They're breaking barriers

Wannamoissett pair caddie at Northeast Amateurs

• This past week marked the 50th anniversary of the passing of the groundbreaking legislation known as Title IX.

Closer to home, two teenage girls with ties to Wannamoisett Country

Club served notice that the Northeast Amateur isn’t a domain exclusively reserved for the boys.

Need a caddie? Morgan MacLeod stepped up to the plate on Day 1 of the Northeast as she tended the bag for Herman Sekne, a Purdue University product via way of Norway. It was her lone day in the caddie trenches, yet it would appear MacLeod checked off an important box.

MacLeod recently graduated from Bay View and took home third-place honors at last month’s RIIL Girls Golf Championship.

“I’ve really wanted to caddie [in the Northeast] but always had a tournament around that same time,” said MacLeod, a Wannamoisett product who has firm plans to continue playing golf upon enrolling at Merrimack College this coming fall. “I think it’s good to show that girls can caddie, too.”

Sitting next to MacLeod at a table located on the Wannamoisett patio was Pilar Beerman, a 2022 graduate of Providence Country Day. It was Saturday afternoon and California’s Dylan Menante had just slipped on the blue blazer that served as the official coronation as champion of the Northeast Amateur for the second straight year.

A caddie regular at Wannamoisett, Beerman spent three days on the bag for University of Arkansas product Enrique Dimayuga. Similar to MacLeod, Beerman hopes the sight of her donning the blue bib was noticed by others – particularly by the next wave of female golf hopefuls.

“Hopefully this inspires young girls to want to do something like this,” said Beerman. “[Dimayuga] was very nice and I felt I learned a lot.”

Both girls agreed that their familiarity with the Wannamoisett layout helped put them at ease in relation to assisting their respective Northeast competitor.

“You can give them advice when they might be doubting something on a specific hole,” said Beerman.

Added MacLeod, “Even though they’ve played practice rounds, they don’t know the course really well.”

As MacLeod and Beerman can attest, the male contestants weren’t the only ones who made a splash at

• The night before the opening round of Northeast competition featured a dinner where repeat champion John Cook addressed this year’s field. Hanging on to every word was Menante, whose dominance ultimately made it a onehorse race en route to defending his 2021 Northeast crown.

“It was cool to hear from another person [who went back-to-back at the Northeast] because it’s so hard to do … putting a face to the numbers and giving myself more confidence that I can do it too,” said Menante, now the fifth person in Northeast history to win in consecutive years.

• The gallery that followed the eventual champion during Saturday’s final round included several current RIIL golf stars, among them Cumberland native/Pawtucket Country Club product Max Jackson and Kirkbrae Country Club product Kylie Eaton. Watching more experienced players go through their respective pre-shot routines as well as their reactions to adversity and/ or success ... it was an up-close experience that held the potential to serve as a teachable opportunity.

• No eagles were recorded at this year’s Northeast, yet there was the presence of a spectacular one in bird form whose nest was located in a tree that overlooks the No. 15 tee box and No. 17 fairway. Positioned on a branch as Menante waited on the 17th tee box on Saturday, the pause in the action afforded those on the course to see if they could snap a picture of a creature that enjoyed a bird’s-eye view of the week’s activity at Wannamoisett.