Chase Connor grew up playing golf at Beaver Meadow and went into Saturday with the mindset that it was just another day on the golf course. Now, it’s also where he became a champion.
Connor, a sophomore on the Bishop Brady golf team, claimed the Division III individual championship on Saturday with a personal-best round of 77. It’s the second title that Connor has won this week. On Thursday, which served as the first round of the individual championship, Connor helped lead Bishop Brady to back-to-back D-III team titles.
It’s been a clean sweep for the Giants in both the team and individual titles over the past two seasons. Connor’s former teammate, Aiden Boule, won last year’s individual crown.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet. It feels great, though,” Connor said. “But it doesn’t feel real.”
The home course advantage also played out for other area players. Connor’s teammate Mady Savary, a junior, was the runner-up in the girls’ individual championship, and Concord junior Zach Nelson was the runner-up in D-I.
Connor calls Concord Country Club home when he’s playing on his own, but Beaver Meadow is his home course when competing in a Bishop Brady uniform. Between his rounds playing there with friends and all of his Brady matches, Connor is very familiar with the course and knew what to expect. And that played out – mostly.
Starting out on the fifth hole, it was business as usual until things went off the rails in the back nine. He fired a shot into the woods on the 16th hole, carding a double bogey, and followed up with bogeys on holes 17 and 18.
“I knew going into it how I would hit, but I would normally not do that poorly on those holes,” Connor said. “I went into it with the mindset that I was going to get a birdie on the (16th).”
After that setback, Connor played more aggressively, but it paid off. He recorded birdies on the second and third holes, and made par on the first and fourth, finishing the round with a personal best score of 5-over 77.
“I didn’t know where I was at the time, but I thought I needed to make up some strokes,” Connor said. “A 77 is my personal best playing on my own, but I’ve never shot better than 79 (at Beaver) in a tournament.”
Connor said he felt the pressure more on Saturday than he did in Thursday’s round, where he carded a 76 to tie for the lead with Monadnock junior Garrett Clark.
“Playing as a team, you have teammates to rely on (to balance your score). Today it’s just you versus the golf course,” Connor said.
His ability to handle the pressure down the stretch opened up a gap over the runner-up, Gilford sophomore Brayden Drew. Drew scored a 79 for a two-day total of 156, just three strokes back from Connor’s 153.
Clark’s 82 at Beaver Meadow dropped him into third with 161. Kearsarge freshman Hazen Winters (tied 11th, 172) and John Stark sophomore Charlie Pierce (16th, 192) were the other two local competitors in D-III.
Connor thanked his coach Jason Bird for “all the positive vibes.” The Bishop Brady golf team certainly has a lot to feel positive about this week.
“It feels great just to go out and perform the way that you want to, as a team and individually,” Connor said.
Bishop Brady’s Mady Savary lines up her putt on the fourth hole at the Beaver Meadow Golf Course in Concord during the NHIAA individual championship on Saturday, October 18, 2025. Credit: GEOFF FORESTER / For the Monitor 
Bishop Brady’s Mady Savary hits her approach shot on the fourth hole at the Beaver Meadow Golf Course in Concord during the NHIAA individual championship on Saturday, October 18, 2025. Credit: GEOFF FORESTER / For the Monitor
Girls’ state championship
Savary entered Saturday’s round in third place, just three strokes behind the leader. She carded a 78 on Saturday to move up a place, but fell one stroke shy of Oyster River senior Teagan Nadeau, whose 81 gave her a two-day total of 152.
This is Savary’s second year in a row finishing in second place in the girls’ championship. The qualifying round took place on Oct. 4 at Campbell’s Scottish Highlands.
Savary (153) gained a lot of ground and surpassed Manchester Central sophomore Josie Lefebvre (162), who shot an 89 in round two to finish in third.
Division I
Concord’s Zach Nelson was in a three-way tie for third place after round one, but he made the most of Saturday’s home course advantage to move into sole possession of second place.
Nelson’s round of 75 was the second-best round in D-I on Saturday, but Bedford sophomore Aaryan Narang, who tied with Nelson in round one, shot 2-under 70 to move up three places to take the title.
Narang’s two-day total of 144 was five strokes lower than Nelson’s. Bedford senior Henry Dubois topped the leaderboard with a four-stroke lead after Tuesday’s round, but an 89 in the second dropped him to 12th.
Nelson led the Crimson Tide to fourth place in Tuesday’s team championship. He was the only Tide competitor to make the cut.
Division II
Bow junior Jake Gancarz was the only area competitor in D-II, tying for 10th with a two-day score of 159.
Portsmouth junior Grey Gagnon dominated both the Mount Washington Course on Tuesday (3-under 69) and Beaver Meadow on Saturday (7-under 65) for a two-day total of a 10-under 134, 17 strokes ahead of Souhegan junior Jacob Wilson (151).
Division IV
Hillsboro-Deering senior Gavin Ford had a big day, entering the second round tied for 12th, but shot an 81, the third-best D-IV performance, in round two to move up seven places to finish in fifth.
Ford’s two-day total was 166. Mascenic junior Colin Koukari (158) and Mascenic senior Brody Shaw (161) were tied for fifth after round one, but carded 77 and 79, respectively, to finish in first and second overall.
Belmont junior Max Ryder (167) held onto his sixth position. Hopkinton junior Coley Wells (10th, 172) and sophomore Aidan Clay (13th, 176), and Concord Christian senior Connor Faherty (11th, 174) were the other local golfers who competed.