Elizabeth Parsons is one win away from an amazing feat that may never be matched ... three Bermuda Amateur Four-Ball titles before the age of 16!

The 15-year-old Saltus student will join 2011 partner Ebonie Burgess as she chases three straight titles this weekend at Port Royal. The pressure she is feeling ahead of tomorrow’s first round is not about the hat-trick but more about “letting Ebonie down”.

Parsons is defending her title with Ebonie after partnering another Burgess, Tracy, to win last year’s event by one stroke over Katrin Burnie and Wendy Salvia and Kathy Lloyd Hines and Mary Kay Terceira.

“I feel there is probably a little bit of pressure, probably because I am so young and going for this hat-trick,” said Parsons. “Then there is also the pressure of playing with Ebonie again and she has won this tournament multiple times. I have played with Ebonie before but we haven’t played since two years ago and there is more pressure from ‘I don’t want to let Ebonie down’ rather than the pressure of the hat-trick.

“I feel like I have quite a good chance of winning, definitely on paper I have a very good chance of winning, but it is going to be quite difficult from the red tees because I am a long hitter and Ebonie is also a long hitter, so it will be a little different from the reds rather than the whites,” said Parsons.

“The reds are probably going to play a lot easier and will give a lot of the other ladies a better chance. I would have rather it be off the whites but the reds will be good and it will definitely show who has the best short game. I think Ebonie and I do have a very good chance and it is a little scary to think I’m 15 and going for my third win.”

Added the teenager: “I haven’t really set a goal of what I think I should score, it’s kind of like go and see how it starts off. That’s how it is with four-ball, especially with Ebonie. So to set a goal for myself is probably unrealistic, when we go out Ebonie and I have always said try to shoot as low as possible. There is definitely the goal of beating scores that we previously had.”

Parsons will rely on the experience of Burgess, though she does have the familiarity of playing on her home course. “We have a sister relationship, she keeps me calm but I also keep her calm,” said the younger partner.

“She also helps me with my mental game which is always a good thing in golf. She’s been like the older sister, teaching me. I am the ladies champion at Port Royal so there is that little bit of pressure that I need to play well because it is my home course, which I try not to focus on.”

Parsons, who represented Bermuda at the Island Games in the Isle of Wight two years ago at just age 13, has a goal of attending college on a golf scholarship. “That’s my main thing, to play golf in college. I’m not one of those kids who you hear say ‘I’m going to become a golf professional’, because I am 15 and know that if I want to become a professional I need to be at a certain level and I’m not at that level yet and I know that.

“I’m at a level that I’m comfortable with and I’m setting myself more realistic goals. Because I did go to Island Games and represent Bermuda when I was 13, I never really considered myself just a junior but one of the Bermuda Golf Association representatives and it never put the pressure in my mind.”