Stone's Final Round Six Birdies Propel Him to His First NH Senior Victory
Canterbury, NH – Keith Stone turned 55 years old in July making him eligible to compete in senior competitions and two months later captured his first New Hampshire Senior Championship title. As the only player under par in the 36-hole championship held at Canterbury Woods Country Club, Stone fired a final round 68 (-4) to finish at three-under par for the tournament to win by five strokes over the next competitor. With a fist pump to close out his win, Stone joins elite company in winning the New Hampshire Senior.
Dave Larrivee posted the only under-par score of the first round of competition which gave him a two-stroke lead heading into the final round. Stone actually started three shots back of Larrivee to start but quickly began to close the gap on the front nine of the final round.
“I parred one and two but then I birdied three and four so that got me going”, stated Stone following his win.
While Stone was two-under after four holes, Larrivee was one over par after making a bogey on the par-5, 4th hole at Canterbury Woods. Bob Kearney was also in the mix throughout the entire tournament; he started his round strong with a birdie on the opening hole which put him in a tie for the lead after four holes with Larrivee and Stone. The leaderboard continued to shift from there.
Kearney held the lead after the 5th hole where Larrivee made double bogey and Stone made bogey. But Stone bounced back with a birdie on the short par-3, 6th hole to join Kearney at the top. With a fantastic up and down on the 7th hole, Stone was able to maintain his position and finally grabbed the solo lead with a birdie on the 9th hole after an aggressive second shot in while Kearney settled for bogey.
The back nine is where Stone started to extend his lead even more. He said, “I made a birdie on 11 and from then on, I knew the rest of the course sets up well for me.”
Stone made one more bogey and an additional birdie, making that six birdies on the day to get himself to a four-shot lead. At points that lead shifted to three, but never less than that for the remainder of the round as Kearney struggled a little more on the back nine, making three bogeys, including the closing two holes.
Reflecting back on how he played this week, Stone said, “I hit the ball really well. For some reason, this course sets up well for me.”
Over the course of the 36-hole tournament, Stone recorded an impressive nine birdies, proving that this course fits his game very well.
As a newly turned 55-year-old, Stone is thrilled to be playing well enough to win against a competitive field like this. He stated, “It clicked. On the right day that I had to play really well, I did it so that was very rewarding for me.”
Stone joins an elite group of golfers who have won this championship including Bob Mielcarz, Danny Arvanitis and Phil Pleat, all golfers who finished within the top 10 of the New Hampshire Senior this year. Bob Kearney, 2019 New England Senior Amateur Champion, finished in second place, five shots behind Stone. This group of golfers now looks forward to the New England Senior Championship, being held in Connecticut next week.
The NHGA would like to extend a sincere thank you to Canterbury Woods Country Club for giving up the golf course over the last two days for this tournament. The course was in great condition with many compliments coming from the golfers.
NH Senior | Results