Superb summers for golfers with Wannamoisett ties continued in recent weeks as a pair of players from the noted Rumford layout claimed major Rhode Island Golf Association wins including Bobby Leopold's historic fourth State Amateur victory.

Montaup Country Club in Portsmouth was the host of the 118th playing of the State Am, July 10-14, where a total of 126 golfers teed it up for a chance to claim the prestigious title in 2023, but it was Leopold, who also won the event when played at there in 2014, that reigned supreme.

He won each of his five matches with relative comfort after topping the stroke play qualifying field at 9-under. Leopold eventually defeated Barrington resident Harry Dessel, 9-and-8, over the 36-hole finale.

The Warwick resident and Bishop Hendricken High School golf team coach became just the sixth player ever to win four RIGA State Amateurs championships, joining Daniel Fairchild, Robert Allen, Cameron Quinn, John Burke and Brad Valois.

En route to the title, Leopold beat Agawam Hunt's Mike Caparco 5-and-3 in the semis. He also beat Tyler Cooke, 4-and-2, in an all-Wannamoisett quarterfinal match. Caparco did the same, besting clubmate Jamie Lukowicz 3-and-1.

Of note as well, Jamie Lukowicz (65-75) and Caparco (69-71) shared fourth during qualifying with two round, 140 totals.

Women's Am notes
The RIGA Women's State Amateur took place August 1-4 at Kirkbrae CC in Lincoln where Olivia Williams, playing out of Potowomut Golf Club, defeated Adriana Eaton, of the host course, by a 3-and-2 count.

The players traded the lead early. Williams then went ahead to stay with a birdie on the 160-yard par 3 ninth hole. She would build a lead as large as 4-up when she made a par 5 on the 450-yard 14th.

Angel Macleod carried the Wannamoisett banner proudly in the Senior Division portion of the event, claiming the title with a 1-up victory over Melissa Hem of Point Judith CC.

Macleod trailed by as many as 3-down on the front side before beginning her rally with a par 4 on the 400-yard eighth, eventually coming back to tie with a par 4 on the 350-yard 13th hole and taking the lead on the 14th, also with a par 5 score.

Also of note, in the Senior Net Division Lisa Corrigan of Kirkbrae beat Trish Labossiere of Triggs Memorial GC, 2-up

Eaton was the stroke play medallist, shooting a 5-over 77. Williams share third at 9-over. Marisa Brown of Agawam Hunt placed 11th at +16 and Wannamoisett's Morgan Macleod shot +18.

Brown lost to the eventual champ, 5-and-4, in the quarterfinals as did Macleod, who fell to another Eaton family member, Kiley, by the same score.

Stroke Play notes
Dessel made up a bit for his State Am loss by winning the 2023 Rhode Island Stroke Play Championship held at Valley Country Club in West Warwick, August 8-9.

Dessel edged Wannamoisett's Cooke by a shot with a 4-under 212 total. Dessel shot rounds of 71, 71 and 70 compared to Cooke's 71, 70 and 72 to finish at 3-under, 213.

A nine-time winner of the main portion of the event, Paul Quigley took home the Senior Division victory with a two-round total of 147, 3-over. Brian O'Leary was one off the pace at 4-over, 148. Agawam Hunt's Dean Parziale shared third with two others at 5-over, 149 off rounds of 69-80.

DeCastro's "ace"

Rumford resident Greg DeCastro carded the third hole-in-one in his 30-plus years of playing the game Saturday, Aug. 12, at Hazelton Golf Club, the Rehoboth layout most familiar to locals for its former name Sun Valley.

DeCastro, playing in a foursome Saturday morning from the Blue tee boxes, used a 4-iron to ace the par 3 fourth hole at Hazelton that was playing 181 yards. He ended his day with three birdies and finished with a score of 3-over, 73.

DeCastro, 61 and a retired Providence Police officer who plays to a USGA 7 handicap, used a Titleist ProV1 ball and a Mizuno MP5 model club.

Previously, DeCastro accomplished the feat on the old 10th hole at Metacomet Country Club and the former sixth hole at Firefly Golf Course, both of which, coincidentally, no longer exist.

He remembers each vividly, saying he used a 4 iron from 187 yards at Metacomet and a 9 iron from 135 yards at Firefly.