James Pleat, the 2017 New Hampshire Mid-Amateur champion
(NHGA photo)
Melvin Village, NH (October 7th 2017) – In what turned out to be an exciting, yet nail-biting finish of the final round of the New Hampshire Mid-Amateur Championship at Bald Peak Colony Club, James Pleat (Nashua CC) won by one stroke over John DeVito (Passaconaway CC) after carding a strong 66 (-5). DeVito made one too many mistakes in his closing holes and shot 74 (+3), finishing the tournament at one over par.
DeVito started the final round with a four stroke lead over Jim Cilley (Ridgewood CC) and Danny Arvanitis (Derryfield CC). He made bogey on his second hole, Bald Peak’s 11th, and closed out his opening nine at one over par. Meanwhile in the group just ahead of him, James Pleat was beginning to make his run with a birdie on his 7th hole and eagle on his 8th, making the turn at two under par due to one bogey.
From there, Pleat went on to have a near perfect second nine with three birdies and zero bogeys. He did have a 20-foot putt to save par on his 17th hole, but nerves didn’t phase him there. The second half of DeVito’s round was not as strong; he did birdie his 11th hole, but made three-straight bogeys that cost him some ground and forced him to have to make birdie on his 18th hole to go into a playoff with Pleat. Unfortunately, he came up just shy by missing his birdie putt.
Heading into the round, thinking about what he needed to accomplish Pleat says, “I knew John’s been playing solid all week. He’s a great player, he’s had a great summer. I knew I would have to go low to even get anywhere near him.”
He did go low, with the lowest round of the tournament, 66. While he was busy making birdies he knew exactly where he stood against those he needed to beat. He said, “I was just checking scores after every hole, just seeing where I was but also trying to stay focused on every shot.”
On the commute to Bald Peak from Nashua, James and Phil talked about the upcoming round with Phil giving a few pointers from his experiences. James says, “He just told me to keep playing solid, hit fairways and greens. He said, ‘You never know’”.
“I didn’t really think this was going to happen so I’m obviously thrilled”, continued Pleat. James now adds the Mid-Amateur Championship to his two other New Hampshire Golf Association victories.
Pleat is a familiar name with the NHGA as Phil Pleat, James’ father, has won eight Mid-Amateur Championships and recently won his 20th NHGA championship at North Conway Country Club in the New Hampshire Senior Championship.
View results for New Hampshire Mid-Amateur
ABOUT THE New Hampshire Mid-Amateur
The tournament will consist of 54 holes
stroke
play with a cut for Saturday to low 27
players
and ties. Entries are
open to male members in good standing
of
member NHGA Clubs who are legal
residents of
New Hampshire. Applicants must be 30
years
of age by the first day of the tournament.
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