Telegraph Sports Reporter Tom KIng.

The 117th New Hampshire State Amateur Golf Championship started out this past week with a blast from the past.

But you know what, Bill Lochhead isn’t passing up on the present, either.

He was the perfect guy to kick off the tournament with the ceremonial first drive. Lochhead, 84, has been a Nashua Country Club member for a whopping 70 years. He won the State Am in 1961 at Waumbeck and has so many other credentials, it’s a wonder he doesn’t start every Am.

“It’s nice to watch,” he said. “It really is. The course is gorgeous. It might be a little bit short for some of these kids. They hit it a long way.”

But Lochhead has come a long way. He suffered a stroke in January. And yet amazingly now he’s out on the golf course three days a week, usually every week. Oh, and he recorded his seventh hole in one back on June 22.

“It was on the same hole I had one on years ago,” Lochhead said. “Years ago, I hit a five-iron. This time, I hit a driver. I’m old. … Pretty lucky.”

Don’t let him fool you. His ace came on NCC’s eighth hole, 194 yard par 3. Not a gimme. But he is amazed at the heavy hitters in today’s game.

Lochhead says the big difference in the game today is “equipment and training” from his days. And length.

“A big hitter in our day, they hit it 220, 230,” he said. “Now it’s 275. They hit it so far, you can’t find it. They’re strong, they’re young. The young kids can really whack it. The game has changed with equipment and training. We have shafts, but they have graphite.”

But they don’t have the cache that Lochhead has. He was on the Nashua High School varsity golf team, after he started playing the game at age 14. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1961, and also spent two years active duty in the U.S. Army.

But Lochhead was good in college. He won two New England Intercollegiate tour titles in 1960-61 and was invited to compete in the NCAA Championships at Purdue University in 1961. A guy named Jack Nicklaus won that title.

And that’s when, as Lochhead put it, “I decided to get a job.”

He’s a past NCC board president and board member for many years, and he’s also a member of the board of directors for the Richard McDonough Caddie Scholarhip Fund.

And still going strong, despite that stroke.

“I’ve slowed down,” Lochhead said. “I still play three days a week, but I take a cart. The guys are good to me.”

With NCC closed to member play for the most part due to the State Am this past week, Lochhead took his game to nearby Souhegan Woods for a couple of days.

But he was expecting to be back at NCC to catch the final couple of days of match play.

He can’t pass up watching a good tournament on a great course.

“The course is gorgeous,” he said. “I love it.”

And you know what? The course, and the game love Bill Lochhead.

This year’s State Am wouldn’t have been the same without him.

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

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