KEENE – Rain was falling, play was sloppy and a string of steady pars led to his win. That’s fine with Kurt Eddins, who was just happy to be in the New Hampshire State Amateur Golf Championship Round of 16 on Thursday but wound up slogging out a 1-up win over No. 9 Craig Steckowych – the 1990 and 1998 state am champ.
“Neither of us really hit the ball well, it was raining pretty good the whole round,” said Eddins, a 26-year-old Concord native who now lives in Dover. “So it wasn’t like a beautiful golf match to watch. It was a grind.”
Eddins, the 40th seed, had never made it to the Round of 16 before this year. Now, he’s playing in Friday’s quarterfinal against top-seeded Matt Paradis, the 21-year-old who plays out of the Concord Country Club, was runner-up last year and was an all-region golfer for Southern New Hampshire University this year.
“I really feel like I have nothing to lose just because on paper (Paradis) has a really track record, he’s got a great swing, he’s a good player and he’s probably going to go pro at some point,” Eddins said. “So for me I’m just going to try to show up with no expectations, hit the ball well, try to make a few putts and keep things competitive, and if it’s close anything can happen. That’s basically all I can do. I’m not going to show up and try to shoot 65 because that’s not a good way to go into a round.”
Apparently getting some work done and cleaning out the inbox is a good way for Eddins to go into a round, because that’s what happened on Thursday. He showed up at Bretwood Golf Course in Keene at 6 a.m. for his early tee time, only to find out the start was pushed back to 10 a.m. due to the weather. So Eddins went to Panera in Keene and took care of some non-golf business.
When he came back to Bretwood, there was an extra 30-minute delay, but that didn’t stop Eddins from finding a birdie on the first hole for the early lead. That advantage didn’t last long as he bogeyed the third hole and he and Steckowych went back-and-forth for the front nine.
Eddins held the lead for the first four holes of the back nine, but things were all square after Steckowych (Portsmouth Country Club) made birdie on 14.
The critical moment came on the 379-yard, par-4 15th hole. Eddins nestled his approach shot to within six-feet of the pin while Steckowych landed his in the bunker. The result was a par and one-stroke lead for Eddins, who rode that to victory with three more pars.
“I thought our second shot on 15 was the turning point because at that point we were square and it could have gone either way. But he hit his in the bunker and I hit mine tight. Then we just halved the rest of the way out from there,” Eddins said. “It wasn’t like I ever thought to myself, ‘Hey, I just need to make pars to win this.’ I was just trying to give myself opportunities.”
Now he has an opportunity he wasn’t even aiming for – a chance to play on Friday of the state am.
“I’m feeling lucky and I’m feeling like I have nothing to lose,” Eddins said, “and that only helps the golf game.”
Paradis also used a par on 18 to maintain his one-hole lead and claim a 1-up win over No. 16 Phil Pleat (Nashua Country Club). Their match was all square through 13 holes and then Paradis found a birdie on 14 and Pleat bogeyed 15 to give Paradis a two-hole lead. Pleat put the pressure on with a birdie on 17, but both players shot par on 18 to give Paradis the win.
The other local golfers who reached the Round of 16 didn’t advance. No. 13 Jim Cilley (Belmont native who plays out of Ridgewood Country Club) lost to No. 4 Ryan Tombs, 2-and-1, and No. 50 Will McLaughlin (Concord Country) lost to No. 2 John DeVito (Passaconaway Country Club), 5-and-4.
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3371 or tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timosullivan20.)