Eaton sisters face off
Kirk brae site of sisterly showdown in RIGA tourney
BARRINGTON — Max Jackson had just watched his semifinal-round opponent of the Boys’ Championship Division of the 100th Rhode Island Junior Amateur stick his approach shot to mere inches of the hole on the par-4 No. 15 at Rhode Island Country Club.
It was an absolute pristine shot by Bennett Masterson, the top seed who didn’t have to concern himself with grabbing the putter. A birdie was in his possession – one that seemingly placed him in favorable position to even the match against Jackson.
Tasked with a got-to-have-it 30-foot putt, Jackson put his faith in the golf gods.
If 15-year-old made it, he would maintain a one-up lead. Talk about pressure for the Cumberland native and Pawtucket Country Club product.
“I said to my caddie that I don’t know how to play this one. All I knew is that it broke left at first, then right at the end,” said Jackson. “I was going to play it pretty straight.”
What ensued was the definition of clutch that even astonished the fourth-seeded Jackson.
He succeeded in answering Masterson’s birdie with a heart-pounding putt that was accompanied by a joyous yell once the ball dropped into the cup.
“It was surreal. I don’t even know how it went in,” said Jackson. “I had the right pace. I was so surprised when it went in.”
The hole was halved, yet given the difficult road that Jackson had to travel in order to match fire-with-fire, birdie style, with Masterson … what he did on the No. 15 green felt like a win.
“We might be playing an extra hole if that [putt] didn’t go in,” said Jackson, who maintained his one-hole advantage over the final three holes en route to defeating Masterson for a spot in Friday morning’s final. He’ll take on No. 2 seed Harry Dessel, a senior-tobe at Moses Brown who plays out of RICC and has finished in the runner-up spot two years running at the Junior Amateur.
“I always look at it as trying to do better than the last time. Last year, I lost my first match,” said Jackson, who come the fall will enter his sophomore year at La Salle. “I’m way past where I got to when looking back [at 2020], but now that I’m here, I want to finish the job. Harry definitely has the homecourse advantage, but it would be bittersweet to come this far and not complete it.”
Thursday’s match was all even heading to the par-three No. 10, one that Jackson parred while Masterson bogeyed.
“We both got on in two and had tricky putts, but he ran his a little past [the hole] and didn’t make the come back,” said Jackson.
Jackson held the honor on the tee over the remaining eight holes.
“I wasn’t pin-seeking or trying to stick it within a foot every time. I was trying to make [Masterson] do that and put the pressure on him,” said Jackson when asked about his steady approach that largely kept him out of trouble after regaining the lead. “I didn’t miss too many tee balls and was usually first hitting off the fairway. That changed the way he had to play.”
Besides the magic touch with the putter on No. 15, Jackson had a crucial up-and-down on the par-four No. 13 after Masterson had eight feet remaining for a birdie bid.
“I had a key chip and had a six-footer that didn’t have a lot of break, but it was still a key putt,” said Jackson.
Masterson was still down one heading to No. 18 after Jackson notched a par save on the par-three No. 17. His second shot provided a bit of a test as the putter grazed the second cut on his back swing.
“It made it tough, but I was able to get it close enough,” said Jackson.
A great drive on 18 left Jackson with roughly 120 yards. After watching Masterson come up short of the green on his second shot, Jackson opted to swing hard with a lesser club. For one of the few times all week, he failed to hit the green in regulation.
“I was so scared of going long, but I swung way too hard,” said Jackson, whose third shot was from roughly 40 feet from the pin.
He rebounded nicely to have a six-footer for par, yet the putt traveled left for a round-closing bogey. The door was open for Masterson to force a playoff, but he too saw his par bid fall short.
Jackson was one-down after three holes before ripping off the first of three birdies on the day at the par-four No. 4. It remained all square until the par-five eighth when Masterson came up with a birdie that put him in the lead, but not for long. Victories on Nos. 9 and 10 enabled Jackson to grab a lead that he would not relinquish.
Of the 56 holes that cover three rounds of match-play, Jackson has participated in 55.
His final 18-hole test will consist of matching shots with Dessel, who becomes the third First-Team All-State player from the 2021 spring season to cross paths with Jackson at this week’s RIGA Junior Amateur.
“I’ve gotten my money’s worth,” said Jackson.
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It was far from the 7&6 romp that saw Kylie Eaton defeat younger sister Adriana during last month’s opening round of matchplay at the R.I. Women’s Amateur. Thursday’s rematch with a spot in the Women’s Championship Division finals of the Junior Amateur went down to the final hole with Kylie notching a par that clinched a two-up win.
“Similar to last time, we just laughed when we saw each other,” said Kylie. “Adriana has improved a lot, but I’m very excited to be moving on to the finals.”
The two girls from Kirkbrae Country Club were all even through five holes before Kylie went ahead with a par-victory on the par-four No. 6. Adriana was forced to respond a few times, her most impressive display coming after falling two-down after 10 holes. The younger Eaton came away with wins on Nos. 11 and 12 to get it back to even and erased another one-hole deficit to square things heading to No. 15.
A junior-to-be at Moses Brown, Kylie notched back-to-back pars on 15 and 16 before Adriana came up with a timely birdie on No. 17 that forced the need to play No. 18. Adriana found herself in bit of trouble on the right side while Kylie reached the green in two. Seeded second, Adriana was able to salvage a bogey but her sister – the No. 6 seed – walked off the green with the win after two-putting.
“I’ve got to play smart and continue to keep doing what I’ve been doing … keeping the ball in the fairway. Lag putting is also key,” said Kylie, who’ll match up against another first-time Junior Amateur finalist in Olivia Williams, the No. 4 seed from Potowomut.
Asked if she plans to have Adriana by her side for Friday’s final, Kylie smiled before answering, “We’ll see, but I think I want a caddie. If not her, I’ll definitely find someone.”