Holmes will gain from first IVWGO experience

Gwen Holmes of Princeton tees off hole No. 8 during Sunday's Illinois Valley Open at Hunter's Ridge. It was her tourney debut. (BCR photo/Kevin Hieronymus)

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

PRINCETON — Kathy Riordan remembers the first year her daughter, Carrie, competed in the lllinois Valley Women’s Golf Open in 2002 at Edgewood in McNabb. She didn’t golf very well and left the course in tears.

Princeton’s Gwen Holmes didn’t have the best of days Sunday in her debut in the IVWGO at Hunter’s Ridge. Though she was frustrated for most of the day, she was consistent with rounds of 48 on the front and back sides. She finished 23 strokes behind first-place Carrie Riordan.

It’s an experience she said can only make her a better golfer as she prepares for her freshman season this fall for Millikin University in Decatur.

“It was pretty frustrating, to be honest,” she said. “I hit a few good shots, and I’d rather think of those shots than the bad ones ... You got to put it behind you. I’ve got a lot of golf to play here soon, so I got to learn from this and do better.”

Playing with golfers like Riordan, former ace for Eastern Illinois University, and ISU golfer Jackie Leonard was a good experience, Holmes said, because “they’re very calm. It’s good to learn from them.”

Riordan knows there will be better days ahead for Holmes.
 
“She’s got a great game,” Riordan said. “I told her what my coach told me back at school; everyone’s going to have a bad hole. You just got to prepare for them and overcome them. I want her to do well at Millikin and show her true talent. It’s fun. You’re only in college once.”

Holmes will be leaving Saturday for school, where she will pursue her golf and music careers at Millikin.

Long irons: Holmes will be ironing a few things out when she gets to Decatur. She recently bought some new clubs, but she says the irons are looking to be about an inch longer. She struggled with the new set on vacation in Branson, Mo., last week but stuck with them Sunday.

“Dad said I think we need to go back to your irons for this tournament, but I’m stubborn,” she said. “I’ll keep them, but we’re going to go back to get them figured out.”

• Caddy Shack: Everett Holmes served as his daughter’s caddie Sunday. Phil Nanni, who won last week’s Illinois Valley Junior Open at Spring Creek, served as Carrie Riordan’s caddie. For a paycheck, he said he’d get a big pat on the back. Nanni and Riordan work together at Pro Golf in Peru.

• Parental support: Ed and Kathy Riordan and Vickie Holmes walked most of the Hunter’s Ridge course, way out to the back nine holes, to support their daughters. Sometimes, they hitched a ride on the back of a sportswriter’s cart.

Another former golf mom, Kathy Farrell of Princeton followed the lead foursome. Her daughter, Katie, is a past IVWGO participant.

Course review: The Hunter’s Ridge course, which was hosting the tournament for the first time since 2000, not 1992 as previously reported in the BCR, drew good reviews from Sunday’s participants.

“I like it out here. It’s a tough course, so it’s really going to challenge the golfers. May the best person battle through,” Riordan said.

“It’s a nice course, very nice, difficult. It’s not long, but the greens are tough to hit, pretty tiny,” runner-up Jackie Leonard said.

The Princeton course, then known as Bureau Valley Country Club, held the tournament in both 1992 and 2000.
 
• Who’s got next?: Lacon Country Club, a nine-hole course, was due up to host the 2010 Open but was unsure whether or not it would accept the bid. Next on the list are Mendota and Pine Hills, but neither are sending golfers to the tournament anymore. That could bring next year’s tournament to Senica’s Oak Ridge in LaSalle.

Comment on this story at www.bcrnews.com.