Local golfers tee off at 122nd Amateur Championship

Senior Gavin Richardson hits his drive at the fifth hole at Canterbury Woods Golf Club at the Division I golf championship on Oct. 10, 2023.

Senior Gavin Richardson hits his drive at the fifth hole at Canterbury Woods Golf Club at the Division I golf championship on Oct. 10, 2023. GEOFF FORESTER / Monitor staff

Lake Sunapee Country Club’s Rob Henley, of New London, putts during the second half of last year’s 36-hole New Hampshire Amateur final match, a 2-and-1 defeat of Eastman’s Stephen Goodridge, at Concord Country Club.

Lake Sunapee Country Club’s Rob Henley, of New London, putts during the second half of last year’s 36-hole New Hampshire Amateur final match, a 2-and-1 defeat of Eastman’s Stephen Goodridge, at Concord Country Club. Courtesy of NHGA

Lake Sunapee Country Club’s Rob Henley, of New London, putts during the second half of last year’s 36-hole New Hampshire Amateur final match, a 2-and-1 defeat of Eastman’s Stephen Goodridge, at Concord Country Club.

Lake Sunapee Country Club’s Rob Henley, of New London, putts during the second half of last year’s 36-hole New Hampshire Amateur final match, a 2-and-1 defeat of Eastman’s Stephen Goodridge, at Concord Country Club. Courtesy of NHGA

Merrimack Valley’s Andrew Surprenant tees off on the first hole at Loudon Country Club on Sept. 19, 2023.

Merrimack Valley’s Andrew Surprenant tees off on the first hole at Loudon Country Club on Sept. 19, 2023. GEOFF FORESTER / Monitor staff

Former Merrimack Valley golfer Andrew Surprenant will be among the young faces from around the Capital Area who will face their toughest competitive test of the season in this week’s New Hampshire Amateur at Rochester Country Club.

Former Merrimack Valley golfer Andrew Surprenant will be among the young faces from around the Capital Area who will face their toughest competitive test of the season in this week’s New Hampshire Amateur at Rochester Country Club. GEOFF FORESTER / Monitor file photo

Concord’s Gavin Richardson recently shared runner-up honors at the New Hampshire Junior Amateur and hopes to use that success at the state am.

Concord’s Gavin Richardson recently shared runner-up honors at the New Hampshire Junior Amateur and hopes to use that success at the state am. Hannah Schroeder / Keene Sentinel, file

Bow High School’s Hunter Duncan hits his tee shot on the 9th hole at the individual golf championship at Beaver Meadow Golf Course in Concord on Oct. 15, 2022.

Bow High School’s Hunter Duncan hits his tee shot on the 9th hole at the individual golf championship at Beaver Meadow Golf Course in Concord on Oct. 15, 2022. GEOFF FORESTER / Monitor staff

By DAN ATTORRI

Monitor staff

Published: 07-06-2025 10:04 PM

When the 122nd New Hampshire Amateur Championship tees off on Monday at Rochester Country Club, more than two dozen golfers with ties to the Capital Area will be in the field.

Over Monday and Tuesday, the field of 156 competitors will play two 18-hole stroke-play rounds, with the top 64 making the cut for the match play bracket that will eventually lead to Saturday’s 36-hole championship. The victor on Saturday will not only earn the state’s most coveted golf title in New Hampshire, but he will also automatically qualify for the 2025 U.S. Amateur Championship at The Olympic Club in San Francisco in August.

The round of 64, the first round of match play, will be contested on Wednesday, the rounds of 32 and 16 on Thursday, and the quarterfinals and semifinals will be played on Friday.

This is the fourth time that Rochester Country Club, a 6,687-yard, par-72 course along the Cocheco River, will host the state am.

“Players can expect a complete test of every aspect of their game, from patience in the early rounds to precision under pressure deep into match play,” said Kate Billings, the communications director of the New Hampshire Golf Association, in a press release. “With its challenging greens and varied terrain, competitors will have to be playing their best golf, especially on the back nine, to advance to match play and even further into the week.”

Among the notable area competitors is Rob Henley, the defending state am champion and 2023 runner-up, who is seeking his third straight finals appearance.

Henley, a 37-year-old New London resident who plays out of Lake Sunapee Country Club, believes playing well on the back nine will be especially important on the Rochester course.

“Anything can happen on holes 12 through 14, maybe all the way through 18,” Henley said in an interview with the NHGA. “They’re more challenging in stroke play, so I’ll probably keep that approach if it’s working. The front nine is more straightforward and scorable.”

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Teeing off with Henley at 8:33 a.m. on Monday is Andrew Surprenant, last year’s New Hampshire Junior Amateur champion and the 2023 NHIAA Division II state champion as a senior at Merrimack Valley. Surprenant, a 19-year-old Boscawen resident, just finished his freshman year competing on the Southern New Hampshire University golf team.

The 2023 NHIAA Division I champion, Concord’s Gavin Richardson (18, Concord CC), recently finished as the state junior amateur co-runner-up and is also competing in this year’s state am.

Dunbarton’s Hunter Duncan (19, Concord Country Club) was one of four Concord CC golfers who reached the round of 16 in last year’s amateur championship on their home course. Duncan, a 2022 NHIAA Division II champion for Bow High School who graduated from Connecticut’s Taft School this spring, will be competing at the NCAA Division I level for Bucknell University starting in the fall.

A full list of area competitors who either live in the Capital Area or are members of a local club:

Chris Beckingham, 50, Newbury, NHGA e-Club.

Ryan Blossom, 38, Bow, Concord Country Club.

Joseph Bowker, 29, Concord, Concord Country Club.

Brian Boylan, 43, Concord Country Club.

Joe Brown, 25, Hollis, Beaver Meadow.

Nolan Cahill, 17, Chichester, Youth on Course.

Jim Cilley, 44, Belmont, Laconia Country Club.

Hunter Duncan, 19, Dunbarton, Concord Country Club.

Carsten Eisenbarth, 49, Plymouth, Canterbury Woods.

Josiah Hakala, 18, New Ipswich, Beaver Meadow.

Rob Henley, 37, New London, Lake Sunapee.

Nick MacDonald, 36, New London, Lake Sunapee.

Will McLaughlin, 39, Manchester, Concord Country Club.

Matt Moore, 41, Northwood, Canterbury Woods.

Zachary Nelson, 15, Concord, Pembroke Pines.

Rob Parsi, 56, Concord, NHGA e-Club.

Craig Patenaude, 30, Northfield, Canterbury Woods.

Colby Pope, 19, Pembroke, Canterbury Woods.

Stephen Quillinan, 35, Hampstead, Beaver Meadow.

Gavin Richardson, 18, Concord, Concord Country Club.

James Shattuck, 25, Penacook, Beaver Meadow.

Don Steenbeke, 47, Boscawen, NHGA e-Club.

Andrew Surprenant, 19, Boscawen, Beaver Meadow.

Ryan Sylvester, 38, Concord, Concord Country Club.

Bo Underhill, 25, Newbury, Lake Sunapee.

Scott Underhill, 34, Manchester, Canterbury Woods.

Adam Walton, 44, Hillsborough, The Shattuck.

Ryan Waring, 25, Gilmanton Iron Works, Canterbury Woods.

Tim Wolak, 35, New Hampton, Canterbury Woods.