- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,238,046
- Reaction score
- 59
EAST PROVIDENCE – In what has become familiar fashion, Olivia Williams walked away with her latest statewide golf honor Friday morning at Agawam Hunt.
She's now a two-time winner at the Julie Greene Amateur Championship, building an early lead that proved wide enough to outlast a future college rival.
Williams was 1-under through her first 12 holes and ran the clock out on Hanley Correia while posting a 2-and-1 victory on July 24, adding to a handful of other trophies she’s secured during a strong career to date.
Williams was between her sophomore and junior years at La Salle Academy when she captured this event for the first time in 2023. Now she’s fresh off a debut season at Merrimack that included a top-15 finish at the MAAC Championship and a hole in one on the way to a top-10 finish at the St. John’s Invitational. Williams used her sharp game and experience to hold off Correia, who will take her own next step from Bishop Feehan to Stonehill in the fall.
“Now I’m a lot more calm,” Williams said. “I’ve had more experience. I’ve gone to college.
“Then, when I lost a hole, it was like, ‘I need to get it back. I need to make a birdie.’ I think now I’m a lot more calm, which makes me more confident in my shots.”
Williams showed that level head from the outset under spectacular sunshine, moving on quickly after finding the front bunker with her tee shot at the par-3 second. Correia went 1 up with a routine par but was pulled back immediately when Williams carded a conceded birdie at the par-5 third. She never trailed again in the match.
“I don’t really worry about the beginning of the round,” Williams said. “After that I think I was hitting some great shots.”
Williams moved in front for good with a two-putt par at the 145-yard fifth and added another birdie at the par-5 sixth, sending her approach just a few feet below the hole. She got up and down for par after missing the green right at the par-4 10th and did well to save bogey for a halve at the par-3 11th after her tee shot caught the cart path and bounced well past the flag.
“The way I think about match play is I always expect my opponent to make the best shot they’re going to make,” Williams said. “I try to play more aggressive than I would normally in stroke play.”
Correia used a par at the 14th to cut into her deficit, but Williams slammed the door shut immediately at the 15th by restoring her 3-up cushion. She found the fairway off the tee and spun an iron shot close to the hole that led to the last of her four birdies on the day. Bogey was enough to halve the par-4 17th and avoid playing the last, with Correia coming up just shy after a run that saw her take out 2007 champion Val Blinn and Elizabeth Kue.
“I think we both played some pretty good golf today,” Williams said. “It was an exciting match for the people watching.”
Williams won consecutive girls Junior Amateur crowns in 2022 and 2023, Interscholastic League girls individual titles in 2022 and 2024 and was part of four straight team championships with the Rams from 2022-25. She was the runner-up in stroke play qualifying Monday and worked her way through a bracket that included Providence commit Claire McTaggart, Una Gibson and Warriors teammate Morgan MacLeod.
“One of my matches I had some trouble putting,” Williams said. “Yesterday I played great, and then today I was trying to do better.”
Ava Andoscia won the President’s Bowl portion of the event by beating Jill Lancaster, 5 and 4, in their final match. Andoscia was coming off a 1-up win over Marisa Brown in Thursday’s semifinal and made life a little easier for herself in the twosome behind Williams and Correia. She graduated from Prout last month and will join Correia among the newcomers with the Skyhawks in the fall.
[email protected]
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Here's how Olivia Williams won the RI Women's Amateur championship
Continue reading...
She's now a two-time winner at the Julie Greene Amateur Championship, building an early lead that proved wide enough to outlast a future college rival.
Williams was 1-under through her first 12 holes and ran the clock out on Hanley Correia while posting a 2-and-1 victory on July 24, adding to a handful of other trophies she’s secured during a strong career to date.
You must be registered for see images attach
Williams was between her sophomore and junior years at La Salle Academy when she captured this event for the first time in 2023. Now she’s fresh off a debut season at Merrimack that included a top-15 finish at the MAAC Championship and a hole in one on the way to a top-10 finish at the St. John’s Invitational. Williams used her sharp game and experience to hold off Correia, who will take her own next step from Bishop Feehan to Stonehill in the fall.
“Now I’m a lot more calm,” Williams said. “I’ve had more experience. I’ve gone to college.
“Then, when I lost a hole, it was like, ‘I need to get it back. I need to make a birdie.’ I think now I’m a lot more calm, which makes me more confident in my shots.”
Williams showed that level head from the outset under spectacular sunshine, moving on quickly after finding the front bunker with her tee shot at the par-3 second. Correia went 1 up with a routine par but was pulled back immediately when Williams carded a conceded birdie at the par-5 third. She never trailed again in the match.
“I don’t really worry about the beginning of the round,” Williams said. “After that I think I was hitting some great shots.”
Williams moved in front for good with a two-putt par at the 145-yard fifth and added another birdie at the par-5 sixth, sending her approach just a few feet below the hole. She got up and down for par after missing the green right at the par-4 10th and did well to save bogey for a halve at the par-3 11th after her tee shot caught the cart path and bounced well past the flag.
“The way I think about match play is I always expect my opponent to make the best shot they’re going to make,” Williams said. “I try to play more aggressive than I would normally in stroke play.”
You must be registered for see images attach
Correia used a par at the 14th to cut into her deficit, but Williams slammed the door shut immediately at the 15th by restoring her 3-up cushion. She found the fairway off the tee and spun an iron shot close to the hole that led to the last of her four birdies on the day. Bogey was enough to halve the par-4 17th and avoid playing the last, with Correia coming up just shy after a run that saw her take out 2007 champion Val Blinn and Elizabeth Kue.
“I think we both played some pretty good golf today,” Williams said. “It was an exciting match for the people watching.”
Williams won consecutive girls Junior Amateur crowns in 2022 and 2023, Interscholastic League girls individual titles in 2022 and 2024 and was part of four straight team championships with the Rams from 2022-25. She was the runner-up in stroke play qualifying Monday and worked her way through a bracket that included Providence commit Claire McTaggart, Una Gibson and Warriors teammate Morgan MacLeod.
“One of my matches I had some trouble putting,” Williams said. “Yesterday I played great, and then today I was trying to do better.”
Ava Andoscia won the President’s Bowl portion of the event by beating Jill Lancaster, 5 and 4, in their final match. Andoscia was coming off a 1-up win over Marisa Brown in Thursday’s semifinal and made life a little easier for herself in the twosome behind Williams and Correia. She graduated from Prout last month and will join Correia among the newcomers with the Skyhawks in the fall.
[email protected]
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Here's how Olivia Williams won the RI Women's Amateur championship
Continue reading...
