News

Bedford, NH – The threat of bad weather lingered throughout the day, but Mother Nature was being kind as the first round of the 120^th New Hampshire Amateur Championship presented by Wedü with support from Irving Energy got underway at Manchester Country Club.  Five golfers were able to go underpar to lead the field, Tommy Ethier (Portsmouth CC), Joe Bowker (Canterbury Woods CC), Derek Dinwoodie (Farmington CC), Mat Gover (Atkinson Resort & CC) and Evan Rollins (Laconia CC).  All five shot two-under par, 69, with the challenging, wet conditions brought on by the rain.  They hold a one-shot lead as everyone looks to take on Manchester Country Club in drier weather for Round 2 of the tournament.
 
Ethier, the first of the five to post 69 (-2) to end up leading after Round 1, came into this tournament with low expectations for himself, he just wanted to post a good number that would make it comfortable for him to get to match play.  He said, “My expectations coming in were pretty low.  I didn’t really know what to expect, I haven’t been playing as much as I’m used to.”
 
Without having played much lately, he started out smooth and steady on the front nine with a birdie on the par-5, 2^nd hole which he accompanied with eight pars, making the turn at one-under par.  He made the turn and rolled in his second birdie of the day on the par-4, 10^th hole to get to two-under par.  With a bogey on the 16^th hole, he followed it up with another birdie on the 17^th hole to get back to two-under where he finished up.
 
“With low expectations I just wanted to ease myself into the tournament”, stated Ethier.  “I fired at a lot of the middle of the greens, I wasn’t really trying to get close to the pins.  I hit a couple of good shots and was able to make a few putts for a stress-free round.”
 
Joining Ethier at the top of the leaderboard is Joe Bowker, who already has a New Hampshire championship title under his belt winning the Four Ball Championship last month.  Despite his recent success, Bowker commented on his play leading up to the tournament saying, “I’ve been through a little bit of a slump for the last week or two, so I’m just really getting back to fundamentals and getting the ball to go where I want it to go.”
 
Starting out on the 10^th hole at Manchester CC, he had an up and down first nine making two bogeys, two birdies and pars the rest of the way to turn at even-par.  He made the turn and turned on the jets, making birdie on 1, 3 and 4 to get himself to three-under par in a hurry.  Although he did bogey the 5^th hole, he parred his way in for a 69 (-2).
 
“I feel like I managed everything pretty well”, said Bowker.  “The course seemed to fit my eye pretty well and the greens are rolling incredibly.”
 
Last year, Bowker made a name for himself as he advanced to the Semifinal round of the New Hampshire Amateur, losing to Jim Cilley.  This year, he set the bar for himself high saying, “I made the Semifinals last year and I just want to improve on that.”
 
From the morning wave, one additional golfer carded a 69 (-2) to jump to the top of the leaderboard, Derek Dinwoodie.  Dinwoodie, who also started on the back nine of Manchester CC, made the back nine seem easy while others found it to be more challenging.  He made eight pars and one birdie, rolling the birdie putt in on the 12^th hole.  He made the turn at one-under par, in good position heading to the front nine.
 
Dinwoodie rolled in his second birdie putt of the day on the 1^st hole which got him to two-under par.  From there, he played more steady and consistent golf, rolling in one more birdie on the par-3, 5^th hole.  When it seemed like he would close out his round at three-under par, he unfortunately made a bogey on his last hole of the day, the par-5, 9^th hole that can present challenges if you miss the fairway.  Despite that, he is now tied for the lead with 18 holes left before the cut to match play.
 
The afternoon wave was greeted with a steady stream of rain as they started but were lucky enough to avoid wet weather for much of their round.  Mat Gover and Evan Rollins benefitted from less rain during their round as they were both able to get themselves to two-under par and tied for the lead. 
 
Gover, who admittedly was not playing unlike himself, made one birdie and one bogey on the front nine to turn at even-par.  He said, “On the front nine, I couldn’t get anything going.  It was just kind of steady, boring golf which normally isn’t really like me but kind of nice.”
 
“On the back side, we were able to attack some more pins and needed something to fall”, continued Gover.  “It didn’t end up happening but there’s always tomorrow.”
 
He was able to get two more birdies to drop on the back nine, on holes 11 and 15, to finish up his round on a positive note at two-under par, 69.  Gover, who made a deep run in the 2019 New Hampshire Amateur at Portsmouth Country Club, is hoping this is his year to make another run.  This is a good start.
 
Evans Rollins was the final golfer in the afternoon to match the four golfers ahead of him with 69 (-2).  Rollins, a member of the Southern New Hampshire University golf team, played some of the steadiest golf of anyone on the course.  Starting on the front nine, he made two birdies to get to two-under par quickly.  He played the back nine at even-par with nine consecutive pars to make things easy on himself.  Rollins heads to Round 2 of the tournament tied for the lead and in a comfortable position to ultimately make match play.
 
The weather was a big factor for all golfers.  As they teed it up, not many had high hopes of avoiding any kind of rain delay.  With that mindset, playing championship golf can be tough. 
 
“Playing in the rain is just a mental grind and once you get through, you’re fine”, stated Gover.
 
Everyone in the field experienced some kind of rain, some felt more rain than others, but the first round of the New Hampshire Amateur started and finished with no delays.  Round 2 of the 120^th New Hampshire Amateur Championship presented by Wedü with support from Irving Energy should bring sunshine and warmer temperatures.  All 156 players are hoping to be part of the 64 golfers advancing to the match play rounds after 36 holes of play.
 
NH Amateur | Leaderboard | Round 2 Pairings & Tee Times