Rochester, NH – The opening round of the 122nd New Hampshire Amateur Championship, presented by Davis & Towle Insurance with support from Johnnie Walker, saw Justin Grondahl (NHGA e-Club) surge to the top of the leaderboard with a 4-under-par 68 at Rochester Country Club. While Grondahl leads at 4-under-par, three players sit one shot back of him, all looking to maintain their position to capture one of the coveted 64 match play spots.
Grondahl, who leads the 156-player field after the first of two rounds of stroke play qualifying, relied on consistent ball striking and a hot putter to put himself in prime position heading into Tuesday’s final qualifying round. He stated, “I made a lot of putts in the beginning and hit a lot of greens in regulation. It was pretty stressless.”
“The only bogey I made was a three-putt, so it was fairway-green-fairway-green,” continued Grondahl. “My driver was really good, and my putter was definitely really good.”
Grondahl made birdies on holes 2, 3, and 5 to go out in 3-under-par 33, then poured in an eagle putt on the par-4th 10th hole after driving the green. Despite a lone bogey on the par-3 16th, he came in at 1-under 35 to post the low round of the day.
Leaving Rochester CC after his opening round 68, Grondahl has a smile on his face as he reflects back on his goals coming into the championship. He said, “The goal is to obviously make the cut and play good enough to give myself a chance to get into the final match.”
With confidence from the first round, Grondhal now heads to Round 2 looking to play the same game he did in the first round. He said, “I’m just going to take it one shot a time, that’s all you can control.”
Defending champion Rob Henley (Lake Sunapee CC) began his title defense with a solid 3-under-par 69, sitting in a tie for second alongside Albie Powers (Keene CC) and Derek Dinwoodie (Farmington CC), who also carded 69s to remain within striking distance. Dinwoodie’s performance included five birdies to give himself more confidence in his game. Dinwoodie commented, “My goals were to start rolling the ball better. I’ve putted really bad the last two weeks and I’ve been working on that a lot. I seemed to figure it out today and I got off the tee really well.”
Dinwoodie’s round included birdies on holes 2, 4, 6, 12, and 14, helping him overcome bogeys on 5 and 17. He turned in 34 and carded a 35 on the back for a total of 69 (-3). Talking about his round, he said, “I just tried to keep it in play and get it on the greens below the hole. I know here if you get above the hole then you’re in trouble. I just kept my head down and stayed focused.”
A group of seven players sit at 2-under 70, including Rochester CC’s Kory Ferullo, past champion Jim Cilley (Laconia CC), Pat Pelletier (NHGA e-Club), Ryan Zetterholm (Pease GC), Russell Hamel (Nashua CC), Nate Crowley (Nashua CC), and Noah Farland (Laconia CC).
Rochester Country Club is proving to be a strong test of golf for the 156 players who have earned their way into the New Hampshire Amateur. The morning wave of golfers benefited from calmer conditions, allowing more scoring opportunities while the afternoon wave battled increasing winds. The golfers who were able to take advantage of the birdie opportunities on the front nine and stay out of trouble on the back nine were the most successful in the opening round.
Russel Hamel talked about how Rochester Country Club is two different nines when it comes to how you approach them saying, “For me it was just trying to get through the back nine with pars and keep it play on the front nine to get after it which I did, I started off hot with three straight birdies on the front nine.”
Pat Pelletier, one of the seven golfers who finished at 2-under-par, added, “I know a lot of the greens here, especially on the back nine, are pretty severely sloped so you have to position yourself well to make par.”
The second round of stroke play qualifying will take place on Tuesday, after which the top 64 players will advance to match play beginning Wednesday. With firm conditions and narrow margins, the second round is sure to provide drama as golfers battle it out for a chance at advancing further into the week.
Round 1 | Leaderboard
Round 2 | Pairings & Tee Times
