Three with area ties vie for RIGA Jr. Amateur golf titles

Dohoney edges Knudson in all-Bay View girls’ division final

By Mike Rego
Posted 8/2/18

EAST PROVIDENCE — Three golfers with area ties were among the finalists of the 2018 Rhode Island Golf Association Jr. Amateur Championships held this week at Metacomet Country Club, …

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Three with area ties vie for RIGA Jr. Amateur golf titles

Dohoney edges Knudson in all-Bay View girls’ division final

Posted

EAST PROVIDENCE — Three golfers with area ties were among the finalists of the 2018 Rhode Island Golf Association Jr. Amateur Championships held this week at Metacomet Country Club, including both of the young women vying for the girls’ division title: Bay View’s Lauren Dohoney and Alise Knudson.
The pair of Bengals represented their team quite well all week and in particular during the August 2 final, which went to a playoff before Dohoney, the reigning champion, retained the title.
Dohoney, who plays out of Alpine in Cranston, was also the girls’ division stroke play medalist. Knudson, of East Greenwich and Quidnessett, was the second seed.
A senior at Bay View this fall, Dohoney took a 1-up lead with a birdie at the par 5 second hole, and maintained that slight edge through the front nine and to the 11th when a par gave her a two-hole lead. But Knudson, a sophomore who is leaving Bay View, answered with a birdie at the par 3 12th, the won the 13th with a bogey to bring the match back to level. Dohoney, however, regained the lead as the players reversed their scores at the 14th.
Again, though, Knudson showed resolve in winning the par 4 17th with a four to level the match and lead it to extra holes.
The pair havled then halved the first playoff hole before Dohoney claimed her second consecutive girls' title with a birdie on the 20th hole of the match.
The other local player in the title mix was Wannamoisett’s Dylan Kane, who won three matches in the boys’ Second Division before falling to Nick Salvatore, 6-and-5, in the championship round. Salvatore, of Kirkbrae, took the lead as Kane doubled the par 4 first. He held a 3-up lead going out, won the first three holes coming in and clinched the title when both players parred the 14th with fours.
A player with ties close to the East Bay, Middletown High School incoming senior and Wanumetonomy’s Mason Gilman, won the boys’ First Division title with a 6-and-5 victory over Potowomut’s Justin Richard. Gilman, the runner-up to Hendricken’s Colin Sutyla at RIIL state championship in the spring, needed three extra holes to reach the finals and defeat Wannamoisett’s Will Giguere in the semis.
The 2018 Jr. Amateur boys’ championship went to Nick Petracca of Louisquisset in North Providence, who defeated Pawtucket’s Sam Taraian, 2-and-1, for the title. The final was a meeting of upstarts. Petracca emerged from a five-man playoff for the last four spots in the championship flight following stroke play qualifying. The quintet each shot 5-over par, 77s. Petracca wound up being the 13th seed in the match play bracket. Taraian was the 10th seed.
Championship notes
Things started off well enough for the local entries as Barrington resident and Metacomet member Brendan Fay finished in a share of medalist honors with Pawtucket’s Max Jackson during stroke play qualifying. Each shot a 2-over 72.
Riordan Holzwarth of Wannamoisett finished third alone at 3-over while Rhode Island’s Jack Steckler and Carnegie Abbey’s Ted Murphy were among those tied for fourth at 4-over. Tyler Clayton of Agawam Hunt finished T8 at 5-over, Wannamoisett’s Ethan Kuzneski T10 at plus-6 and Rhode Island’s Harry Dessel T13 at plus-7. Each earned spots in the championship flight.
Fay, the top seed in match play, and Clayton squared off in the quarterfinals after each won their opening round matches, the former in 19 holes over Derek Rivard and the latter 2-and-1 over Henry Horgan. Fay took the lead first with an eagle on the par 5 second hole then made birdie at the par 5 ninth to go 2-up. But Clayton won both 14th and the 15th with a birdie and par to bring the match back to level then won it 1-up with a par four to Fay’s five on the 18th.
Clayton, the ninth seed, saw his run end in the semifinals with a decisive, 6-and-5 loss to Petracca. The latter made a double on the par 4 first but recovered quickly with a birdie at the second to level the match. And when Clayton began to struggle at the fourth, Petracca’s steady play eventually led to 5-up lead at the turn. He closed out the win with a par at the 13th as Clayton made bogey.
Murphy’s run, likewise, ended with a loss in the semis, 5-and-4, to Taraian. Taraian never trailed after taking the lead with birdie at the fourth, building a 4-up lead after nine as Murphy made a double at the fourth and bogeyed both par 3 on the front. Another Murphy bogey to Taraian’s par at the 14th ended the match.
Taraian also knocked off two other locals, Steckler, 1-up, in the opening round and Holzwarth, 3-and-2, in the quarters. And Murphy defeated Kuzneski, 5-and-4, in the Round of 16.
Other flights
Highlights from the other flights included an outstanding dual between Gilman and Wannamoisett’s Giguere in the semis of the First Division. The pair needed 21 holes before Gilman earned his spot in the final. Giguere defeated Metacomet’s Michael Wetmore, 2-up, in the first round. Gilman also defeated a local 2-up in the opening round, Barrington’s Bo Vanier.
As well in the First Division, Agawam Hunt’s Ben Sapovits won a match, 4-and-3, before falling to the flight’s top seed Jack Turner, 2-and-1, in the quarters. Turner lost to Richard, 2-and-1, in the semis.
Kane’s run to the final in the Second Division included 1-up, 6-and-5 and 8-and-6 victories, the latter coming over Little Compton’s John Baldwin in the semis. Baldwin reached the final four with earlier 5-and-4 and 3-and-2 wins.
William Niles and Jared Moura reached the final of the Third Division with 1-up and 3-and-2 wins, respectively, in the semis. Niles went on to win the flight, 2-up.
Also in the Third Division, Metacomet’s Joseph Earley won a match before losing to Niles in the quarters.
Girls’ notes
The final four of the girls’ division was a mostly Bay View affair as three of competitors had ties to the East Providence school. Knudson defeated former teammate, recent Bay View grad and Bristol resident Alana McGuinness in the semis, 2-up, while Dohoney defeated Smithfield’s Kylie Eaton, 3-and-2.
The match between Knudson, who is leaving Bay View to attend a Florida golf academy in the fall, and McGuinness, who is headed to the University of Southern California in short order, turned in the favor of the former at the par 4 14th. Knudson was in trouble of the tee, in thick rough on her second and off the green for her third, but chipped up to three feet and scrambled to a par. McGuinness seemed poised to build on her 1-up lead after landing her second just short of the green after hitting a superb shot off a severe side-hill lie. Her chip third came up about six feet short and she missed her birdie putt. McGuinness later closed out with a double and two bogeys over the final three holes while Knudson when bogey, birdie, par to earn her berth in the final.
Dohoney, who won last year’s title also in city at Agawam Hunt, steadily secured her spot in the final. She did not trail after making a par at the third, was 3-up at the turn and closed out the match with a par at the 16th while Eaton made a bogey.
Two other golfers with local ties competed in the girls’ division. Metacomet’s Emily Trainor lost to Crestwood’s Kaylie Porter, 4-and-3, in the first round. Porter lost to Dohoney, 6-and-4, in the quarters. Wannamoisett’s Morgan Macleod defeated Ledgemont’s Hanley Correia, 2-up, in the opening round before falling to Knudson, 3-and-2, in the quarters.

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Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.