Greenland, NH – Andrew Surprenant capped off one of the most dominant performances in recent New Hampshire Golf history on Thursday, cruising to a four-shot victory in the New Hampshire Stroke Play Championship after a final-round 67 (-5) at Portsmouth Country Club. Surprenant finished the 54-hole championship at 13-under-par (71-63-67—201), four shots clear of Joe Leavitt, to claim his first New Hampshire Golf championship outside of the Junior Tour.
The Beaver Meadow Golf Course member entered the day with a one-shot advantage after an impressive performance at Pease Golf course, carding a second-round 63. Rather than protecting his lead, Surprenant continued the steady, mistake-free golf that defined his entire week.
After opening with eight pars and one birdie, Surprenant caught fire on the second nine, birdieing holes 11, 14, 15 and 16 before solidifying his win with a par on the 18th to close with a bogey-free 67. It marked his second consecutive bogey-free round, and remarkably, Surprenant did not make a bogey over his final 48 holes of the 54-hole championship.
“I just had the mindset of coming out and doing what I’ve been doing,” said Surprenant. “I hit a lot of fairways and center of the greens. The greens were much quicker than they have been the last two days but I just continued to two-putt and figured the putt will fall.”
Surprenant’s ball striking was the story of the week. He hit an astounding 43 consecutive greens in regulation during the championship, allowing him to stay out of trouble on three demanding championship venues.
“I had 43 greens in regulation in a row so that helps just eliminating the trying to get up and down on these tough greens,” Surprenant said. “Hitting greens all week has kind of been the mojo for good play.”
Despite carrying a comfortable lead into the final round, Surprenant admitted there were nerves early. Playing alongside fellow contender Joe Leavitt, the margin briefly disappeared after Leavitt birdied the third hole to pull into a tie.
“Beginning of this round, obviously the nerves were there,” Surprenant said. “Joe came out and made a birdie on hole 3 and we were tied so I just kind of stuck to my mentality of just hitting fairways and greens and whatever happens, happens. That’s kind of my thing, just go with the flow.”
That approach paid dividends as Surprenant patiently separated himself over the closing stretch while Leavitt finished with a 2-under 70 to claim runner-up honors at 9-under-par.
For Surprenant, the victory is a milestone in his amateur career, adding his first New Hampshire Golf championship outside of junior competition. He stated, “It feels really good to finally get one in a non-junior event. So I’m really happy.”
While Surprenant controlled the championship, the round of the day belonged to Harry Garland. Starting the final round in eight place, Garland fired a sensational bogey-free 63 (-9), recording four birdies on the front nine and five more on the back to vault five spots up the leaderboard and finish alone in third place at 8-under-par.
Noah Farland finished fourth at 6-under, while Bryce Zimmerman rounded out the top five at 4-under-par.
Surprenant’s victory concluded a championship that began at Breakfast Hill Golf Club and moved to Pease Golf Course before the low 40 players advanced to Thursday’s final round at Portsmouth Country Club. Across all three venues venues, the Beaver Meadow standout separated himself with exceptional consistency, elite ball striking and a bogey-free finish that left little doubt about the outcome.
Stroke Play Championship | Results
