Adriana Eaton won the RIIL Girls Golf Championship for the second time in three years, shooting 66-75-141.
Adriana Eaton won the RIIL Girls Golf Championship for the second time in three years, shooting 66-75-141.
- No. 16 seed Joey Iaciofano defeated No. 1 seed Rocco Capalbo 3 and 2 in the boys’ division.
- In the girls’ division, higher seeds largely dominated, with Barrington High School teammates Claire McTaggart, Lily Dessel, and Emma Lockhart all securing victories.
- Quarterfinals are scheduled for Wednesday, followed by semifinals on Thursday and the championship matches on Friday.
PAWTUCKET — The 106th Rhode Island Golf Association Junior Amateur Boys Championship match is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 1, but it might have already happened.
Joey Iaciofano was one of the favorites to win the tournament coming in, but he struggled during the stroke play qualifier on Monday and earned the No. 16 seed by getting in via a five-for-three playoff. He played better on Tuesday against medalist Rocco Capalbo, taking a two-hole lead before the pair turned and Iaciafano held on for a 3-and-2 win over the No. 1 seed.
“I’ve always felt the seeding hasn’t mattered to me,” Iaciafano said. “If I go to the finals, I’m going to have to beat everyone anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”
Six of the eight matches were won by higher seeds, and the story was the same on the girls side. Six of the seven matches were won by the higher seed and three of those were won by a trio of teammates from Barrington High School as All-Staters Claire McTaggart, Lily Dessel and Emma Lockhart were all victorious.
“I wasn’t really happy with how I played [on Monday], but at the end of the day the score [on Monday] doesn’t matter for the rest of the week,” said Dessel, the tournament’s No. 3 seed, who beat Samantha Iacobucci, 7 and 6. “I know how I can play and I know I didn’t show that [on Monday].”
Iaciofano didn’t have his best in Monday’s qualifier and found himself playing the first hole at Pawtucket Country Club with four other players battling for the last three spots in the bracket. Iaciofano was the third of three players to make par on the hole, giving him the 16 seed against Capalbo in a matchup that had more championship feel than first round.
The two rising juniors — Capalbo at Prout, Iaciofano at Florida’s Oxbridge Academy — showed off their immense talent, trading shots and not giving up any ground for the first six holes.
Iaciofano finally broke through with a par on the par-3 seventh and a birdie on the par-five eighth hole. He took a 2-up lead into the turn and extended it to three with a par on the par-4 12th hole.
Capalbo got one back with a birdie on the 13th hole, but the two traded pars for two holes before Iaciofano made another on 16 to close out the match.
“If you hit greens and make pars, you’ll be pretty good,” Iaciofano said. “You don’t need to roll in a ton of birdies to beat people. I just had that mindset going into the back nine.”
Iaciofano’s high school teammate had a similar mindset and had the most dominant win on the boys side.
A.J. Colonna, a second-team All-State selection as a freshman at Barrington before moving south, earned the No. 2 seed after Monday’s qualifier and didn’t slow down in match play. Up against Quinn Dumas, Colonna won two of his first four holes, closed the front with two more wins and then won three of the first four holes on the back to take the match, 6 and 5.
“Stroke play I kind of played it more safe, more irons off the tee, looking to make more pars and I was lucky enough to make some birdies,” said Colonna, who shot a 1-under 68 on Monday. “Match play was more aggressive, but [I] was lucky enough to have just one bogey and cruise.”
Cruise is exactly what McTaggart, Dessel and Lockhart did.
McTaggart, who tied for medalist but picked up the No. 2 seed because No. 1 Olivia Williams shot a better score on the back nine on Monday, wasted little time in putting her match away. McTaggart and Brynn Medina halved their first hole, but McTaggart won seven of the next eight on the front, making an eagle on the par-5 third hole and just missing another on the par-5 ninth. Wins on Nos. 10 and 11 closed out the match, 9 and 7.
“I played pretty much identical to how I played [on Monday] and I think that’s the most important part,” McTaggart said. “I know I had a good day [on Monday] and it’s about keeping that energy throughout the week.”
Her two high school teammates also won in commanding fashion. Lockhart, a rising junior at Barrington, won three straight holes early in her match against Ashley O’Grady, led five-up at the turn and closed things out, 7 and 6, with a halve on the 12th hole.
Dessel, the No. 3 seed for the tourney playing in her final Junior Amateur, was steady from start to finish, winning five of the first six holes against Samantha Iacobucci. An Iacobucci birdie got one back on No. 7, but Dessel won the next three holes before winning, 7 and 6.
“I definitely want to win,” Dessel said. “I don’t mind the pressure. It’s motivating.”
Johnston High School All-Stater Elizabeth Kue battled tough against former Prout All-Stater Ava Andoscia and came away with a 4 and 3 win. Kue’s sister Kamryn was also victorious, beating Audrey DiCarlo, 7 and 5. Hanley Correia, who attends Bishop Feehan, had an 8 and 7 win over Makenna Moylan, and Lincoln School second-team All-State selection Maggie McDonald, the 10th seed, beat Cumberland’s Julia Nault, 5 and 4, the only upset on the girls side.
Iaciofano had the big upset for the boys, but Moses Brown All-Stater Parker Kroll came up with one as well. Kroll earned the No. 14 seed in the same playoff as Iaciofano, then went out and took down Devon Havens, 5 and 4, on Tuesday.
In the boys 14 and under division, top seeded Ishaan Catone — who shot a 3-over 72 on Monday — had a bye into Wednesday’s quarterfinal. No. 2 Ray Rainville, who shot a 75 on Monday, cruised to a 10 and 8 win in his match against William Warner.
Quarterfinal play starts on Wednesday, July 30, with the semifinals scheduled for Thursday and championship matches set for Friday.
“I don’t plan out what’s going to happen,” Dessel said. “A couple of years ago, when I was first in the Junior Am, I told a friend that I was on the hard side of the bracket and he said ‘don’t ever say that again.’ ”
“I’ve learned you can’t look too far ahead in match play,” Iaciofano said. “I’ve kind of learned to stay in the present, which has helped me play better.”
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