State Am legend Bob Mielcarz is congratulated by NHGA Executive Director Matt Schmidt folloiwng his exit from his final State Am after falling to James Pleat at Concord Country Club. (Photo courtesy of NHGA)

CONCORD – It was a historic, emotional and action packed third day of the 121st New Hampshire Amateur Championship at Concord Country Club.

The day also included Bob Mielcarz’s final State Am rounds which he completed in dramatic fashion, falling to Nashua’s James Pleat in match play 6 and 5. If there was anyone who could appreciate Mielcarz’s illustrious Am career (43), it would be Pleat, who comes from a family steeped in golf tradition.

Pleat, the 2020-21 champion, now moves on to today’s round of 32, where he will face Dover’s Brett Wilson.

Shockingly, he’s one of only three locals remaining in the event, believe it or not.

With the weather causing his second round to be halted until the morning, Mielcarz stumbled on the 15th hole at the 7 a.m. restart, forcing him to need a birdie on the final hole to earn a spot into match play and avoid the playoff. As he hit his approach shot into the green on 18, he looked up to a crowd of fans surrounding the 18th green in support of his final New Hampshire Amateur. With tears in his eyes, he stepped up to his putt and confidently rolled it in the hole for a birdie, quickly followed by loud applause and high fives from his fellow competitors.

Mielcarz moved on to match play and drew James Pleat in the first round of matches. Pleat captured the 3 seed for match play after firing two-under par across the 36-hole stroke play qualifying. With the Mielcarz and Pleat families following along the entire way, it was clear that Pleat was going to close out the match early as he was hitting his tee shots about 75 yards past Mielcarz on most holes. Pleat earned his spot into the Round of 32 with a 6&5 win over Mielcarz and will go up today against Brett Wilson, a fierce competitor on the course.

In total, five past champions remain as match play moves on to the Round of 32. One of those past champions, Sky Meadow’s Brandon Gillis of Nashua (2022), had a challenging match against Evan Desjardins, where they needed one extra hole to decide who was moving on.

“It was a little bit of a slow start but I was able to regroup and make putts when I needed to”, commented Gillis after the match.

“Today was maybe a match that I squeaked out with not my best stuff, but I’m hoping to have my best stuff in matches later this week”, continued Gillis.

Gillis is a competitor who is no stranger to New Hampshire Amateur competition, especially match play rounds as he has one title of his own and faced James Pleat in the final match of the 2021 New Hampshire Amateur at North Conway Country Club. While the format changes, his game plan doesn’t tend to change much. He said, “The plays don’t really change out here, you kind of just want to put it on cruise control.”

“Hit a ton of fairways, hit a ton of greens and make a few putts, but if you don’t, par is a good score out here right now”, stated Gillis.

The other remaining local is Passaconaway’s Ryan Brown, who beat former finalist and BG alum Cam Sheedy 2 & 1. He’ll next take on Ryan Zetterholm of Exeter and Pease GC Online.

In other local matches:

Kevin Gaynor of Souhegan Woods lost to Goffstown’s Matt Gifford of Stonebridge 4 & 3 while Jack Kelley of Passaconaway lost to Concord CC’s Ryan Sylvester 2 & 1.

Also, Passaconaway’s John Duarte fell to Goffstown’s Jeff Sullivan in 20 holes. Jack Fitzgerald of Sky Meadow lost to Harvin Groft, from Berwick Me., but out of Candia Oaks, 2 & 1. NCC’s Jon Dyer lost to New Ipswich’s Damon Salo of the Shattuck 1 up and Eric Emeneau, Souhegan Woods , fell to Lincoln’s Matt Paradis 5 & 4.

As Gillis, Pleat and Brown keep plugging away, other top seeds also remain. Hunter Duncan, the No. 1 seed, and Mark Stevens, the No.2 seed, continue their run in this tournament. Mitch Cormier, coming off a four-hole warmup in the playoff, went up against Duncan and gave him a run. However, Duncan closed out the match, winning it 2&1 and will now go against fellow Concord Country Club member, Dave Perry.

Stevens, who grew up playing Concord Country Club as a junior golfer, has used his local knowledge to propel him through the week. That knowledge paired with a strong golf game got him his Round of 64 victory, 6&5 over Jeremy Duhamel.

The day started with the completion of the second round of stroke play qualifying to determine the final golfers to advance to match play. Upon the completion of the round, a 15-player playoff was needed to determine the 63 and 64 seeds for match play. Duhamel and Cormier emerged as the final qualifiers.

With top seeds and the state’s top golfers still remaining, golfers prepare to take on the Round of 32 this morning. Those winning in the morning will compete in the Round of 16 later this afternoon.

(Telegraph Staff Writer Tom King contributed to this report.)