WEST SUNBURY — All Tom Ward needed was one look.

When he saw Elaine Carson play one summer at Hiland Golf Course, the Moniteau High golf coach wanted her on his team.

"I sent her a Christmas card later that year inviting her to come out and play for our boys team," Ward said. "At the time, I didn't even know if they'd allow it or not.

"In the early 1970s, a girl wanted to play on our golf team and girls were not allowed on the team."

This was the late '70s, however, and Carson was permitted to play. She went on to a stellar career in golf and is among the seven 2010 inductees into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame.

The induction banquet is April 24 at the Butler Days Inn.

"This is pretty unbelievable to me. I'm thrilled about this," Carson said.

A 1980 Moniteau graduate, Carson became the first girl to play on the boys golf team and held the No. 1 position for the Warriors while she was there.

She was District 9 runner-up in 1979 and district champion in 1980. Carson placed 10th at the PIAA Girls Golf Tournament her junior year.

"I wasn't able to make the trip to the state tournament my senior year," she said. "I believe I would have done better. My game really improved that year.

"The guys on the team were so nice to me," she added. "They couldn't have been more supportive. It was a great experience for me."

Carson was valedictorian of her high school graduating class and went on to play golf at Florida State University. She earned dean's list honors while attaining a business administration degree there.

"Her dad got her into golf and she has such a natural swing," Ward said. "She always hit the ball right down the middle."

By her senior year, Carson was the team's captain and Florida State had one of the best women's squads in the country. Eventual LPGA golfers Jane Geddes, Barb Bunkolski and Lisa Young were among Carson's teammates.

Carson then played on the women's Futures Tour in California for a year, finishing among the top 10 in most tournaments. She played in the Central Florida Challenge in 1988 and won a tournament at Wedgewood Country Club in Lakeland while on that tour.

When it came time to decide whether to step up to the LPGA Tour, Carson stepped away.

"I was competitive, but I knew playing golf was not going to be my life's work," she said. "I wanted to teach. I knew that a long time ago.

"Since age 14 or 15, I was into popping the tape into the VCR and analyzing facets of my own game."

Carson has been a teaching professional at The Perfect Swing golf school in Butler for 21 years. She runs the adult golf program and works with nearly 700 golfers.

Her primary job is as a real estate agent with Northwood Realty.

"If Northwood has a golf outing, I play — that's about the extent of it now for me," Carson said. "I don't have the time anymore."

When she played golf regularly, Carson was dominant.'

She won five consecutive Butler County Women's Golf championships. She was the Pittsburgh Public Links women's champion in 1979 and 1980. Carson competed in the National Public Links Women's Championship in 1979 in Edina, Minn., at age 16.

"I was scared of my own shadow," Carson recalled. "I was playing against women in their 20s and 30s. I knew I was out of my element."

Besides golf, Carson lettered in basketball and volleyball at Moniteau. She dropped the other sports her senior year to concentrate on golf.

"Once you reach that crossroads between the pro tour or another type of career, you know whether you have that competitive fire in you," Carson said.

"You either have it or you don't. I never wanted to beat the pulp out of everybody. I loved the journey getting there more than the tournament play itself."

Tickets to the banquet are $20 each with tables of eight available. Tickets are available at Bill's Beer Barn, Moses Jewelry Store at the Clearview Mall, Parker's Appliance in Chicora, Snack 'n' Pack in Butler and Saxonburg Drug.

<b>This is the fifth in a series of seven articles profiling the 2010 inductees into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame.</b>