Eastern senior Carrie Riordan was first motivated to play golf by her brother Corey. Corey had drawn an interest in golf when Riordan was in the eighth grade and soon she followed in her brother’s footsteps by going out for the golf team.

Spring Valley High School, her high school, didn’t have a girl’s golf team, so Riordan joined the boy’s team. Adding to the experience was the fact that Riordan had to adjust from shooting a total of 5,300 yards per match on the girl’s team, to shooting 6,100 yards per match on the boy’s team.

Riordan said the difference in yardage helped her prepare to play golf at the college level.

“Playing in high school (on the men’s team) helped me prepare for (Division I) competitions by allowing me to understand the distances,” Riordan said.

The experience of playing on the boy’s golf team helped Riordan develop strength in her swing as well as develop her work ethic, which she carried with her to college.

“I always like to work on things until the point that I feel comfortable with it,” Riordan said. “If I’m not hitting the ball well, then I will keep practicing until I feel good about it. I wouldn’t call myself a perfectionist, but I’m close.”

Riordan’s determination and strong play have shown this season, especially at the recent Ohio Valley Conference Championship, where she became the first Eastern golfer to win the tournament.

The event was held at Crooked Tree Golf Course in London, Ky.

At the tournament, Riordan came out on day one and posted a strong opening round, shooting a 2-over-par 74. Riordan’s first day score was good enough to land her in first place.

On day two, Riordan slipped a little, shooting a 7-over-par 79, which dropped her into second place in the tournament. She then displayed her determination by finishing the final round of the tournament with a 5-over-par 77, which was good enough to finish the tournament with a final score of 14-over-par, 230 total strokes.

Riordan said winning the tournament was a goal when the season started.

“Me and (head coach Mike Moncel) had been talking about this since the beginning of the year,” Riordan said. “My goal coming into the year was to win as many tournaments as possible, and right now it just feels like I’m on cloud nine.”

Moncel said he was especially proud of Riordan’s performance at the OVC Championship.

“She has worked her butt off for four years, and she certainly has earned it,” he said. “Quite honestly, I expected her to win this tournament because we had talked about it for so long.”

Moncel said Riordan’s main strengths include her ball striking ability as well as her strong putting game.

Senior teammate Michelle Anderson said another one of Riordan’s strengths has been her competitive nature.

“She is always out there trying to work to get better, which shows the rest of the team how competitive she is,” Anderson said.

Neil Schneider can be reached at 581-7944 or at jnschneider@eiu.edu.

Senior golfer Carrie Riordan won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. Riordan slipped to second on the second day, but rebounded to win. (Amir Prellberg/The Daily Eastern News)

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