Concord’s Gavin Richardson fought all week for the championship of the 123rd New Hampshire Amateur golf tournament. He met his match in Durham’s Myles O’Quinn, who beat him, 2 up, in a narrow 36-hole championship match on Saturday.
The 30th-seeded Richardson, of Concord Country Club, and the 28th-seeded O’Quinn, of Portsmouth Country Club, are both collegiate golfers who grew up competing against each other through the youth ranks. They both beat out much more experienced competition at Dover’s Cocheco Country Club round after round to reach the last match.
Neither golfer was able to build a sizeable lead during the 36-hole day. They remained tied through the morning 18, but O’Quinn had just that last edge on the last three holes to finish out the win.
“It feels pretty awesome,” O’Quinn said afterward. “I’m definitely going to celebrate tonight.”
O’Quinn’s tee shot safely found the putting surface on the final hole and was much closer to the pin than Richardson’s approach. He closed out the championship with a two-putt as Richardson was unable to convert.
Overall, it was a big step forward for Richardson. He displayed great composure in the semifinals to defeat Damon Salo dramatically with a big comeback from three holes down.
“It feels awesome,” Richardson said after his semifinal win on Friday. “Last year I went to the quarterfinals, and that whole week I didn’t have my best stuff at all. But this year, finally, to be able to break through a little bit. It feels great.”
The New Hampshire Golf Association described the final match as “another success story for New Hampshire’s junior golf pipeline.” Richardson, now at Southern New Hampshire University, and O’Quinn, at Endicott, are still in the thick of their collegiate golf careers.
The win also earned O’Quinn an exemption into the U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia Country Club next month.