Nashua, NH – David Pastore of Stamford, Connecticut captured the 92nd New Hampshire Open Championship on Friday at Nashua Country Club, defeating three-time champion Jason Thresher in a dramatic playoff after the two players finished regulation tied at 10-under-par 132. The victory marks Pastore’s second New Hampshire Open title, adding to the championship he won in 2017 at Manchester Country Club. It also ended Thresher’s bid for a third consecutive title and fourth overall New Hampshire Open crown.
Pastore and Thresher began the final round tied atop the leaderboard and spent the day trading birdies in a tightly contested duel. Pastore carded a final-round 68 while Thresher matched him with a 67, forcing extra holes after neither player could separate from the other over 36 holes.
Despite a rocky beginning to his round, Pastore remained composed and steadily worked his way back into contention. Pastore said, “I kind of got off to a rocky start. The second hole is a reachable par 5. The wind was blowing a little different. I put my tee shot in the hazard. My second shot was a lost ball, and I went up and down from 210 yards to save bogey.
“I fought back really well,” he added, “I stayed patient, and picked up birdies where they came.”
As the championship unfolded, Pastore and Thresher exchanged momentum throughout the afternoon, setting the stage for a playoff between two of New England’s most accomplished competitors. He acknowledged, “He [Thresher] is a great player. We’ve been neck and neck for years in different tournaments. I knew it was going to be close with Jason and we were trading birdies. I knew it was going to come down to one shot here or there, and fortunately, I got it today.”
The decisive moment came in the playoff after Pastore found the right rough off the tee. Left with 78 yards to the hole, he leaned on one of the strongest parts of his game. He recalled, “In the playoff, I pushed my tee shot, and luckily was just in the right rough. I had 78 yards, and I knew wedges are one of my strong suits. I had a good number, had it right on line, hit the stick, and it rolled right to three feet.”
Pastore acknowledged the birdie putt to secure the championship, saying “It’s nice to hit a shot like that in a playoff and make the putt, when it was three feet, wind blowing, and downhill.”
While Pastore and Thresher battled for the title, Liam Friedman of Marlborough, Massachusetts finished alone in third at 5-under-par after rounds of 68-69. Nick Pandelena of Atkinson, New Hampshire posted one of the day’s best rounds with a 68 to finish fourth at 4-under. Shawn Warren of Falmouth, Maine rounded out the top five at 3-under.
The race for low amateur honors proved nearly as dramatic. Nashua’s Bryce Zimmerman rallied from a difficult front nine to earn a share of low amateur after closing with a 2-over-par 73 to finish at 2-over for the championship.
Zimmerman appeared well out of contention early in the day before a late charge, highlighted by a chip-in birdie on the 16th hole, brought him back into the mix. Zimmerman said, “After the front 9, I thought there was no chance I would be in contention for the low-amateur, but when I chipped in on 16, I checked the leaderboard and thought I had a slim chance of tying.”
Despite the challenging conditions, Zimmerman never lost confidence in his game. He stated, “Nothing in my mind changed at the turn. I was hitting it ok on the front 9 even though the score didn’t reflect that. A lot of bad breaks, crazy wind gusts, and bad lies made the front 9 a roller coaster.”
Zimmerman finished tied for 10th overall at 2-over-par alongside fellow amateurs, Andrew Surprenant and Daniel Barrett, earning a share of low amateur honors and capping an impressive week in his hometown.
In the end, the 92nd New Hampshire Open Championship delivered a fitting finish. Two past champions battled shot-for-shot throughout the final round, and when regulation wasn’t enough to decide a winner, it was Pastore’s precision wedge play and clutch putting in the playoff that ultimately brought the trophy back into his hands eight years after his first New Hampshire Open triumph.
NH Open | Results
