Golfer of the Year: East Union’s Brooke Riley maintains excellence

All employees at Manteca Park Golf Course know Brooke Riley, and she knows them.

Pleasant hellos are exchanged from the practice range to the pro shop to the clubhouse grill. The golf course is Riley’s second home. Her parents need not worry if, for some reason, they lose track of her.

She’ll be on the range, a bucket of golf balls strewn on the divot-dug ground nearby. She’ll be hitting, hitting, hitting ...

“I don’t miss a day out there,” Riley said. “(My parents) want to see me happy. I’ll be happy forever if I play golf.”

Passion doesn’t always translate into success in this difficult and often maddening game. But for Riley, a junior at East Union High School in Manteca, her commitment has been parlayed into arguably the best season by a Stanislaus District female golfer.

Riley, a left-hander, tied for third at the CIF State Championship, tied for third at the NorCals and tied for first at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters. She averaged 2 under par for the season with nine-hole rounds as low as 31 and 32.

For the third consecutive year, she’s an easy choice as the Stanislaus District’s Girls Golfer of the Year. To complete the coronation, she accepted a full-ride scholarship last week to attend Northwestern, currently ranked ninth in the nation.

“I love everything about Northwestern, especially the coaches,” she said. “I can’t wait.”

Riley didn’t take her first swing until age 12 but quickly made up for lost time. She has sharpened her game each year at East Union and has especially improved her putting and short game.

It all came together last fall as her tee shots lengthened and the putts dropped at the right time. Her 2-under 70 at The Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton erased some frustration at that venue as an underclassman.

“I had a good game plan at Spanos,” she said. “I played the course exactly the way I wanted to.”

Riley sustained her momentum at the NorCals at Crazy Horse Ranch in Salinas. She enjoys golf anywhere near the Monterey Peninsula, and she showed it with her 71.

The state championship was at Red Hill Country Club in Rancho Cucamonga. Qualifiers were not allowed a practice round at the NorCals or state championship, so Riley played the course cold.

She demonstrated her elite level when she shook off back-to-back bogeys with three consecutive birdies. She walked to the 18th green 3 under par and needing a two-putt from about 30 feet to advance to a playoff for the medalist honor.

Her disappointing four-putt shocked the gallery, but she looks back at the episode as a learning experience. She misread the left-to-right breaker and was left with a 31/2-footer she power-lipped far past the cup. Disheartened, she also missed that one and wound up with a 73.

“I should have taken a little more time and a few deep breaths before the second putt,” Riley said. “When I get nervous on short putts, I push it to the right.”

All accomplished players have failed before they’ve succeeded in golf. So did Riley at Masters before she slayed that beast last November.

“I hit the ball solid and had a great day at state. It was my best round of the year,” Riley said. “That I was 3 under at 18 is what I will take from that day rather than the four-putt at 18.”

The youngest of five children, Riley idolized sister Katie, who’s about 10 years older. Katie excelled in soccer in a big way as a defender. Her teams at Stanford and as a graduate student at Florida State reached the NCAA College Cup.

“I wanted to be just like her,” Brooke said.

Clearly, she is fast-tracking in that direction. She will seek that elusive state title as a senior while emphasizing team goals.

Until then, you can find her at Manteca Park.

“From the first time I picked up a club, I loved it,” she said. “I want to be out here all the time.”

This story was originally published January 13, 2015 at 11:55 PM with the headline "Golfer of the Year: East Union’s Brooke Riley maintains excellence."