Nashua's Brandon Gillis is beaming after he captured the New Hampshire State Amateur Golf championship on Saturday at Abenaqui Country Club at Rye Beach. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

By TOM KING

Staff Writer

RYE BEACH – They are two shots that will live forever in New Hampshire State Amateur Golf Championship lore.

And then were majory keys in giving Nashua’s Brandon Gillis his first ever State Am title, as he defeated Laconia’s Jim Cilley 3 and 1 at Abenaqui Country Club.

The first was a shot into the hole from the bunker on the186-yard par 3 ninth during the second 18 of a potential 36 holes, a birdie 2, putting him 4 up.

The second was a chip off the green fringe on the Par 3 11th, (29th hole overall) enabling Gillis to save par, halve the hole and maintain a lead of 3 up with the potential of seven holes to go after a bogey on 10 helped Cilley get that sand shot back.

“It’s very disturbing doing that in match play to your opponent,” Gillis said. “I know well because it’s been done to me a couple of times. I hadn’t been working on his (sand and chips) as much as I feel I should, but after today, it was very good today.”

Both times Cilley thought he was going to shave two shots off an early deficit.

“I got down early (as much as 4 down) and I battled back (to 2 down after the first 18),” Cilley, who had been the king of comebacks the entire week, said. “We got to nine and he hit it in the bunker and I said that’s the break I need. I could’ve cut it to 2 down which is where I wanted to be. Of course he holes down the bunker shot … I’m going to have nightmares about nine and 11.”

Gillis, the former Nashua North standout and Telegraph All-Area Golfer of the Year who has one more year left at the University of Rhode Island, had a much different feeling yesterday afternoon than the one he had at North Conway a year ago when he lost to fellow Nashuan James Pleat in the finals. This time he eliminated Pleat in the Round of 16, ending the NCC member’s two-year title reign, and now sits atop the throne.

It’s fitting, as he dominated the week, basically cruising through most of his matches while finishing sixth overall after the first two days of stroke play.

“I try to play the first three holes at 1-under par,” Gillis said. “I figured if I could do that I wouldn’t be more than one down. So that was my plan, and I think it worked, I was up in just about every match (early) maybe with the exception of one.”

As NHGA Executive Director Matt Schmidt pointed out during the awards ceremony, in none of Gillis’ matches did he have to play the 18th, “except today, only because we made you (due to the two-round, 36-hole finals format).”

Nashua’s Brandon Gillis holes a shot out of a bunker at the ninth green, a key shot that put him four up with nine to play en route to Saturday’s State Am title win at Abenaqui CC. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Which shot was bigger, the one at 9 or 11?

“That’s a tough one,” Gillis said. “Nine was huge because it gave me the 4 up cushion. That’s really nice to have, and I knew it wasn’t over because I’ve seen so many U.S. Amateurs, and championships where somebody’s 3 or 4 up with nine to go and they end up losing outright.

“So it was huge to have that cushion but I had to remind myself that it definitely wasn’t over and I had to keep playing solid.”

And he was right, as Cilley got the deficit to 2 down with a birdie on the par 4 13th, while Gillis bogeyed. But the two halved holes 14, 15 and 16 until Cilley missed a par put on the 563-yard par 5 17th, the 35th hole overall, after Gillis had made his.

But Cilley had a chance to come to within 1 down on the short par 4 15th, with about a six-footer downhill for birdie. He missed, both golfers settled for par, and the 2011 Am champ knew it was an opportunity gone by the wayside.

“I’m a little disappointed at the putt at 15,” Cilley said. “I tried to trust my read. My feet were telling me the putt was going to go left. We knew it was a left edge putt but I couldn’t commit myself to the left edge.”

Gillis said the shot at 11 didn’t shock him.

“I would say it was a much easier shot,” Gillis said. “It was no gimme, but it was pretty easy and I had a good feeling about it.”

He has plenty of good feelings now. Gillis had earned a golf scholarship to Wake Forest out of North, but things didn’t work out and he transferred to URI. Two years ago he didn’t do as well as he would have expected in the Am when it was at Nashua Country Club, and then last year he made it to the finals.

“Last year I was so grateful to be at the final match, I think I took it for granted and really didn’t understand it,” he said. “I just wasn’t as confident. I knew what I had to do.”

And now he’s a champion, although he’ll be back at it Monday in a U.S. Amateur qualifier in Maine. His first State Am was in 2018 at Hanover Country Club, and he reached the semis

“It means the world,” Gillis said. “I wanted to win this every year since I started playing in it.”