Cam Salo's Round of 16 Comeback Closes Out Fourth Day of NH Amateur
Concord, NH – The fourth day of the 121st New Hampshire Amateur Championship presented by Davis & Towle Insurance Group brought two rounds of match play and a lot of action. The Round of 32 and the Round of 16 included some exciting matches, some expected wins and a few upsets along the way. Cam Salo survived a 21-hole Round of 32 match and had one of the biggest comebacks we’ve seen so far this week. With the field now narrowed down to eight golfers, the competition gets even better and the nerves become more of a factor.
The lowest seed remaining in the tournament is #3, James Pleat who hasn’t been past the 16th hole in a match yet at Concord Country Club. Pleat faced Brett Wilson in the Round of 32, defeating him 6&5 to move on and face Harvin Groft in the Round of 16. Groft battled hard against Pleat, but at no point did he have a hold of the lead. Pleat grabbed a hold of a 1up lead after Concord’s challenging par-3, 4th hole and he never let it go. He got to 4up after the 13th hole, putting Groft in a tough position with few holes remaining. Pleat closed it out on the 16th hole, winning 3&2 to once again find himself in the Quarterfinals and playing one more day in the New Hampshire Amateur.
Fellow New Hampshire Amateur Champion, Brandon Gillis will also be teeing it up on Friday in the Quarterfinal round. Gillis faced off with Matt Gifford in the Round of 32 and quickly learned that it wasn’t going to be an easy match for him. Gifford brought the match to 20 holes where he ultimately missed a par putt for Gillis to win the match in 20 holes. With a quick turnaround time, Gillis moved on to face the #1 seeded, Hunter Duncan, on Duncan’s home course.
Knowing Duncan had the home course advantage, Gillis needed to bring his best game to the Round of 16. After a few bumps in the road for both golfers early in the match, Gillis started rolling in the necessary birdie putts to put himself 3up after 9 holes and then 4up after 10 holes. He closed it out 6&5 to secure his Quarterfinal spot and now prepares to go up against Austin Fox who has been on a heat streak all week.
One golfer played the most holes of golf of any competitor all day and that was Cam Salo. Salo took on 19-year-old Connor Allard in the Round of 32 and it was a true battle. The two went back and forth for much of the match with the furthest lead going to Allard at 2up after 7 holes, but Salo wasn’t going to let him get away that easy. The two halved most of the holes on the back nine of their match but Salo was able to win two keys hole to force the match to extra holes. They ended up needing three extra holes to decide who would be moving on to the Round 16. Salo ultimately won on Concord’s third hole to move on to the next round.
Salo faced Jeremy Burke in the Round of 16 who was on a hot streak. Burke continued that streak into his match against Salo, going 3up after 9 holes. However, Burke started to card bogeys while Salo was staying steady with pars the entire back nine. Salo said, “I think he made five bogeys and I made nine pars and that was the comeback right there, but I knew if I just stayed into it, it would have been fine.”
With Salo continuing to make par, he climbed his way back in the match and grabbed a hold of the first lead he had all day on the 14th hole. He continued to roll in the important par putts which led to him winning the match 2&1 on the 17th hole. With all the golf he has played over the years, Salo feels confident in his own game to propel him through. He commented, “I’ve basically seen all that you can see with golf. I’ve been two down with three to go, I’ve been three up and have given matches away. If you just play your own game, you’ll do just fine out there.”
Salo moves on to face Josiah Hakala who has found a lot of success on the golf course, especially in the last month. If Salo wants to be successful against him, he will need to figure out the trouble areas of his game, which is says is around the greens. He stated, “I hit the driver good all day and hit my irons good all day, it’s just the putter is what got me down in the matches.”
Some additional Quarterfinal matchups to keep an eye out for are James Pleat against Rob Henley. Both are Dartmouth graduates having played for New Hampshire Golf Hall of Famer, Rich Parker. Each have experience advancing to the final match, but Pleat has two New Hampshire Amateur titles to back himself up.
Ryan Zetterholm and Stephen Goodridge with also face each other in the Quarterfinals. Both played college golf, Zetterholm at Methodist University and Goodridge at the University of Rochester. In his sophomore season, Goodridge took home the NCAA Division III National Championship title which shows he is not stranger to the pressure of championship golf. Both Goodridge and Zetterholm are names often found in the match play bracket of the New Hampshire Amateur and this year it will be exciting to see them face off.
The Quarterfinal matches of the New Hampshire Amateur will begin at 7:30am on Friday.
NH Amateur | Bracket
The lowest seed remaining in the tournament is #3, James Pleat who hasn’t been past the 16th hole in a match yet at Concord Country Club. Pleat faced Brett Wilson in the Round of 32, defeating him 6&5 to move on and face Harvin Groft in the Round of 16. Groft battled hard against Pleat, but at no point did he have a hold of the lead. Pleat grabbed a hold of a 1up lead after Concord’s challenging par-3, 4th hole and he never let it go. He got to 4up after the 13th hole, putting Groft in a tough position with few holes remaining. Pleat closed it out on the 16th hole, winning 3&2 to once again find himself in the Quarterfinals and playing one more day in the New Hampshire Amateur.
Fellow New Hampshire Amateur Champion, Brandon Gillis will also be teeing it up on Friday in the Quarterfinal round. Gillis faced off with Matt Gifford in the Round of 32 and quickly learned that it wasn’t going to be an easy match for him. Gifford brought the match to 20 holes where he ultimately missed a par putt for Gillis to win the match in 20 holes. With a quick turnaround time, Gillis moved on to face the #1 seeded, Hunter Duncan, on Duncan’s home course.
Knowing Duncan had the home course advantage, Gillis needed to bring his best game to the Round of 16. After a few bumps in the road for both golfers early in the match, Gillis started rolling in the necessary birdie putts to put himself 3up after 9 holes and then 4up after 10 holes. He closed it out 6&5 to secure his Quarterfinal spot and now prepares to go up against Austin Fox who has been on a heat streak all week.
One golfer played the most holes of golf of any competitor all day and that was Cam Salo. Salo took on 19-year-old Connor Allard in the Round of 32 and it was a true battle. The two went back and forth for much of the match with the furthest lead going to Allard at 2up after 7 holes, but Salo wasn’t going to let him get away that easy. The two halved most of the holes on the back nine of their match but Salo was able to win two keys hole to force the match to extra holes. They ended up needing three extra holes to decide who would be moving on to the Round 16. Salo ultimately won on Concord’s third hole to move on to the next round.
Salo faced Jeremy Burke in the Round of 16 who was on a hot streak. Burke continued that streak into his match against Salo, going 3up after 9 holes. However, Burke started to card bogeys while Salo was staying steady with pars the entire back nine. Salo said, “I think he made five bogeys and I made nine pars and that was the comeback right there, but I knew if I just stayed into it, it would have been fine.”
With Salo continuing to make par, he climbed his way back in the match and grabbed a hold of the first lead he had all day on the 14th hole. He continued to roll in the important par putts which led to him winning the match 2&1 on the 17th hole. With all the golf he has played over the years, Salo feels confident in his own game to propel him through. He commented, “I’ve basically seen all that you can see with golf. I’ve been two down with three to go, I’ve been three up and have given matches away. If you just play your own game, you’ll do just fine out there.”
Salo moves on to face Josiah Hakala who has found a lot of success on the golf course, especially in the last month. If Salo wants to be successful against him, he will need to figure out the trouble areas of his game, which is says is around the greens. He stated, “I hit the driver good all day and hit my irons good all day, it’s just the putter is what got me down in the matches.”
Some additional Quarterfinal matchups to keep an eye out for are James Pleat against Rob Henley. Both are Dartmouth graduates having played for New Hampshire Golf Hall of Famer, Rich Parker. Each have experience advancing to the final match, but Pleat has two New Hampshire Amateur titles to back himself up.
Ryan Zetterholm and Stephen Goodridge with also face each other in the Quarterfinals. Both played college golf, Zetterholm at Methodist University and Goodridge at the University of Rochester. In his sophomore season, Goodridge took home the NCAA Division III National Championship title which shows he is not stranger to the pressure of championship golf. Both Goodridge and Zetterholm are names often found in the match play bracket of the New Hampshire Amateur and this year it will be exciting to see them face off.
The Quarterfinal matches of the New Hampshire Amateur will begin at 7:30am on Friday.
NH Amateur | Bracket