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By Josh Krueger/Newport Daily News staff

Jessie Toland of Middletown chips onto the 14th green Friday at Newport National Golf Club. Toland was the runner-up in the Second Division at the Women's State Amateur. (David Hansen/Daily News photo)

MIDDLETOWN - There was a youth movement of sorts Friday at the Rhode Island Women's State Amateur tournament at Newport National Golf Club. A recent college graduate, a high school sophomore and a high school freshman competed in the championship matches in three different divisions. Two of them won.

Valerie Blinn, the St. Francis University grad from Seekonk, Mass., beat 57-year-old Carol Clarey of Segregansett 4 and 3 to win the Championship Division.

Katherine Murphy, a sophomore at Portsmouth High School, won the Second Division, beating Middletown's Jessie Toland, who is more than twice Murphy's age, 4 and 2.

Amanda Parker, 14 of Bay View High School, was the Third Division runner-up, losing to 64-year-old Kyong Kim of Triggs.

Murphy birdied the 12th and 14th holes Friday and clinched the match with a bogey on the par-3 16th while Toland made double-bogey. One of the youngest players on the course all week, Murphy said she is used to playing against golfers outside her demographic group.

"I'm used to playing with older people because there aren't a lot of people at my course (Wanumetonomy) who are younger," she said.

Murphy also plays on the golf team at Portsmouth High School, where she finished third in the girls state championship this spring, and competes with and against boys during the high school season. Although she is comfortable playing with older players, Murphy said she sometimes feels bad about beating them.

"I beat one lady on the 10th hole one day and one on the 12th," Murphy said. "That's the way I play and I feel bad because that's their best."

After her victory Thursday, Murphy said she needed to improve her chipping. She did. Murphy chipped in from about 35 feet on the 12th for a birdie to go 2-up on Toland, who plays out of Newport Country Club, and was chipping near the hole all day.

"I chipped it, it bounced left and rolled in," Murphy said of the birdie on 12. "I definitely chipped better today."

"She made beautiful shots when they counted. The chip in on 12 was fabulous," Toland said. "She's a much more solid golfer and a wonderful match player."

Blinn proved to be a fair match player herself.

She wowed spectators and opponents all week with her distance off the tee and Friday was no different in her tournament victory. Clarey, however, said she was prepared for another long-driving opponent after she beat Beth Costello on Thursday.

"She didn't put pressure on me with the distance because I dealt with that (Thursday)," Clarey said. "The front nine was fine. The 10th hole it started slipping away. My swing was a little erratic. I started having to force it a little bit and the short game wasn't there. What was so good (Thursday) was not today."

While Blinn's drives get a lot of attention, she says she wins with her short game.

"The biggest part of my game is my short game," she said. "Drives really don't mean anything. You have to be able to make the second shot and the third shot. So, for me, it's being able to hit greens and make putts."

Had it not been for a lackluster qualifying round, Brenda Sabbag Nardolillo of Newport National might have been right in the Championship Division race. Instead she played in the First Division and won it. She beat Judy Duarte of Segregansett 3 and 2 to take home the title.

"I was disappointed that I wasn't playing Championship Division, but I just played poorly on qualifying day (Monday), and then played well after qualifying day," Nardolillo said. "But I'm thrilled to win First Division."

There was no significant age difference between Nardolillo and Duarte. There was in the Third Division final, but in that match, unlike the Championship and Second Division, age and experience prevailed as Kim beat the 14-year-old from Alpine.

Parker admitted that playing in a tournament full of adult women was a bit of an adjustment.

"It was weird at first, but I got used to it," she said.