Jul. 10—CONCORD — Bob Mielcarz got beat badly — and had so much fun the entire time, he said.
In his final New Hampshire Golf Association Amateur Championship round, the nine-time tournament champion felt the golf gods gave him one last surprise.
Nashua Country Club member James Pleat defeated Mielcarz, 6 and 5, in the Round of 64 of the 121st State Am on Wednesday at Mielcarz’s home course, Concord CC.
Mielcarz, who announced last week that this would be his final State Am appearance, had always wanted to play Pleat, 33, in the tournament, considering the family history.
Mielcarz, 74, and Pleat’s dad, Phil, a three-time State Am champion, met in match play five times in the history of the tournament. Mielcarz beat his good friend each time, including semifinal bouts in 1995 and 2000 before winning both tournaments.
“It was just scripted so well,” said Mielcarz, who qualified for match play by securing the 62nd seed. “And I knew that I didn’t have the game to keep up with him (Pleat). He’s easily one of the best players in the tournament, but I had the time of my life this week.”
Pleat, a two-time State Am champion and the third seed, will play No. 35 seed Brett Wilson in the Round of 32 on Thursday. Wilson, of The Golf Club of New England, advanced with a 3 and 1 win over No. 30 seed Jake Berkio.
Both the Round of 32 and Round of 16 will be played on Thursday.
The winner of this year’s State Am will receive a same-year exemption into the U.S. Amateur, which will be held Aug. 12-18 at Hazeltine National Golf Club and Chaska Town Course in Chaska, Minnesota.
Mielcarz and James Pleat attracted a big crowd of supporters who followed them around the course on a brutally humid day.
Pleat, who caddied for his dad as a kid for several of those State Am matches against Mielcarz, had his dad on the bag for him on Wednesday.
“He’s an unbelievable competitor — he still is, he still was today,” the younger Pleat said of Mielcarz. “It was nice to get to play with him and against him. It was an honor.”
In a shotgun start, with Pleat and Mielcarz starting on No. 6, Pleat went 2-up after 11 holes and birdied five of his last seven. His first birdie of that stretch came on the par-5 12th hole with a 5-foot putt that followed a beautiful chip shot from the rough at the bottom of the hill leading to the green.
“That chip shot, I told my dad after I couldn’t do it again if I had like 10 more tries,” Pleat said.
Pleat birdied and Mielcarz bogeyed the final hole they played — the 18th — to end the match.
Mielcarz chipped in for birdie from behind the green on the 17th, a feat he joked that he pulled off in almost every match against Phil Pleat.
“James knew what he was up against,” Phil Pleat said. “I said, ‘Bob’s going to chip in at least once.’ He said, ‘I know. I’ve seen it against (you).’ … I think it’s a great way for Bob to go out.”
Tuesday’s second round of stroke play was delayed by thunderstorms in the afternoon and then called due to darkness. And in the continuation of stroke play on Wednesday morning, Mielcarz, a Concord resident, avoided a playoff for the final two match-play spots with a birdie putt on the 18th hole. He made the putt with tears in his eyes.
Many of his family members and Concord CC and NHGA staff watched Mielcarz play that 18th hole. The NHGA then presented Mielcarz with a flag signed by many of this year’s State Am players.
“Even before I hit my second shot I was crying,” Mielcarz said. “There was a lot of emotion because I was thinking (while) playing 18 it was my last hole that I was ever going to play in the tournament.”
Match play drama
Hooper Golf Course’s Mitch Cormier and Manchester CC’s Jeremy Duhamel earned those final two match-play spots from the 15-man playoff. Duhamel fell, 6 and 5, to second-seeded Mark Stevens. Cormier, an 18-year-old Walpole resident, gave top-seeded Hunter Duncan a battle but fell, 2 and 1, to the 18-year-old from Dunbarton.
Duncan, who shot a 6-under 134 and was medalist in stroke play, said he has played well on the back nine throughout the tournament. Against Cormier, after a double-bogey on the 10th hole, Duncan birdied the 13th, 14th and 17th holes and parred the rest of the back nine to close out the match. Duncan’s birdie on the 14th hole gave him a 2-up lead.
“I had a couple silly holes but I was playing some really good golf — had a really nice back nine,” Duncan said. “Mitch Cormier, he was playing some good golf. He was fighting like crazy. It was a little stressful, for sure, but it was fun.”
Duncan will play Concord CC member David Perry, the No. 32 seed, in the Round of 32. Perry advanced with a 4 and 2 triumph over 33rd-seeded Will Beckford, of Canterbury Woods CC.
Brandon Gillis, the 2022 State Am champion, was one of two golfers who worked overtime to earn a spot in the Round of 32. The 25-year-old Sky Meadow CC member defeated 20-year-old Atkinson Resort and CC member Evan Desjardins in 19 holes.
Desjardins, the 49th seed, was 2-up after 11 holes. Gillis, the No. 16 seed, made one of his several par saves on the 14th to tie the match.
“I got off to a little bit of a tough start and so did he,” Gillis said, “but I was able to hang in there, make some putts that really kept me in the match and then just kind of dug it out today.”
