First, thank you to SportsNut, Bill O’Connell for all the help covering the WMC girls golf scene!
Now, lets get into it…
Montague girls golf has been a force in West Michigan for more than a decade. From back-to-back State Championships in 2020 and 2021, to producing medalists and state finalists nearly every year since, the Wildcats have built a tradition of excellence.
But there was one thing missing since the West Michigan Conference realignment and the official start of girls golf in the league: a conference championship.
That all changed this fall.
Montague put together a dominant season, winning all five conference jamborees and capturing the outright WMC title for the first time since the restructure. For head coach Phil Kerr, this title carries extra weight.
“Since the realignment, we’ve had some really good teams,” Kerr said. “In 2022, we still had Mackenzie and Natalie from our state championship run, but Ludington, led by Emma McKinley, finished ahead of us. Ludington won those first two seasons, and Whitehall took it last year. We’ve had great players during those years, but we never had the depth we have now — with four All-Conference players and one honorable mention. You need studs at the top, but you also need depth behind them to win at the highest level.”
The Wildcats wasted no time showing they were built differently this year. They opened the season with a commanding win at their home jamboree, finishing 54 strokes ahead of the field. On that day, junior Cadence Fox fired a school-record-tying 75, staking her claim as the leader of this squad.
She never looked back. Fox became the first Montague girl to ever win the Individual Conference Medalist honor. But this wasn’t a one-player show — the Wildcats’ depth was unmatched all season long.
“Cadence is clearly the leader of this team, both with her play and the way she carries herself,” Kerr said. “She leads with confidence but also with humility. The girls adore her, and she has close friendships with all of them outside of golf, which goes a long way in building team culture.”
“But Addi Smith has been our top scorer multiple times this season and had a really strong run during conference play. Brynlee Kessler has been steady all year, and both Molly Mulder and Marguerite O’Connell stepped up at key moments to keep our team score at the top of the leaderboard. Even in the final week, Marguerite had a great round at Colonia…that kind of depth and their ability to ‘ham and egg’ it has been a real key to our success.”
For the players, this title is more than just a trophy — it’s a milestone for the program.
“This championship means a lot to this group,” Kerr said. “It’ll be the first girls golf conference title up on the championship banner in the new gym, so they’ll always be able to look up and see that. These girls have been in the program for 3–4 years, and most of them had never even experienced an invitational win, let alone a championship. This year we’ve won an invitational and five conference jamborees, so they’re learning how to win, even under pressure. I think this gives them the confidence to carry themselves like champions as we chase more titles this season.”
With the conference crown secured, the Wildcats are now turning their focus to the postseason. The goal is simple: qualify for state.
“Our number one goal now is to make it back to state, which means finishing top three at the regional,” Kerr said. “Northpointe Christian, ranked third in Division 4, is in our region, so the competition will be tough. Of course, we’ll go into the regional championship with our eyes on a mitten, but the top priority is to take care of business and punch our ticket back to state.”
Montague has sent at least one golfer to the state finals in each of the last five years, including a full team trip in 2024. With Fox, Smith, Kessler, Mulder, and O’Connell all swinging steady, the Wildcats look poised to extend that streak.
Beyond this season, Montague’s golf future looks bright. Youth programs are feeding the pipeline, and the brand-new golf room on campus will give the Wildcats a competitive edge in offseason development.
“The first group of kids we brought in with our inaugural camp in 2021 are now in 7th and 8th grade,” Kerr said. “We have a good sense of what’s coming up the pipeline, and we feel confident that we won’t need to ‘rebuild on the fly’ in the coming years.”
For now, though, the focus is on the present — and the Wildcats are back where they belong: conference champions.
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