NATCHEZ — The silence was awkward for Kathleen Gallagher as she faced her older sister Mary Langdon Gallagher for the title in the Mississippi Women’s Golf Association State Amateur Championship Thursday.

The sisters usually laugh, talk about life and have a fun time on the course, but going head-to-head in the match play finals brought a different vibe.

“It was awkward for sure,” Kathleen said. “I didn’t enjoy that part. We knew if we rode together (in the same cart), we would’ve been too chatty.”

The sisters had experience in such a big match. Kathleen was the defending champion from 2013, and Mary Langdon won the title in 2010.

The two teed off at 9:30 a.m., with a crowd gathered around to watch, but the most important person in the audience was their father, golf pro Jim Gallagher.

It was the first time Jim had a chance to see his daughters compete in the state tournament, and it just so happened they were playing each other.

“It’s a lot of mixed emotions,” Jim said. “My two girls have worked hard, and you can’t pick sides and you can’t cheer for one more than another.”

But Mary Langdon had the upper hand and won 6 and 5, shooting 4 under par 34 in 13 holes.

Kathleen said things just didn’t go her way on the course.

“I hit a really good drive on the first putt, but got a bad bounce and it landed in the rough,” Kathleen said. “So I lost the first hole, and birdied the next hole. The rest of the round, we started hitting close and I tried to force putts, but I couldn’t get them to go.”

Mary Langdon said she really got her momentum going toward the end of the first nine holes.

“(Kathleen) made birdie on the second hole, and I knew it would be such a good match,” Mary Langdon said. “But then I made three birdies in a row, and after my second birdie, I was like, ‘Oh gosh, let me keep going’ because I knew if I got up and stayed up, I could win.”

Mary Langdon won on hole 13 as she was up by six holes with just five holes left, and there was no way Kathleen could make a come back.

Mary Langdon said tears ran down her face when it hit her that she was the state champion.

“It was so emotional, because it was hard to play my mom (Cissye Gallagher in semifinals) and my sister,” Mary Langdon said. “This was one-on-one, but afterward I just hugged Kathleen and said I was proud of her.”

Jim said the moment of his oldest daughter winning and his 17-year-old being defeated was pulling him in separate directions.

“It was emotional at the end but I went to Kathleen first, because I felt like she needed her daddy right then,” Jim said. “Mary Langdon played a lot of great players in college and she’s matured because of that. Kathleen will have a lot of opportunities, she played in front of a lot of people at 17 years old and played great.”

Kathleen has committed to Louisiana State University on a golf scholarship once she finishes her senior year of high school.

Though Mary Langdon’s NCAA eligibility is up, she will still enter her fifth year at Mississippi State University in the fall.

Mary Langdon said she doesn’t plan to go pro.

Kathleen said she has to brush off the loss fairly quickly because she has another tournament soon.

“I have a big junior tournament (Rolex Girls Junior Championship) next week in Rochester, N.Y.,” Kathleen said. “I’m just going to try to learn from today and move forward.”