Lily Dessel Wins RI Girls Junior Amateur
Barrington High School golf star Lily Dessel took down two-time defending champion Olivia Williams to win the Rhode Island Girls Junior Amateur on Friday morning at Pawtucket Country Club.
Dessel put on a clinic in the match, going five-up through nine holes before winning 4&3.
“I really wanted to win this one. I knew if there was a time that I could, it would probably be this year. This is probably the most confident that I’ve been in my game and so with that confidence I knew I could play well,” Dessel said after the round.
This is Dessel’s first State win of her career and she did it against opponents that she will see again very soon, like at next week’s Women’s Amateur at Wannamoisett.
“This gives me a lot of confidence knowing that I can beat all the junior girls in Rhode Island. I will probably go in with confidence next week and all the future tournaments and high school. I feel like last season it was all about Olivia and Adriana, but now I think the stories will shift a little,” said Dessel.
The Women’s Amateur begins on Monday, August 5 with stroke play qualifying.
The Match
After a halve on the first hole, Dessel won the second and third holes to take a quick two up lead in the match.
The two halved holes four and five before Dessel took a three-up lead on the sixth hole.
“I think it’s very important in match play to get an early lead. We started by tying the first hole and then after that I was winning a lot of holes. I don’’t think I lost a hole on the front nine,” said Dessel.
She did not.
Dessel would win holes eight and nine to take a five up lead with the back nine to play.
Williams fought back by winning the tenth and 11th holes to cut Dessel’s lead to three-up, however, Dessel quickly pushed it back to four up on the 12th hole.
They would halve the next three holes to give Dessel the win.