For Eastern’s golf teams, the time to be on top of their games is right now because both men and women will be playing in the Ohio Valley Conferecne Championship at Grey Stone Golf Course in Dickson, Tenn., this week.

“If they all play well, we’ll be OK,” said head coach Mike Moncel of his teams as they enter the tournament that will ultimately judge how successful their year has been.

“It’s just a matter of getting them all on the same wavelength on the same day, which is kind of like herding cats some times.”

If the way the Eastern teams have played this spring after a long winter-induced hiatus is any indicator of how the teams will fair in the tournament, they will be in for some long days on the golf course. So far in 2011, neither team has come within 10 strokes of winning a tournament.

Sophomore Lauren Williams said her teammates have the talent to win, but just need to get everyone to play well at the correct time.

“We have to make sure we have four solid scores and we haven’t done that this year,” Williams said. “We can play with every other team out there, it’s just we have to believe in ourselves that we can go low.”

The championship is being played on the same course as it was last year when the women’s team placed sixth of eight and the men’s team placed ninth of nine, something junior Gino Parrodi said is an advantage for the teams.

Of the 10 Eastern golfers playing in the tournament this year, eight played on Grey Stone Golf Course last year. None played better at last year’s championship than Parrodi.

“Gino had a chance to win the thing,” Moncel said. “Had he played the last two holes better each day he’d have been right there.”

Parrodi ended up in a tie for ninth place among individuals, which made him the only top 10 finisher for either Eastern team.

Emily Fitzgerald, the only freshman on either team this year, said she is happy to be selected to play in the championship. She said her game has come far since the fall.

“I wasn’t comfortable at the beginning of the year,” Fitzgerald said. “Once you get to know everyone you feel a lot better about where you are.”

Williams played in the championship as a freshman as well and said it was difficult to play well.

“As a freshman, you don’t know what to expect, you’re scared and you’re not sure of if you’re the right person to go to conference,” Williams said.

Parrodi said the preparation for a big tournament like this is mostly mental and that if they have confidence going in they can be successful.

“We’ve got to suck it up and start playing,” Parrodi said. “This is the place where we need to play our best game.”

For seniors Francisco Cherizola and Veronica Bernier, the OVC championship will be their last time playing collegiate golf. Coach Moncel said he has seen golfers entering their final game with a variety of attitudes that have led to very different results.

“Those looking on it saying ‘this is the end’ may not do as well as those saying ‘I’m going to go out on a boom.'” Moncel said.

Bernier said the fact that the championship is her last time playing collegiate golf has not quite hit her yet.

“I thought I would be extremely nervous or be very emotional, but so far I’m really feeling nothing,” Bernier said, who said she may not be focusing on it because of other things in her life that will happen after the championship is over.

“I’m moving on into my life, I’m looking at getting a job, I’m getting married in August so I have things to look forward to,” Bernier said.

Cherizola said his mindset is to play his best in his final tournament. He said he has played in the championship the last three years and is confident that he can use the pressure of the tournament to his advantage.

Parrodi said he is going to be sad to see Cherizola leave the team. The pair, who are room mates, have been lifelong friends.

“I’ve known Cheri since…” Parrodi said, pausing to remember. “Well, we started playing golf together a long, long time ago back in Mexico.”

The pair’s seasons could not be more similar to this point. The duo will enter their final tournament together with an identical average round score of 76.2, which is the second best on the team behind junior David Lawrence.

The women start play in their three round tournament today and finish Sunday. The men start their tournament with round one on Monday and finish up with round three Wednesday

“We are a grown-up team with an ability to pick it up and finish here,” Cherizola said. “There’s no excuse to play bad.”

Doug Graham can be reached at 581-7944 or at dtgraham@eiu.edu