Steady Surprenant takes Mike Ryan tourney title
Jul. 26—MANCHESTER — Andrew Surprenant took what Jascha Johnston gave him during Wednesday's Mike Ryan Memorial Junior Golf Tournament, and Johnston gave him way too much.
The match was even through 10 holes, but that's when Johnston began hitting wayward tee shots that allowed Surprenant to take control of the match. Surprenant won three straight holes — No. 11, No. 12 and No. 13 — and prevailed in the Boys Elite Championship Flight with a 4-and-2 victory.
Johnston, who won the Boys Elite Championship Flight last year, conceded the match after missing a par putt on the par-4 16th hole.
"I think the turning point in the match was his tee shot on 11 where he went into the trees (right) and ended up doubling the hole," Surprenant said. "I think his mental game went downhill from there. I just made a lot of pars and forced the hand on him.
"After I went 3-up, the goal was just make pars. The odds of him making birdies on (four of the last five) holes was pretty low, so I knew if I just made pars, I would win the match."
Surprenant, a 17-year-old Boscawen resident, will be a senior at Merrimack Valley High School in the fall. He won the New Hampshire Golf Association's Junior Stroke Play Championship at Stonebridge Country Club earlier this month.
"We were all square through nine and we both parred 10, but it went downhill from there," Johnston said. "I kind of pushed it (his tee shot on No. 11) a little bit. I was left pretty much the whole week so I didn't want to go left in that match, and instead of going left I went right. Compensated too much."
Johnston, who will be a junior at Exeter High School, was left off the tee on the par-3 12th, and then went right off the tee on the par-4 14th. Surprenant won that hole with a par to go 3-up.
"Tee shots really messed me up," Johnston said. "After being 3-down I knew I couldn't make any mistakes — especially against him. He was pretty consistent. He was making a lot of pars, so I didn't have any daylight to catch up."
The three-day tournament, which featured 18 holes of stroke play followed by two days of match play, is named in honor of former Derryfield Country Club golf pro Mike Ryan, who died in 2018. Among other things, Ryan was known for his commitment to the growth of junior golf in New Hampshire.
Surprenant said winning the Junior Stroke Play title and the Mike Ryan Memorial are the highlights of his golf career.
"Especially this one, knowing how big it is and the field was very strong," Surprenant said. "Winning this was definitely on my bucket list."
Other divisions:
Girls: Nashua's Taylor Berry def. Madelyn Giampa, 19 holes
Elite First Flight: Grantham's Roy Shapard defeated Bedford's Sean Toscano, 5-up.
Elite Second Flight: Bedford's Ace Chancey defeated Bedford's Wade Thompson, 5 and 4.
Prep Championship: Portsmouth's Grey Gagnon defeated Bedford's Jackson Jodoin, 4 and 2.
Birdie Div. (9 holes): Pelham's Marc Giampa def. Braeden McCoil, 2 and 1.
