GREENLAND – Even after 10-plus years of competing in the New Hampshire Amateur Golf Championship, John DeVito can still remember all those times when putts wouldn’t drop and the ball didn’t bounce his way.
“Starting out in the State Ams, I was maybe winning one match. There was maybe a four-, five-year drought where I got bounced right after I made the cut,” DeVito said.
Unrelenting in his pursuit of that first title, DeVito put his past shortcomings at the Granite State tournament far in the rear-view mirror Saturday. After storming through two days of stroke play and marching past quality opponent after quality opponent, DeVito capped off a grueling week of golf as the last man standing at Portsmouth Country Club after defeating Jake Hollander, 7-and-6, in the 36-hole final.
“You always sometimes have those negative thoughts where you could get stomped out here if someone comes out blazing,” said DeVito, a two-time NHGA Mid-Amateur Match Play champion who plays out of Passaconaway Country Club. “But the positive side of me was telling myself that I’ve been hitting it good all week, putting really well and that I just got to keep playing my game and I think it’s probably my week to win.”
It turns out DeVito’s internal monologue was spot-on.
He never trailed against Hollander (Shattuck Golf Club) in the final and set himself up for success by grabbing a 4-up lead after five holes in the morning’s opening round.
“We were just trying to pretend we were all square the entire match,” said DeVito about the talks with his brother, who caddied for him during the tournament. “Even though I was up, I just wanted to keep playing the same way and not take my foot off the pedal.”
It certainly wasn’t the start Hollander was looking for. He fell behind immediately after sending his second shot into the bunker on No. 1, was forced to take a penalty stroke on No. 3 after his drive sailed out of bounds to the left and couldn’t match DeVito’s pars on Nos. 4 and 5.
“Neither one of us were playing as best as we wanted to start off, but sometimes golf is just about who can manage their misses the best. Four down through five (holes), it’s hard to battle back from that,” Hollander said. “I’m not mad or upset. I obviously wanted to win, but I’m definitely going to take positives out of this week and learned a lot.”
But Hollander did fight through his struggles, keeping the match within reach throughout the morning after a tough start. The 22-year-old from Peterborough picked up wins on Nos. 6 and 11, and another victory on No. 17 with a solid birdie putt to hold DeVito’s lead at 4-up after the first 18 holes.
“I feel like maybe when I made that putt on 17, maybe we could get some things going,” Hollander said. “But 18 is a tough hole and a 40-minute break can sometimes be in your favor and sometimes doesn’t.”
At least on this day, there was just no stopping DeVito, who came in feeling good after match-play wins over Andrew Purse (Bald Peak CC) and 16-year-old Mathew Gover (Atkinson CC) in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, and increased his lead to 6-up over Hollander by the 21st hole.
After splitting the 19th (first hole) with pars, Hollander left his approach shot on 20 short of the green. DeVito didn’t make the same mistake and sank his putt for par. On 21, DeVito again made getting up and down look routine, continuing to play mistake-free golf for another par to increase his lead.
“I was hoping to give myself some looks but I could not get any putts to fall much today,” Hollander said. “You’re waiting for him to make mistakes and it’s not how you want to try and win tournaments. Between that and not having putts go in, it’s hard to feel like you’re in control.”
Following Hollander’s victory on 22, DeVito maintained a 5-up lead until getting hot again with the putter on the back nine. DeVito birdied 29 and rolled in the winning par putt on 30 to claim the State Am crown.
“It’s a massive grind,” DeVito said. “It’s not like you’re playing 36 holes of golf that matters every day. So trying to stay focused and not try and take any shots off is not easy to do.”
(Jay McAree can be reached at 369-3371, jmcaree@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JayMcAree.)