Medalist Henley, defending champ Hakala advance to Round of 32 at 123rd State Am
Both the medalist and the defending tournament champion advanced out of the Round of 64 of the 123rd New Hampshire Amateur Championship on Wednesday at Cochecho Country Club in Dover.
Medalist and 2024 State Am champion Rob Henley, of Lake Sunapee CC, defeated 64th-seeded Matt Gifford, 3 and 2, to advance to Thursday’s Round of 32.
Both the Round of 32 and Round of 16 will be played on Thursday.
Gifford, a Stonebridge CC member, started Tuesday by participating in “The March,” which was a 10-player morning playoff for the final five match play spots. After the 64-player field was decided, match play began with a shotgun start.
Defending champion and No. 8 seed Josiah Hakala advanced to the Round of 32 with a 7-and-6 triumph over 57th-seeded Cody Stevens.
A 19-year-old New Ipswich resident and Beaver Meadow Golf Club member, Hakala was 4 up on Stevens, of Rochester CC, after the first seven holes.
“I feel like my game, if I play well, I’m tough to beat just playing my game so I don’t really change too much (between match play and stroke play),” Hakala said after the final round of stroke play on Tuesday.
Henley, Hakala, John DeVito (2019), Jack Pepin (2023), James Pleat (2020, 2021), and Jim Cilley (2011) are the former State Am champions still alive in the tournament field.
In the only match between former State Am champions on Wednesday, DeVito earned a 7-and-5 victory over Nashua CC’s Phil Pleat.
DeVito, who is from Nashua, birdied the eighth and 16th holes and parred 10 holes in total.
Pleat, a three-time State Am champion (1981, 1985, 1997), posted six bogeys, including the final hole of the match, the par-4, 443-yard second hole.
James Pleat, Phil’s son, advanced to the Round of 32 with a 4-and-2 triumph over Baker Hill Golf Club’s Ben Knott.
Knott, the No. 60 seed, and James Pleat, the fifth seed, started on the third hole and birdied the same three holes on the front nine: the fourth, seventh and eighth. James Pleat was 2-up after the par-3, 214-yard ninth hole, which he bogeyed, and Knott carded a double bogey on.
James Pleat, of Nashua CC, said on Tuesday that he wanted to use the same approach that he did in stroke play for match play.
“For me, the key is fairways and greens and hit some good wedge shots and try to make some putts as well,” James Pleat said. “I think stick to the game plan, don’t worry about what other people are doing and try to stay solid and try to make them make mistakes.”
Dan Arvanitis, the 2001 State Am champ and a longtime Derryfield CC member, did not make it out of “The March” on Wednesday morning. It marked the third time over the Manchester resident’s 51 State Am appearances that he did not make the cut.
Arvanitis, 72, also didn’t make the cut the last time the State Am was held at Cochecho CC in 2009.
Round of 64 match play results (Wednesday)
Rob Henley (Lake Sunapee CC) def. Matt Gifford (Stonebridge CC), 3 and 2; Colin Brennan (NH Golf e-Club) def. Tucker Roberto (Manchester CC), 1 up; Cameron Sheedy (NH Golf e-Club) def. Seth Gabbaro (Cochecho CC), 2 and 1; Tommy Ethier (Nashua CC) def. Kevin Strong (Rochester CC), 2 and 1; Josiah Hakala (Beaver Meadow GC) def. Cody Stevens (Rochester CC), 7 and 6; Mitch Cormier (NH Golf e-Club) def. Cameron Salo (The Shattuck GC), 2 and 1; Taylor Michie (NH Golf e-Club) def. Scott Rolph (Pease GC), 20 holes; Kurt Eddins (Cochecho CC) def. Keith Stone, 3 and 2; Ryan Zetterholm (USGA/NH Golf Club) def. Ryan Martel (Rochester CC), 4 and 2; Harvin Groft (Candia Oaks) def. Jake Nutter (Derryfield CC), 5 and 4; Grey Gagnon (Pease GC) def. Paul Torri, 4 and 3; Jabe Felch (Candia Oaks) def. Craig Steckowych (Portsmouth CC), 4 and 3; James Pleat (Nashua CC) def. Ben Knott (Baker Hill GC), 4 and 2; Myles O’Quinn (Portsmouth CC) def. Kory Ferullo (Rochester CC), 4 and 3; Brett Wilson (The Golf Club of New England) def. Matt Moore (Canterbury Woods CC), 6 and 5;
Mat Gover (Atkinson Resort & CC) def. Owen Himmer (Cochecho CC), 2 and 1; Jack Pepin (Atkinson Resort & CC) def. Cooper Ladd (USGA/NH Golf Club), 3 and 1; Reece Bessette (Cochecho CC) def. Joe Leavitt (NH Golf e-Club), 2 and 1; John DeVito (603 Brewery) def. Phil Pleat (Nashua CC), 7 and 5; Austin Baker (NH Golf e-Club) def. Nick McLaughlin (Wentworth by the Sea CC), 3 and 1; Damon Salo (The Shattuck GC) def. Ryan Allard (The Golf Club of New England), 1 up; Nick Sarsfield (Bretwood GC) def. Elliot Wallace (Manchester CC), 19 holes; Justin Grondahl (NH Golf e-Club) def. Jake Vaiknoras (NH Golf e-Club), 2 and 1; Jim Cilley (Laconia CC) def. Derek Dinwoodie (Farmington CC), 3 and 2; Andrew Surprenant (Beaver Meadow GC) def. Craig Moran (Nashua CC), 3 and 1; Gavin Richardson (Concord CC) def. Byron O’Brien (Keene CC), 5 and 4; Harry Garland (Sky Meadow CC) def. Jon Dumais (Cochecho CC), 4 and 3; Sam Maurice (Derryfield CC) def. Carter Browning (Passaconaway CC), 2 and 1; Noah Farland (Laconia CC) def. Jimmy Schouller (Abenaqui CC), 4 and 3; Travis Banga (Canterbury Woods CC) def. Tyler Lizotte (Sky Meadow CC), 4 and 3; Kevin Gaynor (Souhegan Woods GC) def. Sam Natti (The Maplewood CC), 1 up; Bryce Zimmerman (Nashua CC) def. Noah LeClair (Nashua CC), 3 and 1.
Round of 32 tee times (Thursday)
Henley vs. Brennan, 7:30 a.m.; Sheedy vs. Ethier, 7:38 a.m.; Hakala vs. Cormier, 7:46 a.m.; Michie vs. Eddins, 7:54 a.m.; Zetterholm vs. Groft, 8:02 a.m. Gagnon vs. Felch, 8:10 a.m.; Pleat vs. O’Quinn, 8:18 a.m. Wilson vs. Gover, 8:26 a.m.; Pepin vs. Bessette, 8:34 a.m.; DeVito vs. Baker, 8:42 a.m.; Salo vs. Sarsfield, 8:50 a.m.; Grondahl vs. Cilley, 8:58 a.m.; Surprenant vs. Richardson, 9:06 a.m.; Garland vs. Maurice, 9:14 a.m.; Farland vs. Banga, 9:22 a.m.; Gaynor vs. Zimmerman, 9:30 a.m.
