State Am: Ryan Brown shines on a course he knows
Jul. 13—BEDFORD — Passaconaway Country Club's Ryan Brown said his golf game has never been better. Judging by his results in the 120th New Hampshire Amateur Golf Championship, he may be right.
Brown, 26, is among the eight golfers still vying to win this week's State Am. He advanced to today's quarterfinals by defeating Atkinson Resort and Country Club's Evan Desjardins 7 and 6 in the Round of 16 Thursday at Manchester Country Club.
Brown is a Bedford High School graduate who played golf at Bryant University and now lives in Boston. He made seven birdies in 12 holes against Desjardins.
"I came into this week playing some of the best golf of my life, to be honest," he said. "I've been scoring really well, playing well in tournaments. Coming into the week, I was very confident. Today the putter got hot."
Brown and his family were Manchester Country Club members for 23 years. He said course knowledge has been helpful this week.
"Especially with the greens rolling maybe the best that they ever have — at least from the time I've been a member here," he said. "Just knowing where to land shots on the greens and how much certain putts break is something not a lot of people know unless you play this course a lot."
Brown's victory over Desjardins moved him into the quarterfinals for the fourth time. He's never reached the semifinals.
"Looking to improve on that," he said.
Brown will face Atkinson Resort and Country Club's Jack Pepin in today's quarterfinals. Pepin beat Nashua's Bryce Zimmerman 5 and 4.
Sky Meadow's Brandon Gillis, last year's State Am champion, was eliminated after losing to Laconia's Evan Rollins in 19 holes. Gillis was 1-up with two holes to play, but Rollins pulled even with a par on the par-4 17th hole. He made a 12-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole (No. 1) and prevailed when Gillis failed to make a 10-foot putt that would have extended the match.
"I definitely felt like the underdog in that match," Rollins said. "He's the defending champion and a really good player, so that was a good one to take. Seventeen was big. Being 1-down going into 18 and needing to win the hole would be tough."
Rollins, who will be entering his sophomore season on the Southern New Hampshire University golf team in the fall, will face Atkinson Resort and Country Club's Mat Gover in today's quarterfinals. Gover defeated Stephen Goodridge of Eastman Golf Links 6 and 5 in Thursday's Round of 16.
"I know my length can be a huge advantage out here," Gover said. "Some holes I can take different lines that other people can't."
Gover described himself as a risk-taker on the course.
"I do like match play," he said. "I feel like my game suits match play very, very well because I will have one hole where I might make a (double bogey) or something like that — where I make a huge mistake — and that will only cost me one hole. In stroke play, it could cost me the tournament."
Gover made it to the semifinals in 2019, the first year he played in the State Am. He's never advanced to the final match.
In today's other matches, Nashua's Jon Dyer will take on Lake Sunapee's Rob Henley; and Concord's Ryan Sylvester will face Nashua's James Pleat.
Dyer beat Pease Golf Course's Ryan Zetterholm 1-up, and Henley beat The Shattuck Golf Club's Cameron Salo 1-up.
Sylvester advanced with a 4-and-3 triumph over Derryfield's Austin Fox, and Pleat, who is attempting to win the State Am for a third time, earned a 5-and-4 victory over Sky Meadow's Jack Kelley.
The field will be whittled to the final two golfers following today's action. The quarterfinals will be played in the morning, and the semifinals will take place in the afternoon. Saturday's championship match is scheduled for 36 holes.
120th STATE AM
Thursday, at Manchester CC, Bedford
Round of 32
Mat Gover, Atkinson, def. David Sherborne, Laconia, 5 and 4; Stephen Goodridge, Eastman, def. Jake Nutter, Derryfield, 19 holes; Evan Rollins, Laconia, def. Ryan Blossom, Concord; Brandon Gillis, Sky Meadow, def. Damon Salo, 3 and 2;
Jon Dyer, Nashua, def. Tommy Ethier, Portsmouth, 2 and 1; Ryan Zetterholm, Pease, def. Jim Cilley, Laconia, 1-up; Cam Salo, The Shattuck, def. Derek Dinwoodie, Farmington, 21 holes; Rob Henley, Lake Sunapee, def. Phil Pleat, Nashua, 5 and 4;
Ryan Brown, Passaconaway, def. Thomas Hickey, 3 and 1; Evan Desjardins, Atkinson, def. Joseph Bowker, Canterbury Woods, 5 and 3; Jack Pepin, Atkinson, def. Griffin Connor, 2 and 1; Bryce Zimmerman, Nashua, def. Pat Pelletier, 3 and 2;
Ryan Sylvester, Concord, def. Will Ducharme, The Golf Club of NE, 1-up; Austin Fox, Derryfield, def. Matt Burroughs, Concord, 3 and 1; Jack Kelley, Sky Meadow, def. Sam Natti, The Maplewood, 1-up; James Pleat, Nashua, def. Mark Stevens, Beaver Meadow, 1-up.
Round of 16
Gover def. Goodridge, 6 and 5; Rollins def. Gillis, 19 holes; Dyer def. Zetterholm, 1-up; Henley def. C. Salo, 1-up; R. Brown vs. Desjardins, 7 and 6; Pepin def. Zimmerman, 5 and 4; Sylvester def. Fox, 4 and 3; J. Pleat def. Kelley, 5 and 4.
Friday, at Manchester CC, Bedford
Quarterfinals
Gover vs. Rollins, 7 a.m.; Dyer vs. Henley, 7:08 a.m.; R. Brown vs. Pepin, 7:16 a.m.; Sylvester vs. J. Pleat, 7:24 a.m.
