Sky Meadow's Brandon Gillis is back in the finals of the State Am. (Photo courtesy of NH Golf Association)

RYE BEACH – He’s back in the finals, and this time Nashua’s Brandon Gillis (Sky Meadow) is hoping for different outcome.

He’s set to face Laconia’s Jim Cilley in the 36-hole final match of the119th New Hampshire State Amateur Golf Championship at Abenaqui Country Club, the second time each player has been in the final match.

Gillis has not had an easy road to the final match this year, having to face James Pleat in the Round of 16 and move on to face a good friend of his in the Quarterfinals, Mat Gover (Atkinson Resort & CC). Though Gover had been playing well throughout the week, he struggled in the match with Gillis. Gillis was able to make a few more pars and birdies than Gover to run away with the match, closing it out on the 15th hole, 5 and 3.

The semifinals also brought a challenging match for Gillis having to go up against Ryan Kohler (Hooper GC), but the afternoon is where Gillis started to shine. He started making more birdies, while Kohler started to struggle with the putter.

“In the afternoon I played really well against Ryan”, commented Gillis. “We keep saying that every time we meet only one of us plays well in match play, but I wish we could both play well and have a really good match.”

Gillis started to run away with his Semifinal match after the two made the turn and it became clear that Gillis was going to end up in the final match for the second-straight year. He ended up winning the match against Kohler 5 and 4 to earn his way into the finals.

Mweanwhile, two former champions met in the quarterfinal round, Cilley (2011) and Mark Stevens (2008) and it was going to take some great golf from one of them to move on to the Semifinal round. Cilley jumped out to a hot start in the match, winning the first three holes and set the tone for the day. He did not falter much in the first match and got himself comfortably to 5up thru 9 holes, putting Stevens in a tough position. Cilley closed out that match on the 14th hole at Abenaqui Country Club to win 6 and 4.

The Semifinals are a familiar place for Cilley, he has not had the best track record, but today was a different story. He faced Joe Bowker (Pembroke Pines CC), a golfer that had displayed solid golf all week long. The only time Cilley struggled was on the first hole of his Semifinal match where he made bogey, but from there he turned on the jets.

“I only made one bogey all day and it was on the first hole in the afternoon”, stated Cilley. “I just hit it really solid and didn’t have a lot of downhill or sidehill putts, I kept it under the hole a lot.”

Cilley certainly figured out the greens at Abenaqui and that is exactly what needs to be done to advance on in this tournament. He said, “I really felt good on the greens today. I felt like I got the speeds down right.”

This trip to the final match of the New Hampshire Amateur will be Cilley’s second time making it to the end, his first coming in 2011 when he won the tournament. His experience in match play will certainly help him navigate the 36-hole final against Gillis.

Last year’s final match against James Pleat did not go Gillis’ way, he lost the match 5&4. Pleat also took down Cilley in last year’s Semifinal match, defeating him 3&1.

The two finalists this year are looking for redemption, especially Gillis who will look to use his experience from last year to formulate his gameplan and help carry him through the 36-hole final.

“Last year I kind of faded away after the morning 18”, Gillis stated after reflecting on last year. “But this year I know it’s a full 36 and you have to be on your game all the holes, not just the first 18.”