Even though it didn’t celebrate a victory, the Montgomery County golf team concluded its home season on April 9 with a strong effort in a five-team match against South Callaway, Clopton, Hallsville and Elsberry.

The Wildcats placed third with a four-team score of 177, six strokes shy from their season-best 171 in a home match on March 31. South Callaway won the match with a 171 and Elsberry came in second with a 172.

“We shot one of our better rounds of the year,” MCHS coach Cody Hasekamp said. “We had to play our best to have a chance to win and we didn’t play our absolute best. But it’s not district day. It’s not conference day. So we still have time. Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call for the ones who didn’t quite meet the expectations they were hoping to meet.”

The Wildcats played their third home match of the season. They began their season on March 24 with a third-place finish in a seven-team match with a 181. MCHS placed second to South Callaway in a five-team match on March 31.

The Wildcats will be on the road for the rest of the season. They were scheduled to compete in a quadrangular match with North Callaway, Missouri Military Academy and Fulton on April 14 at Tanglewood Golf Course in Fulton. They will compete in the Hannibal Golf Tournament on April 17.

MCHS will compete at the Eastern Missouri Conference tournament on April 27 at Innsbrook Golf Course. It will play in the Class 2, District 2 tournament on May 11 at Norwoods Golf Course.

Hasekamp said Wildcat Golf Course had adequate conditions in every home match his team played this season.

“There are still some things about this course,” the fourth-year MCHS coach said. “It’s got its flaws and it’s got its charm. The course wasn’t the reason that we didn’t play as good as we could (on April 9) or at any point this year. It’s been in good enough shape. I don’t have any complaints at this point. They do a good job in working with us when we get stuff going on and advocating for us.”

Hasekamp said his team played its fastest match of the season in the April 9 home match. The contest lasted about two hours.

“I’m hopeful that the kids will learn that we can play fast,” Hasekamp said. “We’re playing quick. We don’t have as long to think about those shots that gave us trouble. We can just work on resetting and be ready to hit the next one because the next one is the only one we can change.”

Seniors Karter Reagan and Wyatt March have been fighting for the top spot on the team all season long. In the April 9 home match, March was the Wildcats’ top performer with a five-over-40 and Reagan – who was a state qualifier last year – shot a 41.

“I think technically, Karter is still a shot or two better overall than Wyatt,” Hasekamp said. “Those two have been playing pretty good golf.”

Another senior, Jake Ridenhour, has also been a solid contributor in the varsity lineup. He shot a 45 in the March 31 home match.

“Jake is playing a lot better than I thought at times,” Hasekamp said. “But then some of those old habits that we saw a little bit last year wandered back out. So we got to work on getting him a little more steady.”

Junior Kaiden Waite shot a 43 to lead the Wildcats in their season opener on March 24. He also shot a 44 in the Elsberry Quad on April 6 and helped his team win that event.

“Kaiden has kind of been my wild card,” Hasekamp said. “He’s a kid who can bring in a round under 40 or he can bring me a round of 55. I’m not sure which one I’m going to get day to day. That’s just tough because when I’m counting on that mid to low 40 round and he brings me a 50 or higher kind of throws a wrench in the plan of trying to win.”