Nashua Country Club's James Pleat has been dominant in match play at the State Am and is in the quarterfinals today at Concord Country Club. (File photo)

And then there were three.

Three locals remain in the hunt for the 121st New Hampshire State Amateur Golf Championship trophy at Concord Country Club, with the quarterfinals and semifinals in match play set for today.

Two local past champions have been full speed ahead. Nashua’s James Pleat and Brandon Gillis are both still alive, but so is Austin Fox of Merrimack, who plays out of Derryfield Country Club in Manchester.

The lowest seed remaining in the tournament at No. 3 is Pleat, who hasn’t been past the 16th hole in a match yet at Concord Country Club. Pleat faced Brett Wilson in the Round of 32, defeating him 6&5 to move on and face Harvin Groft in the Round of 16. Groft battled hard against Pleat, but at no point did he have a hold of the lead. Pleat grabbed a hold of a 1up lead after Concord’s challenging par-3, 4th hole and he never let it go.

He got to 4up after the 13th hole, putting Groft in a tough position with few holes remaining. Pleat closed it out on the 16th hole, winning 3&2 to once again find himself in the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, Gillis faced off with Matt Gifford in the Round of 32 and quickly learned that it wasn’t going to be an easy match for him. Gifford brought the match to 20 holes where he ultimately missed a par putt for Gillis to win the match in 20 holes. With a quick turnaround time, Gillis moved on to face the #1 seeded, Hunter Duncan, on Duncan’s home course.

Knowing Duncan had the home course advantage, Gillis needed to bring his best game to the Round of 16. After a few bumps in the road for both golfers early in the match, Gillis started rolling in the necessary birdie putts to put himself 3up after 9 holes and then 4up after 10 holes. He closed it out 6&5 to secure his quarterfinal spot and now prepares to go up against Fox who has been on a heat streak all week, beginning at 7:30 a.m.

Fox, meanwhile, had a closer match in the late afternoon round, topping New Ipswich’s Damon Salo (The Shattuck) 2 and 1. He beat Balk Peak’s Ryan Scollins 1 Up in the Round of 32.

So what does today look like? Gillis, the 2022 champion and Fox will go at it in the quarterfinals beginning at 7:30 a.m., while Pleat, the 2020-21 champ, will battle with Lake Sunapee CC’s Rob Henley beginning at 7:54 a.m.

Both are Dartmouth graduates having played for New Hampshire Golf Hall of Famer, Rich Parker. Each have experience advancing to the final match, but Pleat has two New Hampshire Amateur titles to back himself up.

Pleat is in a different bracket than the other two locals, as the winner of his match takes on the winner of the all-New Ipswich match between JoJo Hakala and Cam Salo (the Shattuck) in the afternoon semifinals.

Salo survived a 21-hole Round of 32 match and had one of the biggest comebacks seen so far this week in the Round of 16, down three holes after nine to Jeremy Burke before rallying for a 2 & 1 win.

The Gillis-Fox winner will face either Stephen Goodridge of Grantham (Eastman Golf Links) or Ryan Zetterholm of Exeter (Pease GC) in the other semifinal.

Both played college golf, Zetterholm at Methodist University and Goodridge at the University of Rochester. In his sophomore season, Goodridge took home the NCAA Division III National Championship title which shows he is no stranger to the pressure of championship golf.

The 36-hole final is set for Saturday.

(The NHGA’s Kate Billings contributed to this report.)