Golf
What happened at the RIIL Golf Championships? Just one of the most dramatic finishes ever
CRANSTON — So, what happened at the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Golf Championships on Wednesday?
Golf happened.
Steady play won the day. For the boys, Prout freshman Rocco Capalbo battled with La Salle freshman Drew MacLeod and held off a charge from North Kingstown’s Will Owens. Capalbo shared the lead with both, but never surrendered it, shooting a 72-70 — 142, becoming the first Crusader to win the league’s golf championship.
“I didn’t look at the score at all today, so I think that helped me for sure,” Capalbo said. “Knowing Will was creeping down my neck and obviously Drew … he was draining putts, so I was scared.”
More: Here’s who’s atop the leaderboard after Day 1 of the RIIL high school golf championships
On the girls’ side, steady play was also how Olivia Williams got the job done. The La Salle junior trailed by four strokes entering the round, took the lead by barreling a putt into the flag on No. 9 to tie the score before taking the lead from Eaton on 12 and holding on for a two-day total of 76-78 — 154, good for a one-shot victory over Barrington’s Lily Dessel.
“Last night, I was just thinking I needed to play my game because I know I can play good,” said Williams, who also won the girls title in her freshman season. “I did think I had a chance — I just wanted to stay focused.”
In the team event, La Salle led by three entering Day 2 and ran away with the win. Williams and MacLeod’s performances were big but three-time All-Stater Max Jackson tied for the low round of the day and freshman Samuel Perry’s contribution on both days led the Rams to a two-day total of 598, 21 shots clear of runner-up Prout.
“I probably would have been more proud of a team win than I would an individual win for myself,” MacLeod said. “The team played great today. We had an individual winner on the girls’ side and we just played really well, so it feels great.”
“I’m happy we could win it as a team,” Williams said. “We have a good team with really good players and we’re all close. … I’m really happy we could win it for Max and Charlie [Melvin’s] last year because they’re a big part of our team.”
Perhaps the most drama was in the tourney where it didn’t seem there would be much of that after the first day of play.
Williams arrived at Cranston Country Club four shots behind Eaton but still had confidence she could play her way into contention. She was steady on the front, making six pars and three bogeys, while Eaton ran into some trouble and made a quadruple-bogey seven on Cranston’s fabled island par-3 8th hole.
On nine, Williams banged a 25-footer into the stick for par to keep her name atop of the scoreboard, then took a lead with a par on No. 10. Eaton grabbed it back with a birdie on No. 11 paired with a Williams bogey, but it changed hands after the 12th when Eaton made a double and Williams made a par.
“I was thinking like that on the front because I wanted to win,” Williams said of putting herself atop the leaderboard. “I just needed to stay focused because whenever I start thinking like that, I get in my own head.”
“You’re not going to have your good golf game every day,” Eaton said. “This is a learning experience.”
While Williams and Eaton were battling, Dessel, who teed off well ahead of the leaders and started the day six shots behind, was quietly putting up a number. The Barrington junior shot 77 to finish at 155, making her the leader in the clubhouse — unbeknownst to Williams.
“I can’t do that because then I just think way too much,” Williams said of scoreboard watching. “I just need to play golf.”
Williams was two shots clear of Eaton heading down 18, but needed bogey to avoid a playoff with Dessel. She missed the green right, pitched on, then left herself a putt from a foot. She hit the putt confidently and while it didn’t go in through the center of the cup, it still went in, giving Williams her second title in three years.
“On 18, I was really just trying to make a par,” Williams said. “I was kind of thinking firm stroke, just get it in.
“It lipped in. It almost lipped out.”
The boys leaderboard was cramped from the start, with 11 players within four shots.
Capalbo and MacLeod traded pars over the first four holes, but Capalbo took a two-shot lead into the back nine after MacLeod bogeyed No. 8 and 9.
While the two freshmen were putting on a show, Owens, playing in the group in front, was making a bid. The North Kingstown senior made birdies on Nos. 6 and 9, both par 4s, and turned his three-shot deficit to start the day into a tie for first with Capalbo.
“I didn’t look at the leaderboard until the 17th hole. I tried to stay out of it,” Owens said.
“I was trying to stay in the present, stay in the moment, one shot at a time and that was it.”
“It’s hard, but I can only worry about myself,” Capalbo said of Owens’ charge. “That’s the only thing I can control.”
The biggest shots on the tournament occurred on the two par-5s. Capalbo laid up on No. 13 and then stuck a wedge from 105 yards to a foot for a kick-in birdie and a one-shot lead on MacLeod, who birded Nos. 12 and 13. Owens made a birdie on No. 14, but couldn’t make one on the par-5 17th.
Capalbo did. After roping a 3-wood from 290 yards short of the bunker on the right, he nearly holed out for eagle, and settled for a tap-in birdie.
“It gives me a lot of confidence,” Capalbo said of his birdie on 13. “I birdied the other par 5 after I bogeyed it yesterday, so it gave me a lot of confidence.”
“I battled the whole way. Rocco just hit the shots,” MacLeod said. “At the end of the day, you play good golf and he just played a little bit better golf than I did today and earned the win.”
“I didn’t really leave any out there — feel like I played well,” Owens said. “Rocco just hung in there and made some birdies down the stretch.”
Down 1 heading to 18, Owens made a bogey, giving Capalbo a two-shot lead. MacLeod couldn’t chip in for birdie and, after hitting his approach long, Capalbo ran a chip to a makeable distance before dropping the putt to clinch the tournament.
“I was super nervous. I really wanted to make that putt,” Capalbo said. “Again, Will is such a good player so I’m glad I made it.”
The win sets Capalbo up as a favorite for the next three seasons and while he’s looking forward to the challenge of winning another title, he’s also excited for future battles with MacLeod along the way.
“I can’t wait,” Capalbo said. “He’s such a good player and there’s more to come.”
“We’re like best friends,” MacLeod said, “so showing up playing against him every day, I wouldn’t want to lose to anyone else.
“I’m really happy for him because he played really well today.”
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