PONTOON BEACH – Tuesday was a big day for Edwardsville freshman Riley Lewis.
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Not only did Lewis begin her high school classes – Tuesday was opening day for the Edwardsville school district – Lewis hit the links for the first time as an Edwardsville girls golfer.
While Lewis is just a freshman, she’s already made some impact on the team, carding a 3-over 74 for medalist honors at the Madison County Girls Golf Championship at the par-71, 5,119-yard Legacy Golf Course in Pontoon Beach.
“I was excited to leave school early because, I mean, it’s school,” Lewis joked. “I was excited because it was my first day, but it was fun getting to play (golf).”
When asked what made her more nervous – her first high school golf tournament or her first day of high school – Lewis said “the first day of school, probably; I liked it. I had first-hour PE, second-hour Spanish and third-hour honors biology” before heading to The Legacy with her teammates.
Lewis thought her opening round was going well “until the last three holes,” she said. “I kind of struggled – I went bogie-bogie-double bogie; I was 1-under going into 16 (the par-4, 324-yard 16th hole). I had three birdies on the front nine and two more on the back nine – my putting was really good today.”
Lewis was with the Tigers for their opening tournament last week, the Prep Tour Showcase event in Oglesby; she shot an 82 to lead EHS to an equal seventh-place finish in the event. When asked what, if any differences there were between Tuesday’s tournament and the Oglesby tournament, Lewis said “I thought it was a lot different because we were playing more like local (teams) and we knew more of the schools that were coming.
“I was more relaxed because it was my third tournament.”
Lewis had played golf on a more casual basis – her dad Matt taking her out to the course when he went to play – until a couple of summers ago. “I started tournaments, I believe – it was the summer going into seventh grade,” Lewis said. “When I was doing it for fun, I was pretty good for my age, just doing it for fun and not competitively; my dad loved it – I was out there with him all the time, so I really got into it.”
Lewis has also played has also played basketball, soccer and volleyball. “I had to give up volleyball for golf,” Lewis said. “I’m not sure if I’m going to do basketball yet; soccer I’ll do.”
Despite being a freshman, Tiger coach Abby Comerford feels Lewis has poise. “She is very poised,” Comerford said. “She does get down whenever she has a bad shot, but it’s the case where sometimes, as a freshman, it’s hard to kind of come back from that bad shot, and she does.
“She keeps her poise, she knows where she needs to go and she fixes it; it’s a case where a lot of players can’t do that on the course, but she is one that can.”
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