Golf: Home advantage runs its course on day 4 of state am
Published: 07-11-2024 10:49 PM |
Winning the New Hampshire State Amateur Championship means playing well for nine rounds of golf on the same course over the week, and any advantages start to even out. On the fourth day of this year’s state am, home field advantage ran its course.
Top-seeded Hunter Duncan, 18, a Concord Country Club member and Dunbarton resident, won his round of 32 match, but fell to No. 16 Brandon Gillis (Sky Meadow) in the round of 16 on Thursday.
Gillis, the 2022 champion at Abenaqui CC, bogeyed on the first hole, allowing Duncan to go 1 up early. But Duncan bogeyed on the second and sixth, and double bogeyed the fourth hole, while Gillis took the lead on the fourth (despite carding a 4 on the par 3), and had birdies on the seventh, 10th and 13th holes to extend his lead.
Gillis, 25, a Nashua resident, made par on the 14th hole and Duncan had a bogey to close out the match.
Six other Concord CC members were still in the final 32, but none survived the second day of match play.
Duncan defeated fellow Concord CC member, No. 33 David Perry, 2 and 1, earlier in the day before his loss to Gillis.
No. 29 Ryan Blossom upset No. 4 Will McLaughlin in a tight match between two Concord CC members that needed 19 holes to determine a victor, but Blossom didn’t advance past the round of 16, falling to No. 20 Ryan Zetterholm (Pease Golf Club) in 19 holes.
Similarly, Concord CC’s No. 26 Jeremy Burke defeated No. 7 Jake Nutter in the round of 32 in 19 holes, but dropped his afternoon matchup to Camerson Salo (Shattuck) in 21 holes.
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Other Concord CC members that went out in the Round of 32 were No. 47 Ryan Sylvester, who lost 4 and 2 to NHGA e-Club’s Josiah Hakala, and No. 19 Matt Burroughs, who lost to No. 14 Harvin Groft of Candia Oaks in 20 holes.
Another big seed that fell was Hopkinton resident Mark Stevens (NHGA e-Club), the No. 2 seed, who defeated No. 31 Jeff Sullivan (NHGA e-Club), 4 and 3, but didn’t advance the past round of 16, dropping a 3 and 2 decision to No. 15 Josiah Hokala (NHGA e-Club).
That leaves No. 6 Rob Henley (Lake Sunapee), a New London resident, as the only area player remaining who has a shot at the title.
Henley took down No. 27 Nate Stevens (Candia Oaks), 3 and 1, and No. 22 Derek Dinwoodie (Farmington CC), 7 and 5, to advance to the final eight. He has a tough draw in Friday morning’s quarterfinal as he takes on No. 3 James Pleat (Nashua CC), a two-time champion.
The semifinals will also be contested on Friday to determine the two competitors in Saturday’s 36-hole championship round.