Hanover
A field of 144 golfers takes to Hanover’s hilly layout this morning for the start of the New Hampshire Golf Association’s 115th amateur championship. That crowd will be reduced to 64 after Monday’s second stroke-play round, and the matches that follow will determine the next N.H. Am champ by Friday.
The tournament was to be held at North Conway Country Club this summer, but that facility had to bow out when late October storm damage left officials doubtful of a timely repair. Longtime Hanover CC pro Alex Kirk checked his calendar and offered his course, and the NHGA gladly accepted.
It’s the state am’s fifth visit to Hanover, but just its first since 1986 and its first since a 2001 course redesign that added new holes, more length and considerably greater challenge. Kirk got a taste of running N.H. Amateur when he was working at Manchester Country Club in 2005, so he knows what to expect.
“You’re trying to get as many tournaments as you can at your course, and what’s bigger than the state amateur?” Kirk asked last week. “I thought it would be a great way to utilize the course. Maybe it’s ironic with all that’s going on, but that was not my motive.”
Dartmouth College confirmed last August that closing the course and selling its 123 acres were among the options it was considering in a multi-million-dollar shift of funds from operations to academics. The college announced the formation of a study committee in February; the group in late May recommended against closure, citing areas where the facility could be improved to be more attractive to recreational golfers while also working toward reducing an annual deficit that has averaged close to $600,000 annually the past four years.
The New Hampshire Amateur arrives amid that backdrop. As is typically the case when the state championship comes to a hometown course, Hanover Country Club’s top amateurs — as well as many from around the Upper Valley — have jumped at the opportunity. At least a half-dozen HCC club champions are in the field, including five of the last six.
“It’s obviously huge; I can be home every night, and I don’t have to travel,” said Lebanon’s Pat Pelletier, a former HCC member and past state am participant. “A lot of guys are going to go to the range to go hit a lot of balls. I’ve been coaching the Hanover (High School) jayvee the last year, so I feel I have a lot or course knowledge.”
Hanover is in tip-top shape as the championship arrives. Even as course workers employed a watering truck last week to keep tees and greens moist to counteract a broken water pump, the course itself showed little effect from the tropical heat and humidity.
With the redesign, the course presents two faces. Much of the original layout remains, holes with straight-down-the-line targets. At least four of the newer holes — 11, 12, 16 and 17 — put a premium on shot placement either off the tee or into the green.
Subtle undulations on those putting surfaces could end up deciding winners and losers.
“It won’t be super-fast, just a little firm because it’s been so dry,” Kirk said. “There are a lot of contours to the greens, and we want to keep the speed moderate. We don’t want to have a Shinnecock situation at Hanover.”
One thing is certain: With Nashua’s Michael Martel turning pro after last summer’s win at Keene’s Bretwood Golf Course, this week’s championship is anyone’s to grab.
Out-of-town favorites include Concord’s Matthew Paradis, last year’s runner-up, Portsmouth’s Craig Steckowych, a state am veteran and two-time champ who knows Hanover well and other past champions such as Windham’s Connor Greenleaf and Ridgewood’s Jim Cilley. Among the locals, Hanover’s Nick MacDonald won the championship at Eastman eight years ago, Pelletier has gone deep into match play in the past and Hanover’s Phin Choukas reached the quarterfinals in 2015.
There will also be the newcomer element to the field, players from around the Upper Valley who are diving into a rare state championship appearance because of the closeness of the course.
“I’ve always wanted to try it, but it’s usually been too far away from here to keep making the trip back and forth or going up and spending however many nights at a hotel,” said Bill Vielleux, another ex-Hanover member now playing out of Montcalm Golf Club in Enfield. “Once I heard it was here, I decided to try and qualify. I don’t want to say I grew up playing here — I didn’t take golf seriously until I was in my early 20s — but the amount of golf I’ve played on the course makes it very comfortable for me to play.
“I would assume that every place they have it has their local guys that know it’s their home course and they can compete here. I can compete there, so let’s give it a shot. I’m just one of them.”
And they all hit the links today.
Divots: Normally a Monday-to-Saturday event, this state am is running today to Friday because Hanover was already set to host the golf segment of the Prouty on Saturday. … The field will split starting tees over the stroke-play rounds, with action starting at 7:30 a.m. … Golfers surviving the cut face one match on Tuesday, two on Wednesday and two on Thursday to determine the finalists for Friday’s 36-hole finale.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.