Sabitoni, Murphy are unmatched
at OSWGA
BY PAUL KENYON
Journal Sports Writer
Katherine Murphy reacts after barely
missing her birdie putt at the eighth hole yesterday at North Kingstown Golf
Course.
The
NORTH KINGSTOWN — Katherine Murphy and
Amanda Sabitoni did not merely win the Ocean State Women’s
Golf Association’s Four-Ball Championship yesterday. They tore it away from the
two-time defending champions with one of the most impressive displays yet of
why they are two of the best young players in the state.
The two long-hitting collegians overpowered
Roberta Hunt and Donna Warner, 6 and 5, at North Kingstown Municipal Golf
Course.
Photo
Gallery
The Ocean
State Women's Golf Association's Four-Ball Championship
Sabitoni and Murphy combined for three birdies
and an eagle, without a bogey, meaning they were 5-under for the 13 holes they
needed to earn the title. They were simply too strong for Warner and Hunt, who
had won the title each of the last two years and lost in the final the year
before that.
It was not a case of the champions giving
it away. It was the young stars taking it away.
“We didn’t play that badly,” Warner said
as she looked over the scorecard. “We were 1-over.”
She and Hunt had one birdie (Warner’s deuce
at the par-3 eighth) and two bogeys (at the second and fourth holes). Still,
they were never in the match because Murphy, the reigning champion of both the
OSWGA and the R.I. Women’s Golf Association, and Sabitoni
showed they are still improving by leaps and bounds.
“We saw them play last year,” Hunt
pointed out. “You can see how much better they’ve gotten.”
The new champions had a huge advantage in
distance and they did not waste it. They won all three par-5 holes in a
combined 4-under. Sabitoni, who plays for
But only two of them counted because
Murphy, who just finished her freshman year at
The performance completed a dominant run
through the event as the new champions won all three of their matches in a
runaway.
“We never got past the 13th hole,” Sabitoni said.
The two won the second with a par. They
won the fourth with Sabitoni’s birdie, the fifth with
a par, the sixth when Murphy rolled in a 25-footer for bird and then the
seventh when both got home in two on the par-5. The only hole
Warner and Hunt won was the eighth, where Warner sank a 12-footer for her bird.
Murphy and Sabitoni
became friends coming up through the junior programs.
“My mom said, ‘Why don’t you call
Katherine and ask her (to be your partner ” Sabitoni
said. They combined beautifully. for
the Four-Ball),’
“We knew she was straight off the tee, so
I’d hit an iron or hybrid — a safe club — off the tee and then let her drive
it,” Murphy said.
While Murphy, who plays out of Wanumetonomy, has had more success to this point, she has
had more ups and downs in this event. It follows a year in which she was a
regular for
“My confidence is shot. I’m still trying
to get it back,” she said. “My driver is shaky right now.”
Sabitoni, on the other hand, is totally on the
upswing. The Alpine member had a solid year for Lynn, one of the top Division
II programs in the country, but only recently has kicked her game into another
gear.
“I always play better at home. Right now
I’m playing at a different level than I ever have,” she said. “I worked with
someone in
Sabitoni and Murphy are likely to meet again
before the summer is over — as competitors. Both are among the few who play in
both OSWGA and RIWGA events.
In the other divisions, Anne Drescher and Kathy Mis topped
Joanne Stiness and Denise Drainville,
1-up, in the first division, and Chris Trenholme and
Jackie Booth edged Ann Gagnon and Lorry Maggio in 19
holes in the second division.