Connor Allard hopes his short game will take him a long way.
It was his touch around the greens that led to much of his success Wednesday in his first match of the New Hampshire Amateur Championship at Concord Country Club.
Allard made quick work of Brendan O’Sullivan, 5-and-4, to advance to Thursday’s second round. The round of 16 is scheduled for the afternoon. Allard, who shot a 2-under-par 68 on the first day of qualifying Monday, went into match play as the No. 23 seed. O’Sullivan was seeded 42nd.
Allard won six holes to just one for his opponent.
“My round today overall was much more consistent,” he said. “I think if one thing stood out it would be my chipping around the greens. I definitely chipped it much better than I did earlier this season. When I missed, I was able to get up-and-down for par, and that was helpful.”
Allard’s former teammate on the Exeter High School golf team. Jascha Johnston, the No. 37 seed, also moved on with a 2-and-1 victory over Jim Cilley, the 28th seed and a former State Am champ.
Allard and Johnston led the Blue Hawks to a pair of Division I championships and both won an individual title along the way. Johnston played in the 2023 State Am but failed to make the cut.
“My goal coming into the State Am is to play my game and the game that I know I have,” said Johnston, who plays out of Exeter Country Club. “I know I’m capable of putting up some low numbers. It’s just a matter of executing on shots. Basically, playing bogey-free golf is my goal.”
After shooting 79 during the first round of qualifying Monday he rebounded with a 1-under par 69 on Tuesday and capped the round with a par-par-birdie-birdie finish.
Johnston took an early 3-up lead through five holes over Cilley, who sliced the deficit to one. Johnston never trailed and held on for the victory with some late luck when a wayward drive that was headed for the woods and out of bounds kicked out into a playable lie.
“It was a lucky finish,” Johnston said. “If I doubled and he managed to beat me on that hole we’d go into the last hole all square which would be a bit more nerve-wracking for me.”
Allard and Johnston are two of six golfers from the Seacoast area still alive in the State Am, a contingent that also includes Dover’s Brett Wilson, Harvin Groft of Candia Oaks, Farmington’s Derek Dinwoodie and Ryan Zetterholm of Pease Golf Course.
Wilson, the No. 35 seed, defeated No. 30 Jake Berkio, 3-and-1; Groft, seeded 14th, knocked off No. 51 Jack Fitzgerald, 2-and-1; Dinwoodie, at No. 22, eliminated No. 43 Ryan Phinney, 3-and-2; and Zetterholm, seeded 20th, edged No. 45 Evan Rollins, 1-up.
“It was probably a pretty boring round of golf and I’m honestly OK with that,” Allard said. “If I can just get the ball in the hole in as few shots as possible, that’s good enough for me.”
No. 11 seed Keith Stone of Pease, No. 44 Kory Ferullo of Rochester CC, No. 36 Myles O’Quinn of Portsmouth CC and No. 50 Jared Lamothe, also of Portsmouth CC, all lost first-round matches on Wednesday and were eliminated.
Johnston has an 8:18 tee time Thursday morning and will face Matt Paradis while Allard goes off at 8:58 against Cameron Salo in the round of 32. The quarterfinals and semis are scheduled for Friday with a 36-hole final slated for Saturday.
“I’m happy with the way I played,” Allard said. “(Thursday) I’m going to need to make some more birdies. I definitely kind of killed him with pars today. (Thursday) I’m going to need to make some birdies and keep the pedal to the metal.”
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exeter High teammates advance in New Hampshire State Amateur
