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North Sutton, NH – With 36 holes behind them at the New Hampshire Junior Championship being held at the Country Club of New Hampshire, June Doerr (Abenaqui CC) and Evan Rollins are the leaders with 18 holes left to play in the competition. Doerr now extends her lead to 10 strokes as she fired a one-under par, 71 to cruise into the final round. Rollins now takes over the lead from Jeremy Burke (Hoodkorft CC) as he shot a steady two-over par, 74, but only has a one-shot lead.

With her sights set on improving from her opening round 77 (+5), Doerr took to the Country Club of New Hampshire with vengeance. Previously stating she wanted to play the front nine better, she did just that. With zero bogeys on her card, Doerr carded an impressive four birdies to make the turn at four-under par as she continued to separate herself from the rest of the field.

“I really didn’t change much of anything, things just kind of came together today which was nice”, stated Doerr.

Things really did come together for her out there. While the back nine gave her a little more trouble than the first day, she was able to hang on to those red numbers and card a 71 (-1) which included four bogeys and one birdie on the back side. Doerr has extended her lead to 10 strokes with Julianna Megan (Hoodkroft CC) trailing behind as she also improved on her first-round score but carding a 75 (+3) in the second round.

With such a large lead heading into the final round, it can be tough to keep yourself in the game mentally, but Doerr commented, “I’m just going to play it like any other round, I’m not going to worry about that at all.”

“Sometimes when I swing, I’m not even thinking about golf”, continued Doerr. “I just try to stay relaxed out there and have fun.”

In the Boys Junior Championship, it is a closer race and tight leaderboard as Evan Rollins now takes over the lead after shooting a 74 (+2) to sit at three-over par for the tournament. Two days in a row, Rollins made bogey on the 1st hole at Country Club of New Hampshire but has been able to bounce back. He had a steady front nine with two bogeys and one birdie to make the turn at one-over par, still behind Burke on the leaderboard. Despite finding some trouble on the back nine, including a bogey and one double bogey, he did card two birdies, including a birdie on the 18th hole to finish up his round with some confidence.

“It was an interesting round”, stated Rollins. “I hit the ball well the whole day, but I couldn’t get any putts to fall. I had a few three-putts throughout the day. I was trying to stay in it, keep hitting the fairways, keep hitting the greens and try to make some pars and birdies when I could.”

His strategy paid off as he now has a one stroke lead heading into the final round of the competition. With that in mind, Rollins talks about his gameplan for the final 18 holes saying, “I just need to keep playing consistent. I’m just trying to keep hitting it in the fairways, I haven’t been losing any balls. Keeping hitting it on the greens and hopefully the putts will fall.”

The mental game can be one of the tougher parts of golf, especially when you sit at the top of the leaderboard. For Rollins, he feels that being among the leaders helps his motivation to play his best golf. He said, “It’s easier when you’re in the tournament and kind of up at the top. You just know you have to keep going and keep playing the same game the whole week and try to get it done.”

Rollins’ lead is narrow as Sam Maurice (Hoodkroft CC) sits one shot back after carding an even-par round of 72. With his opening round 76 (+4), he is now four-over par for the tournament and looks to keep Rollins in his sights as they go into the final round of the competition.

With the threat of bad weather in the air for the final round, tee times have been moved up to starting at 7AM as the field takes on Country Club of New Hampshire for one last round.

NH Junior | Round 3 Pairings & Tee Times
Girls Junior | Leaderboard
Boys Junior | Leaderboard