Thresher Withstands Pressure on 18 to Claim His Second NH Open Title
Enfield, NH – There was uncertainty in the air as Mother Nature has one last trick up her sleeve for the final round of the 90th New Hampshire Open Championship at Montcalm Golf Club. Fog blanketed the course in the morning hours, causing delays in the start of the final round that were not expected. Despite the adversity of the day and throughout the entire tournament with the weather, Jason Thresher was able to bare down to channel his nerves and adrenaline into his second New Hampshire Open title. Thresher’s final round 68 (-3) which included finishing birdie-birdie-birdie to win awarded him this year’s trophy.
Thresher’s first two rounds were surrounded with weather issues, causing delays and forcing more golf in one day than originally planned. Despite that, he was able to block out distractions of the weather focus on his game, firing a pair of 65’s to land himself in a tie for the lead in the final round alongside Daniel O’Rourke who was able to do the exact same. Stepping into the final round, fog caused an issue for all the golfers, causing a bout of uncertainty as to whether the fog would actually lift for the round to get completed. Thankfully, after two delays, the fog left the course, however it forced golfers to find their focus again.
“It was very difficult today with the fog delay and the uncertainty”, commented Thresher. “You want to have a mentality that we’re going to play and I want to go out there and win.”
The fog and delays caused thoughts of not even playing the final round and the tournament getting cut short to creep in his mind and cause him to lose some focus. However, Thresher didn’t show many signs of lack of focus in the round. He was battling against O’Rourke for much of the day, along with Caleb Manuel who was putting pressure on both players to make birdies to maintain their lead.
Stepping into the round with the lead, Thresher said, “I was feeling good with my game, I warmed up on the range, everything felt the same. It was just really good to be back in contention again and feeling those nerves. It really made me focus and feel it coming down the stretch right there.”
His final round started out steady, making three-straight pars before carding his first birdie of the day on the par-5, 4th hole while O’Rourke maintained his game making pars. Thresher struggled with his tee shot on the par-3, 5th hole, putting his tee shot into the greenside bunker and was not successful in getting up and down. Again, O’Rourke made par, but that par got O’Rourke back into a tie for the lead with Thresher. From there, O’Rourke drained his lengthy birdie putt on the 6th hole which put the pressure on Thresher. Before the turn, Thresher comfortably rolled in birdie putts on 8 and 9 to grab a hold of the lead.
The two continued to battle it out into the back nine, with Manuel also creeping up on them as he was also draining his birdie putts. Thresher had an uncharacteristic double bogey on the 11th hole to set his lead back but he didn’t let that set him back. Coming down the stretch, O’Rourke had the lead until the 17th hole when Thresher, through the nerves and adrenaline, made his birdie putt to be tied for the lead heading down 18. All three players stuck their shots within a makeable range on the 18th hole. Thresher stepped up to the putt and confidently made it for his third-straight birdie and to put the pressure on O’Rourke. Unfortunately for O’Rourke, he just missed the putt for Thresher to take the victory.
Thresher last won the New Hampshire Open in 2018 at Stonebridge Country Club, so it’s been some time since he felt that winning feeling. He said, “It’s been a while since I won one, so it feels great to come out on top this time.”
Low amateur honors were awarded to Josiah Hakala who finished the 54-hole championship at four-under par, shotting 73-65-71. Hakala has been on a streak of good golf this summer as he recently qualified to compete in the U.S. Junior Championship and will look to continue this strong play into the New Hampshire Amateur in a few weeks.
The New Hampshire Golf Association would like to extend a sincere thank you to Montcalm Golf Club for hosting this tournament. From the maintenance staff to food and beverage to Proshop to outside staff, everyone was very accommodating and went above and beyond for the NHGA and our tournament players throughout the tournament.
NH Open | Results
Thresher’s first two rounds were surrounded with weather issues, causing delays and forcing more golf in one day than originally planned. Despite that, he was able to block out distractions of the weather focus on his game, firing a pair of 65’s to land himself in a tie for the lead in the final round alongside Daniel O’Rourke who was able to do the exact same. Stepping into the final round, fog caused an issue for all the golfers, causing a bout of uncertainty as to whether the fog would actually lift for the round to get completed. Thankfully, after two delays, the fog left the course, however it forced golfers to find their focus again.
“It was very difficult today with the fog delay and the uncertainty”, commented Thresher. “You want to have a mentality that we’re going to play and I want to go out there and win.”
The fog and delays caused thoughts of not even playing the final round and the tournament getting cut short to creep in his mind and cause him to lose some focus. However, Thresher didn’t show many signs of lack of focus in the round. He was battling against O’Rourke for much of the day, along with Caleb Manuel who was putting pressure on both players to make birdies to maintain their lead.
Stepping into the round with the lead, Thresher said, “I was feeling good with my game, I warmed up on the range, everything felt the same. It was just really good to be back in contention again and feeling those nerves. It really made me focus and feel it coming down the stretch right there.”
His final round started out steady, making three-straight pars before carding his first birdie of the day on the par-5, 4th hole while O’Rourke maintained his game making pars. Thresher struggled with his tee shot on the par-3, 5th hole, putting his tee shot into the greenside bunker and was not successful in getting up and down. Again, O’Rourke made par, but that par got O’Rourke back into a tie for the lead with Thresher. From there, O’Rourke drained his lengthy birdie putt on the 6th hole which put the pressure on Thresher. Before the turn, Thresher comfortably rolled in birdie putts on 8 and 9 to grab a hold of the lead.
The two continued to battle it out into the back nine, with Manuel also creeping up on them as he was also draining his birdie putts. Thresher had an uncharacteristic double bogey on the 11th hole to set his lead back but he didn’t let that set him back. Coming down the stretch, O’Rourke had the lead until the 17th hole when Thresher, through the nerves and adrenaline, made his birdie putt to be tied for the lead heading down 18. All three players stuck their shots within a makeable range on the 18th hole. Thresher stepped up to the putt and confidently made it for his third-straight birdie and to put the pressure on O’Rourke. Unfortunately for O’Rourke, he just missed the putt for Thresher to take the victory.
Thresher last won the New Hampshire Open in 2018 at Stonebridge Country Club, so it’s been some time since he felt that winning feeling. He said, “It’s been a while since I won one, so it feels great to come out on top this time.”
Low amateur honors were awarded to Josiah Hakala who finished the 54-hole championship at four-under par, shotting 73-65-71. Hakala has been on a streak of good golf this summer as he recently qualified to compete in the U.S. Junior Championship and will look to continue this strong play into the New Hampshire Amateur in a few weeks.
The New Hampshire Golf Association would like to extend a sincere thank you to Montcalm Golf Club for hosting this tournament. From the maintenance staff to food and beverage to Proshop to outside staff, everyone was very accommodating and went above and beyond for the NHGA and our tournament players throughout the tournament.
NH Open | Results