OSWGA: Warner, Hunt to face two young guns in final

07:48 AM EDT on Wednesday, June 27, 2007

By KEVIN McNAMARA
Journal Sports Writer

NORTH KINGSTOWN - It will be a showcase of veteran craftiness versus youthful talent and enthusiasm today in the final round of the Rhode Island Women's State Four-Ball Championship at North Kingstown Golf Course.

Donna Warner and Roberta Hunt, the two-time defending champions and two of the finer female players in the state for the last two decades, shocked the top-seeded team of Valerie Blinn and Felicia Revens yesterday, 3 and 2. Their reward? The blazing hot team of Katherine Murphy, 19, and Amanda Sabitoni, 21.

Murphy and Sabitoni have breezed to two wins this week so easily they've yet to see the final five holes of the 5,200-yard layout that curls around the Quonset State Airport. Yesterday, they flew out to a five-hole lead over the opening seven holes and cruised to a 6-and-5 win over the team of Kibbe Reilly and Jen Hendrick.

Murphy, who starred at Portsmouth High, just completed her freshman year at Penn State where she competed for the golf team. Sabitoni, a former All-Stater at La Salle, competed for the Lynn University (Fla.) team as a junior. The two have known each other through junior golf events both in high school and through the Ocean State Women's Golf Association, which is sponsoring the state Four-Ball this week.

"Two weeks ago we played a two-day tournament for the RIWGA. We won that and have really played well together all summer,'' said Sabitoni, an Alpine member who played to an 82.1 average at Lynn this spring.

The fireworks started early for the young guns. They won the first and third holes with pars and then birdied the fourth, grabbed the fifth and also birdied the seventh hole. Sabitoni made both birds and led the five-up blitz after seven holes.

"Amanda was unbelievable today,'' said Hendrick. "We wouldn't have beaten her on her own ball today. I think she was 2-under (par) by herself through 13 holes.''

Reilly birdied the 10th hole to cut the lead to four holes but Sabitoni matched Reilly's birdie at the short 433-yard, par-5 11th. Murphy, who held an 82.9 scoring average at Penn State, then birdied the 12th hole and a par at the 13th closed the match.

It took Warner and Hunt until the 16th hole to close out the top-seeded Blinn and Revens. They led by two holes after nine and took advantage of a bogey to win the 10th hole. Revens birdied the 11th but Hunt stuck an approach shot at the 12th hole to three feet for a matching birdie. When neither Blinn nor Revens could par the 13th hole, the lead grew to four holes. Revens made a sharp birdie at the 15th hole but the match ended at 16 when both teams settled for bogeys.

An upset occurred in the First Flight as well yesterday. Lynn Arnold and Nancy Steinmeyer received a first-round bye but they were knocked off by Anne Drescher and Kathy Mis, 5 and 3.

RESULTS YESTERDAY

Championship Division

Hunt/Warner def. Blinn/Revens, 3-2; Murphy/Sabitoni def. Reilly/Hendrick, 6-5.

1st Flight

Drescher/Mis def. Arnold/Steinmeyer, 5-3; Stiness/Drainville def. Googins/Brown, 2-1.

2nd Flight"

Trenholme/Booth def. Dickson/McWilliams, 2-1; Gagnon/Maggio def. Chorney/Bourque, 4-3.

TODAY'S MATCHES

Trenholme/Booth vs, Gagnon/Maggio, 11 a.m.; Drescher/Mis vs. Stiness/Drainville, 11:10; Hunt/Warner vs. Murphy/Sabitoni, 11:20