Ever since his freshman year, Matt Dunning has been a valuable member for the Wright City golf team, earning two all-Eastern Missouri Conference awards and qualifying for the sectional tournament twice.

“Matt has been a leader since his freshman year,” Wright City coach Bill Schaffer said. “This year, he’s the absolute leader. He helps out the younger guys. He has no problem giving advice at any time.”

Now, the Wright City senior hopes to end his career with his first trip to the state tournament.

District assignments for golf were recently released. Wright City will be competing in a Class 3, District 2 tournament, which will be held at Warrenton Golf Course on May 10. The top 18 finishers automatically qualify for the state tournament, which will be held on May 17-18 at Crown Pointe Golf Course in Farmington. There is no sectional round.

Schaffer said he hopes Dunning will turn in a strong showing against strong teams such as Whitfield, Father Tolton and Lutheran South in the 15-team district tournament. In 2019, Whitfield and Father Tolton placed in the top four in Class 2, while Lutheran South came in third in Class 3.

“He’ll be a threat to make state, but that district is loaded,” Schaffer said. “You’ve got to finish in the top 18. I see him somewhere between 15th and 25th. It’s going to be hard to get in. With the new rules this year, only 18 kids qualify for districts. With 15 teams, that gets a little tight. It’s not as bad as the Silex district. They have 21 teams. I’m not sure what MSHSAA’s thoughts were on this, but it is what it is. At least we get to play.”

Other teams in the district tournament include host-St. Charles West, Winfield, Westminster Christian Academy, Orchard Farm, Mexico, Fulton and Affton.

When he was a freshman, Dunning qualified for sectionals for the first time by placing 18th in districts. The next year, he came in 12th in districts to make another trip to the sectional round. Dunning earned second-team all-EMO honors both years.

Dunning didn’t play golf last year as the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This season, Dunning has turned in several strong performances, including an eight-over-44 in a triangular match against Montgomery County and Silex on April 9 at Montgomery County Golf Club. He finished with two pars and came up just three strokes of finishing with medalist honors.

“He’s as stable of a kid as I’ve ever had,” said Schaffer, who has known Dunning since he was in sixth grade.

Dunning is leading a Wright City team that has three freshmen — Aidan O’Donnell, Joe Harris and Jacob Mudd. Dunning is the only senior on the squad.

“Matt will be fine and the freshmen will develop,” Schaffer said. “They’ll keep getting better and we’ll see how far we get them this year and go at it again next year.”

Schaeffer said he wants his team to stay healthy as its season approaches the midway point. Against Montgomery County and Silex, Wright City didn’t have a full team because one of its players suffered an ankle injury.

“We struggled this year because we had two kids quarantined,” Schaffer said. “One of them is still quarantined. The other one was quarantined and had a broken ankle. Two of them were sick for a couple of matches. We had one match where we sent just Matt. We sent two in one match and we sent three in another. It’s been an entertaining season.”