Christmas 15—BEDFORD — The 18th hole at Manchester Country Club may not have had any significance to Jack Pepin when this week’s New Hampshire Amateur Championship began, but it’s now a hole that will likely be permanently etched in his memory.
Pepin, a member at Atkinson Resort and Country Club, twice made birdie on the par-4 18th hole to advance during match play Friday, but saved what may have been his best work on No. 18 for Saturday’s championship match.
Lake Sunapee Country Club’s Rob Henley was 1-up with one hole to play in Saturday’s scheduled 36-hole final, but Pepin rolled in a six-foot birdie putt to win the hole and extend the match. Pepin won the event on the first extra hole — the par-4 10th — when Henley missed an eight-foot par putt.
“I think the pressure of the moment gave me a little bit more focus there (on the 18th green), but it was definitely a putt I knew I could make if I gave it a good stroke,” Pepin said. “I made a 25-footer Friday morning (to beat Passaconaway’s Ryan Brown) and ever since then I’ve had a good feeling about that green.”
Pepin, an Atkinson resident who plays on the Southern New Hampshire University golf team, made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to defeat Nashua Country Club’s James Pleat in Friday afternoon’s semifinals.
Henley, a 35-year-old New London resident, was playing in the State Am for the second time. He reached the Round of 32 last summer.
Henley was 2-down after 32 holes, but went 1-up by winning the par-4 15th (birdie), the par-3 16th (par) and the par-4 17th (bogey).
After Pepin pulled even on No. 18, Henley’s second shot on the extra hole landed in the front bunker. His third shot left him with an eight-foot putt that he needed to make after Pepin made par.
“I had a pretty good read,” Henley said. “It was a left-edge putt. I just pushed it a little bit into the break and missed right.
“The first 18 I played pretty well on the back nine and had a pretty good lead, then I gave it all back in the beginning of the second 18. It was just back-and-forth from there pretty much. I wasn’t expecting to be 1-up on the 18th tee, but I was happy to be, I guess. He hit a great shot in there and made a good putt.”
Most of the match was like a volatile stock market.
Pepin was 3-up after four holes, but Henley was 4-up through 18. Pepin won five of the first eight holes in the second round and had a 1-up lead after 27 holes.
The match was even until Pepin won Nos. 13 (birdie) and 14 (par), but Henley regained the lead by winning the next three holes.
Pepin’s ball moved slightly before he made the putt on 18 that extended the match.
“It moved almost a quarter rotation because there’s a pretty significant slope up there,” Pepin said. “I didn’t cause it. It moved purely because of the slope.”
Pepin became the 10th player to win the State Am and the New Hampshire Golf Association’s Junior Championship. He earned the junior title in 2019 at Beaver Meadow Country Club.
“I’m kind of speechless at the moment,” Pepin said. “Honestly, I was just trying to get past the Round of 32 this year.
“I was in uncharted territory after that match Thursday morning. I just kept going, playing my game.”
Future sites for the State Am
2024: Concord CC
2025: Rochester CC
2026: Cochecho CC
2027: Mt. Washington Resort GC
2028: Bretwood GC (North)
2029: Stonebridge CC
2030: Laconia CC