Eaton Faces Williams in Final
By Joe McDonald
RIGA Senior Writer
LINCOLN – Prior to the semifinal round of the Rhode Island Women’s Amateur Championship, Kylie Eaton said she was happy at least herself, or her sister Adriana would be in the finals Saturday morning at Kirkbrae Country Club.
It will be Adriana this year.
She beat her older sister, 3&1, Friday morning to advance to the championship round and will face Olivia Williams, who defeated Brooke Brennan, 3&2. While Kylie won this event last year, Adriana is hoping to keep it in the family.
“It feels good,” she said of her victory. “I came into the tournament, trying to make it to the finals, but just play my best. Today, I was even-par, which got it done for me . . . It feels good (to beat Kylie), but I was hoping we’d face each other in the semis, but it didn’t work out that way. She didn’t play her best today.”
Only minutes before the 7:30 a.m. tee time Friday, Mark Eaton, who serves as Kylie’s caddie, went to fist bump his other daughter, but Adriana shook her head and walked away. The friendly gamesmanship was in full gear.
“That’s my personality, trying to get in the zone,” she said with a smile. “Just try to stay focused.”
Williams defeated Adriana in the semifinals of the Rhode Island Junior Amateur Championship recently, so Eaton is hoping for revenge on the biggest stage.
“We both didn’t play our best at the Junior Am,” Adriana said.
Eaton, 15, has developed her game to a level where she feels like she can play well against anyone in the state. It helps that she won the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Girls’ State Championship this spring.
“It definitely gave me a lot of confidence coming into the summer because I had a lot of tournaments. It’s reassuring that I fit in with these players and we’re all the same caliber, it just depends on who plays the best that day,” Adriana said. “I’ve been putting in a lot of work to get me to that point. I’ve been putting a lot recently and it’s been showing in my past tournaments.”
Despite the loss, Kylie played well, but Adriana matched it. On 16, Kylie gave her sister a big hug.
“I said that if I was going to lose, I would want to lose to her playing well and she definitely was,” Kylie said. “It wasn’t that I played that bad, but whenever she bogeyed, I also happened to bogey. She was just better than me today.”
No doubt Kylie will be in her sister’s corner Saturday morning, but post-semifinal match was a little different.
“Not right now,” Kylie said. “Definitely not right now.”
Saturday morning will be a different story. And, if Adriana asks for advice, Kylie knows exactly what to tell her.
“Don’t want it too bad. You have to trick yourself that you’re just going to go out and have a good time playing the best golf you have that day. I definitely didn’t listen to my own advice at all today, but that’s what I would tell her,” Kylie said. “You can’t want to beat someone too badly to a point where you’re gripping it harder and whacking it. You have to play the course.”
In the Senior Amateur division, Melissa Hem defeated Laura Nesteriak, 7&6, while Angel Macleod beat Felicia Revens, 4&2. So, it’ll be Hem vs. Macleod for the final Saturday morning. In the net division, Trish Labossiere def. Fusako Seaver, 4&3, while Lisa Corrigan beat Sharon Volpe, 3&2.