Max Jackson and Olivia Williams put on a birdie barrage, win RIGA Boys and Girls Junior Amateur titles

WESTERLY — There’s no defense in golf. Even if there was, it wouldn’t have mattered with the way Max Jackson and Olivia Williams played in Friday’s RIGA Junior Amateur Championship finals.

The RIIL boys and girls champions put on a show at Winnipaug Country Club, where sometimes birdie wasn’t enough for their opponents to win a hole. Jackson made four birdies and an eagle on the front before finishing 8-under par in his 5 and 3 win over Cole Vieira, while Williams shot 4-under to beat Kylie Eaton, 6 and 5.

“My mindset was not to get too comfortable,” said Williams, who was eliminated by Eaton in the RIGA Women’s Amateur Championship semifinals last week. “I was playing good in my other matches, but you have to keep playing good right through the end.”

“It was probably the best golf I’ve played in a while,” said Jackson, the two-time RIIL champ, after defending his Junior Amateur title. “Even though the course was short and people said it was easy, 8-under through 15 holes, that’s about as good as I could play.

“I hit it well all week, I just hit some putts today. Cole played great, but this was the best I could have played.”

Vieira, a star on the Barrington High School golf team, played incredibly. He made three birdies on the front and finished 3-under in the 15 holes the two played. But Jackson never let the match get close.

Jackson opened birdie-eagle, holing a long putt on No. 2 before making back-to-back birdies on Nos. 4 and 5 — both par-4s — to go 3-up. Vieira made two birds in his final three holes, but Jackson mixed one in on the par-4 eighth and led, 2-up, at the turn.

“I had like two feet for birdie on the second hole and Max made eagle. That kind of frustrates you,” Vieira said. “You’re trying to get it back after your first hole and there’s nothing you can really do when someone’s playing that good. You just play your own game and hope you come out in the end.”

“Golf’s one of those games when you’re playing with someone just as good as you or better, you excel and push yourself to be better,” Jackson said. “I knew he was going to play well and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to make pars to win. I had to make birdies.”

Jackson extended his lead with a birdie on No. 10 and a par on No. 11 put him up by four. The two played even over the next four holes and with the match dormie, Jackson two-putted the par-5 15th hole for birdie to win the title and close out a great week. It made up for a tough quarterfinal elimination from the RIGA State Amateur Championship.

“There was a redemption factor to show I can excel in match play,” Jackson said. “Definitely defending the title I wanted to play well and give it a good shot and just focus hole-by-hole and it was good enough.”

Vieira left a little shell-shocked but was excited about his game.

“You’ve got to look at the overall week. I played really well all the way through to this match,” Vieira said. “I shot 5-under at qualifying and came in second, then won three matches to get here.

“At the end of the week, there were only two kids left out of 60-something that showed up, so you have to take a positive from it, that you’re playing well and can only play better after this.”

Williams’ run to the title was equally impressive.

Winnipaug was playing at nearly 5,200 yards but with caked-out fairways, both Williams and Eaton found themselves with wedge approaches to most par-4s.

Williams opened her round with five straight pars and led, 2-up, after two Eaton miscues. Williams played the final four holes of the front 3-under par to take a 4-up lead at the turn, then made an eagle on top of an Eaton birdie on 10 to extend the lead.

“It’s way more comfortable,” said Williams of the course conditions. “It’s more fun for sure to make a lot of birdies and be close to the pin on all the shots.”

“I didn’t play my best,” Eaton said. “But when I was making birdies, she was making eagles.”

Williams was making great shots, but she also did a great job of not making mistakes. Her lone miscue came on No. 12 where she missed a 3-footer for par that would have won the hole. She followed by making a birdie on No. 13 to claim her first RIGA Junior Amateur title.

“It’s important to keep playing smart,” Williams said. “Even if you’re up, you stick to the game plan you had all week — which was to play smart.”

“Match-play tournaments, you can catch somebody at their best,” Eaton said. “Out of all the days this week I played my best [in Thursday’s semifinal] when I could have used it [Friday], so that’s frustrating.”

Eaton had eyes on the title this week after winning the Women’s Amateur last week, but it doesn’t take away from the strides she’s made in her game this summer as she prepares for her senior year at Moses Brown.

“I didn’t feel much pressure. I try not to have any expectations and I wanted to win this, but I tried to take it one step at a time and I think I did a good job with it,” Eaton said. “Even [on Friday] I didn’t have my ‘A’ game, but I stayed in the moment. It just wasn’t enough.”

Williams established herself this spring by winning the RIIL Girls Golf Championship and had a terrific showing at the Women’s State Amateur. This week’s title only adds to her resumé and gives her confidence in her game going forward.

“I wanted to win because I haven’t been winning matches,” Williams said. “Losing matches taught me a lot more and I learned not to underestimate Kylie because she’s very good.

“You’ve got to play smart golf throughout the whole tournament and I did.”