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Concord, NH – As the top New Hampshire junior golfers took to Beaver Meadow for the opening round of the New Hampshire Junior Championship, Will Miele and Teagan Nadeau emerged as Round 1 leaders in their respective Boys and Girls divisions.  Will Miele fired a 71 (-1) to lead the Boys division by one stroke and Teagan Nadeau was able to shoot 76 (+4) to grab a two-stroke lead early on in the Girls division.  With 36 holes left to play, the two will need to fend off strong competitors who sit right behind them on the leaderboard if they wish to claim this year’s titles.
 
Will Miele, a Nashua Country Club junior, stepped up to the 10^th tee at Beaver Meadow, the starting hole for the opening round and immediately put a birdie on his card to get off to a strong start.  He then got himself to two-under par on the day after six holes played with a birdie on the 15^th hole.  He followed his second birdie with a bogey and unfortunately made double bogey on Beaver Meadow’s 18^th hole to make the turn at one-over par.
 
With the easier nine on the course ahead of him, he went on to make two more birdies, on the 2^nd and 3^rd holes at Beaver Meadow to get back to one-under par.  Making par the rest of the way, he finished up with a 71 (-1) to grab a hold of the lead for Round 1 of the championship.  Miele has tough competition right behind him as golfers like Gavin Richardson, Sam Maurice and Nick Nowak, all three who competed in last week’s New Hampshire Amateur Championship, sit right behind him at even par, 72.
 
Maurice, Hoodkroft Country Club junior golfer, started his round opposite of Miele, making a bogey on the opening hole after finding his tee shot in the bunker.  With a tough start, he birdied the next but followed that up with another bogey.  Again, while Miele made birdie on the 15^th, Maurice found himself with another bogey on the card and made the turn at two-over par.
 
“I told myself I just had to survive on the back nine because there’s a lot of birdies to be had on the front nine”, stated Maurice after the round.
 
He was exactly right, he went on to birdie 1, 3 and 4 to get some redemption on the golf course.  With those three birdies in four holes, he got himself to one-under par for the day.  Despite one final bogey for the day on Beaver Meadow’s 6^th hole, he was able to finish up with a respectable even par, 72.
 
Coming off a run at the New Hampshire Amateur where he lost to Joe Bowker in the Round of 64, Maurice felt like his game could have used some improvement, in particular, his putting.  He said, “My putter was a bit cold during the State Am, to say the least but it came alive today which was nice.  It was good to see some putts fall, finally.”
As one of the three sitting at even par, one shot back of the lead, he knows there is a lot of golf to play in this tournament and will need to keep making the birdies that are out there.
 
In the Girls division, Teagan Nadeau had a great day on the golf course and topped it off with a Round 1 lead.  Nadeau started out smooth and steady with five consecutive pars before running into her first bogey of the day on the 15^th hole at Beaver Meadow.  She followed it up with another bogey on the 16^th hole but rolled in a birdie on the 17^th to be able to make the turn at just one-over par.
 
Making the turn, Nadeau made back-to-back bogeys, but was able to avoid higher numbers by making the par putts when necessary.  Although she did have one more bogey on the course’s front nine, she finished up her first round with a 76 (+4).  With that score, she was able to project herself into the lead by two strokes over Julianna Megan, defending New Hampshire Women’s Amateur Champion.
 
“I was able to get on the greens and save pars”, commented Nadeau after her round.  “I didn’t make a lot of birdies; putts weren’t really falling.”
 
Knowing that she has a target on her back now as everyone prepares for the second round, Nadeau wants to keep this momentum going.  She said, “I know there’s a lot of people chasing after me so I’m just trying to play the way I did today.”
 
Julianna Megan has Nadeau in her sight as she feels good about her game.  She stated, “I got off the tee well today and the swing felt smooth.  I’ve been doing a lot of work on it in the gym, so it was nice to show that with my score.”
 
“My putting was good, there were a couple that I missed so close so hopefully I get a few of those back tomorrow”, continued Megan.
 
Megan’s round was up and down with bogeys, pars, and birdies.  She did card two double bogeys on each nine that she will look to get back in the second round as she remains patient with her game and optimistic about the parts that were working well for her.  With a 78 (+6), she’s just two shots back of the lead.
 
The field now heads to the second round of the competition and with two tight leaderboards, it’s going to be an exciting 36 holes ahead.
 
NH Junior | Boys Leaderboard | Girls Leaderboard