Sister Act Redux
By Joe McDonald
RIGA Senior Writer
LINCOLN – The gamesmanship has officially begun – once again – between the Eaton sisters.
Kylie and Adriana Eaton will play against each other in the semifinals of the Rhode Island Women’s Amateur Championship Friday morning at Kirkbrae Country Club. It’s becoming a regular occurrence for Kylie, 18, and Adriana, 15, to play their way into contention in most tournaments and it will be on display again on their home course. Both won their respective quarterfinal rounds Thursday to advance, while Olivia Williams will play Brooke Brennan in the other semifinal match.
As far as the Eaton sisters, Adriana has only beaten Kylie once during match play. In fact, they both know exactly the record between them. While Kylie has the advantage in the win-loss column, Adriana, a rising sophomore at Moses Brown, won the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Girls’ State Championship this spring.
“She’s out for blood because of that,” Adriana said with a smile.
Kylie responded: “Yup, she knows it.”
Adriana also won medalist honors Monday during Round 1 of the Rhode Island Women’s Amateur. Still, Kylie is the defending champion and plans on keeping her title.
After the quarterfinal round Thursday, the girls enjoyed lunch on the deck at Kirkbrae with family and friends, but they know it’ll only be a matter of time before their competitive sides emerge.
“It’s always a little weird in the morning,” Kylie said. “It’s not ideal and obviously we both want to win. Ideally, we would’ve been squaring off in the final, but at least an Eaton sister will be in the final, which is nice. She’s playing well. I want to win, and she wants to win, so it’ll be competitive. “We’ll glance at each other from time to time and just start laughing, because it happens every single year. In the morning we’ll act like we’re all tough and not talk to each other, but we’ll warm up bay-to-bay, side-by-side. It’ll be normal, but weird competitive at the same time.”
Since the semifinal match will be on their home course, it might feel like a normal round with the family.
“We’ll keep it competitive, obviously, but it’ll feel like a regular round,” Adriana said. “There will be some tension tonight and tomorrow, but it’ll be fine. We find it funny because we’ve done it so many times before, so it feels like, ‘oh, here it is again.’ It’ll be fine tonight, but you’ll feel the tension a little bit in the morning.”
Adriana has built a lot of confidence in her game since winning the high school championship at Cranston Country Club this spring. She’s continued that momentum this summer and it has been on display this week. She’s confident with her putter and she drained more than a few long putts this week.
Meanwhile, Kylie has been consistent off the tee. In fact, she hit an incredible shot on No. 10 and nearly drove the green on the dogleg left, par-4 during the quarterfinals. She hit a perfect draw around the trees, landed it a couple yards in front of the green, then finished with a birdie to increase her lead 3-up over Morgan Macleod. Kylie stood on the tee and contemplated whether or not to hit driver.
“I figured, ‘why not? Golf is fun, so just rip driver.’ I think I’ll do it again tomorrow.”
Since the two have been busy competing in tournaments all over the country this summer, they haven’t played Kirkbrae too often. So, it’ll be interesting to see which sister wins Friday.
“I wish we played Kirkbrae more, but we’re always traveling to other tournaments,” Kylie said. “It’ll be such a great test and the greens are really hard. We’re not too used to it (lately) even though it’s our home course, so it’ll be whoever is playing better tomorrow.”
Adriana responded: “It could go either way.”
The other semifinal has an interesting twist, too. Williams, who is fresh off her second consecutive Rhode Island Junior Amateur Championship win, faces first-timer Brooke Brennan, 19, of Rhode Island Country Club.
“I wasn’t expecting to make it this far. I’m just happy I’m playing well and was able to get it done today,” Brennan said of her 1-up victory over Emily Brooks, who won this event in 2021.
Close friend Morgan Macleod has been trying to talk Brennan into playing this event, along with others, for years. Finally, she relented and registered. She’s been impressive this week and now finds herself in the semifinals.
“I tend to stress myself out and get in my head a little bit. I was able to keep it together on the last couple of holes to finish it out,” Brennan said of her match against Brooks. “She’s such a great person and so nice. She’s a great player and definitely helped me keep cool. She was great to talk to.”
Since Brennan has never been in this situation, her mindset for the semifinals it simple: “I’m just going to try to keep calm and see how I play.”
Another interesting aspect to Brennan’s style of play is her footwork after each tee shot, which is similar to PGA Tour star Scottie Scheffler.
“I just have really bad balance, so I figured if I can keep it together through the swing, who cares what (my feet) do after I hit the ball,” she said with a laugh.
SENIOR DIVISION
The senior division quarterfinals did not disappoint. Felicia Revens, a past Senior Amateur champion, advanced to the semifinals with a 6&5 win over Deb Schmutzler.
“I’m playing well. I’ve changed my game a little since I retired and can play more than 20, or 30 rounds a year,” Revens said. “It feels good, but I’ve always said, ‘I’d rather play well and lose than win and not play well.’ Today, I won and didn’t play well. I have to take my own advice and say, ‘match play is good enough, it’s not always good.’ I’ve had great people to play with and three picture-perfect days. I’m trying to enjoy it, but I still get the willies.”
Revens will face Angel Macleod, of Wannamoisett, who defeated Jackie Booth, of Green Valley, 9&8. Melissa Hem, of Point Judith, will face Laura Nesteriak, of Crestwood CC, in the other semifinal match.
NET DIVISION
There’s been more than a few upsets in this division. It comes down to Fusako Seaver, of Button Hole, vs. Trish Labossiere, of Triggs; Sharon Volpe, of Wannamoisett, vs. Lisa Corrigan, of Kirkbrae. Labossiere needed 19 holes to defeat Jill Albanese, while Corrigan outlasted friend and fellow Kirkbrae member, Katy Berard, 4&2.
“Super nervous,” Corrigan said of her semifinal match. “I’ve never played in anything like this before. It’s very stressful because every shot counts, so you can’t just whack it around and not care. You really have to pay attention and play safety golf.”
She said she’ll attempt to keep calm during her match Friday.
“Slow down, focus on every shot and play safe,” Corrigan said. “All I want to do is play my best.”