There were a lot of good vantage points for spectators to watch the 117th NHGA State Amateur Championship at Nashua Country Club on Monday.

You could be like a couple that sat on a bench near the road just beyond the 18th tee. They had a great view of the entire hole.

Or, you could sit in the patio area just off the 18th green. In the immediate vicinity are the fourth green, fifth tee, and first tee.

Or you could stay in the shade further down the 18th fairway. Pick your spot, any spot.

“Tees and greens close together,” former Alvirne High School golf coach and NCC member Bob Lind said. “That’s the key.”

“I love it,” fan and NCC member David Roche of Nashua said. “I think it’s a great showcase for the course, it’s in great shape. And to see these young kids tear it up breaks my heart.”

He said that with a chuckle. But ahhh, those young guns. On hand with Roche along the 18th fairway was Lind, watching some who played for him (Jack Brown) and against him (Brandon Gillis).

“I love it, they got good weather, and the course is in wonderful shape,” he said. “They get to showcase some of the top players this year, more than in many years they had trying to qualify. I’m impressed, walking around watching some pretty good players.”

Monday began, though, by showcasing one of the top players of yesteryear, Nashua’s Bill Lochhead, an NCC member who won the event in 1961 at Waumbeck, the same year he graduated from the University of New Hampshire. Lockhead, who is in the UNH Athletics Hall of Fame, hit the ceremonial first drive off the first tee. And why not? He had a hole in one at NCC recently, at the spry young age of 84.

“It’s nice to watch,”Lochhead said. “The course is gorgeous. It might be a little short for some of these kids, the way they hit it.”

Of course, it’s Pandemic Golf. Caddies were eventually allowed, and some of those who were milling around the patio area were wearing masks. If you weren’t a player, you were parking just behind the 18th tee or on the campus of Rivier University.

“The organization has done a really good job,” Roche said of the collaborative effort between the NCC and New Hampshire Golf Association’s staffs. “No issues whatsoever, plenty of space, making sure there was plenty of water, etc.”

Safe.

“Very safe,” Lind said. “I like the way they approached the whole thing with the water and the masks. Everybody’s been really good.”

Including the golfers. Take Stanford University-bound William Huang, for instance. He’s one behind NCC’s own James Pleat (a five-under 66 compared to Pleat’s six-under 65).

“It’s tight off the tee,” Huang said of the precision aspect of the course. “You’ve got to place it well off the tee. There’s some holes when you can hit driver. Some where you have to place it here and there. On 17, it’s a tight tee shot.”

“The course is excellent all year,” said NCC’s Phil Pleat said, James’ father who shot an even par 71. “We got hammered with rain (Sunday) night, so it was a little soft. But the course is excellent.”

The event couldn’t have come to the Nashua area at a better time. We have Silver Knights baseball, and we also have State Am golf, all in our backyard during a time when there is little else.

“This is good for the area,” Lind said. “I think right now, this (course) is in the best shape. I’ve played several other courses around, and it’s in the best shape of anybody. It’s a good time to showcase it.”

The field, of course, is considered one of the strongest in years. Why?

“More good players,” Pleat said. “Plus, there hasn’t been anything to play in.”

There is now. Check it out at NCC all week culminating in the 36 hole final on Saturday. You’ll be glad you did.

Tom King may be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.

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