Rhode Island Wins Eaton Cup
By Joe McDonald
RIGA Senior Writer
MIDDLETOWN – Surrounded by her Rhode Island teammates, Jane Lippincott breathed a sigh of relief.
The team of eight ladies pulled off an impressive victory to win the Eaton Cup Matches, defeating Massachusetts and Connecticut in the net division of the Tri-State Matches Thursday at Wanumetonomy Golf & Country Club. It’s the first time since 2014 Rhode Island earned the honor after it collected 160½ points over Massachusetts (144½) and Connecticut (127).
Team Rhode Island consisted of Donna Warner, Cheryl Pryor, Gail Lederman, Melodie Hebert, Lippincott, Leony Hartig, Trish Laboissere and Jackie Booth.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Lippincott said. “It’s the first time we’ve won the Eaton Cup in a number of years, but it’s really exciting. Everybody played really hard and it was just fun. The course has been playing tough, so we muscled through.”
While it helped that five of the women are members at Wanumetonomy, including Lippincott, the course was still challenging for the three teams. Overall, the conditions and weather were A-plus for the tournament this week.
“The pin positions were tough,” Lippincott said. “Wanumetonomy (normally) has tough pin positions, but the RIGA had some interesting ones. The greens were fast, the course was in excellent shape and our superintendent Shaun (Marcellus) loves this kind of stuff and loves preparing for competition. The course played well . . . it was perfect golf weather.”
Overall, Team Massachusetts won the Tri-State Matches with 162 points. Connecticut was the runner-up with 148½ points, while Rhode Island finished third with 121½. The golfers enjoyed the three-day tournament both on and off the golf course. The camaraderie was evident.
“It’s great,” Lippincott said. “It’s fun to see people from Massachusetts and Connecticut, because if you play in enough of these you get to know other people. It’s fun to get our Rhode Island group together when we’re not competing against each other and competing as a team. You’re trying to encourage everyone to play well and do everything they should.”