton on April 8.

The Wildcats had an eighth-place finish in the Hannibal Tournament on April 16 at Norwoods Golf Club, the site of the Class 2, District 2 tournament on May 12.

MCHS was scheduled to compete in the Elsberry Tournament on April 21. The Wildcats have a road match against Clopton on April 23.

After the conference tournament, MCHS will play two more dual matches on April 29 and May 1 before preparing for districts.

So far, Reagan, March and seniors Clayton Parker, Andrew Moore, Tatum Wessel and Jay Rodgers have been among the top performers for the Wildcats after a month of play. Moore, a transfer from Troy Buchanan, finished with medalist honors in the tri-match against Van-Far and Bowling Green, shooting a 38. Parker and Reagan were co-medalists in the dual match against Wright City with a 43. March shot a team-best 45 in the quad match against Hallsville, Fatima and South Callaway in the Wildcats’ home finale on April 11.

MCHS coach Cody Hasekamp said he has high hopes for his team as it approaches the final weeks of the season.

“I feel like the sky’s the limit for this group,” Hasekamp said. “We could mess around and win the conference if we do the things that we need to do. But we could also come out and take fourth or fifth in conference when we get to that point. I really feel like I can have one state qualifier or I could have two or three.”