It was all hugs for Nashua's Brandon Gillis after he won the NH State Am title last weekend. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

RYE BEACH – Brandon Gillis used these words a couple of years ago to describe his philosophy playing golf for the University of Rhode Island:

“Play good golf,” he said, “and the rest will take care of itself.”

Words to play by, and that’s exactly what Gillis, the former Nashua North standout and Telegraph Player of the Year, did a week ago when he captured the 119th State Amateur Championship, a pinnacle moment in his golf career.

For someone just 23, Gillis has had quite a journey. He went to Wake Forest, but took time off from school “to figure some things out” and ended up transferring to URI, where he’s been since, with one more year of eligibility – partly thanks to NCAA COVID rules from seasons lost.

But a slimmer, trimmer and beaming Gillis stood at the New Hampshire Golf Association’s post-State Am awards ceremony thanking many, including family and coaches, because he clearly had arrived after a week in which he played incredible golf. As NHGA Executive Director Matt Schmidt noted, Gillis hadn’t had to play hole No. 18 at Abenaqui Country Club, “except today, because we made you (in a 36-hole final).”

That’s how dominant he was, as no match was tight enough to go the full 18. He avenged his defeat in last year’s finals at the hands of fellow Nashuan James Pleat in this year’s Round of 16, and then last Saturday finished the job with a 3-and-1 win over Laconia’s Jim Cilley.

During the match he holed in a sand shot and a chip shot off the green to keep Cilley at bay. As Cilley said, “I’m going to have nightmares about 9 (sand shot) and 11 (chip).”

But any nightmares Gillis may have had with the game of golf are a thing of the past.

“I’ve run into some really good players,” Gillis said, “and that experience I think helped me. … I think my bracket was very tough, and I just kept telling myself somebody’s got to be the one to get out of that bracket, it may as well be me.”

Gillis said in last year’s final vs. Pleat, he was probably just glad to be there. But now he is there and then some.

“I’ve grown a lot as a person in the last two years, I think,” Gillis said. “It’s been kind of a bumpy rode ever since I left Wake Forest.

“But the last two years I’ve had so much support from my Mom and my coach and my brothers.”

The weight loss? He said it’s due to his work in golf course maintenance at Sky Meadow, and he was quick to thank his boss for allowing him the week off to play in the Am during a busy time.

Again, Gillis, was hitting all the points on Saturday, making sure everyone knew he didn’t win this alone, perhaps in a far more humble way than has been seen in the past?

That’s one of the many things, perhaps, that has changed.

“Just more balance in my life,” he said. “Hanging around the right people, and just a little bit more discipline, a little more balance, and self confidence for sure.”

Gillis said he’s able to play four or five times a week. He’ll take some time to be with friends or go up to Lake Winnipausakee with his family. Other than that, he’s on the course playing every evening after working on it.

Gillis says the Am victory is a sign of how far he’s come on the golf course and off it.

“Oh, for sure,” he said. “It’s really eye-opening for me, and encouraging.”

As for his game in the last two years, he said there have been changes as well.

“Consistency, and I would say course management and playing smarter,” he said. “I’ve always loved match play, I’ve always felt I was a good match play player. Playing smart, my coach (URI’s Gregg Burke, who was at the Am final) has helped me with that, and more experience, too.”

“He’s long, so that helps out,” Cilley said. “Anytime you have length … He’s just really solid, he hits it solid, a little steep into it. It’s good, you can compress it, expecially if there’s a breeze, you can kind of stay through it. His trajectory control is very good.”

But something else, Cilley saw, which certainly on 9 and and 11 in the second round of 18 made the difference.

“Obviously his short game is really good,” said Cilley, who won the State Am in 2011. “His stuff around the greens was a lot better. These greens are tough, to chip and pitch on. They’re kind of springy, they don’t grab a lot. He was able to actually spin it a little bit.”

All week, Gillis said, “I was hitting it great, and I was pretty solid with the shorter parts, which for the most part lately I had been struggling with. It was pretty nice to make those and gain some confidence.”

At URI, Gillis said he and friend/teammate Bryson Richards push each other.

“We’ve got a few other guys on the squad who are great, an incoming freshman and hopefully a couple more coming up,” Gillis said.

Yes, he takes being a Ram very seriously. As well as being a New Hampshire State Am champion.

He played great championship golf, and everything took care of itself.