GolfNewsRI

Kirkbrae Country Club’s Kylie Eaton held off Potowomut’s Olivia Williams 2&1 to win the Rhode Island Girls Junior Amateur Championship on Friday morning at Rhode Island Country Club. 

This is the first state tournament win of Eaton’s career, though she has been in the mix on a handful of occasions. 

“It means a lot to finally get it done. I’ve played good golf in the past, but was never able to make the finals, let alone win, so I’m really pumped,” Eaton told GolfNewsRI after the round. 

Eaton’s road to the title included wins over her sister Adrianna in the semifinals and defending champion Gianna Papa. 

Adrianna was on the bag for Kylie in the final match despite the two going head to head in matches over the last couple of weeks. 

“It was really fun. She was a really great caddie. She knows my game really well, she was great with reading all the putts. She kept me focused and committed to everything I wanted to do, so it was great,” Eaton added. 

The two sisters could potentially meet for a third installment in a couple of weeks in the Kirkbrae Club Championship, where Kylie has won back-to-back titles. 

Eaton Wins Junior Amateur 

Williams jumped out to an early lead, going one-up on the second hole and staying that way through the sixth hole. 

Eaton tied the match on seven and took her first lead on the ninth hole. 

The two players halved ten and 11, before Eaton rattled off three wins in a row to take a four-up lead with four to play. 

“I wasn’t playing that well at the beginning, but I was making putts to stay in it. Then holes 12-14 were the biggest stretch for me, I started to play a lot better. Then from there, I was pretty confident going into the last four holes,” said Eaton. 

Williams won the 15th hole after Eaton put her tee shot out of bounds and made a six. 

Williams would get one step closer on 16 when she drained a long par putt to win the hole and cut Eaton’s lead to two up with two to play. 

The match would get closed out on  the par-3 17th when Eaton knocked down a par putt from just above the flag to halve the hole and end the match.