Justin Grondahl hits a chip shot during Tuesday's Day 2 of the NH State Am at Rochester Country Club (Courtesy photo by Kate Billings/NHGA)

ROCHESTER – A dramatic finish highlighted the conclusion of stroke play qualifying at the 122nd New Hampshire Amateur Championship as Josiah Hakala rolled in a birdie on the 18th hole to tie Justin Grondahl for co-medalist honors at 7-under-par 137 at Rochester Country Club.

Grondahl fired a steady 3-under-par 69 to safely secure his seat at the top of the leaderboard and capture the No. 1 seed as the focus shifts to the playoff for the final spots and match play to follow.

All eyes now turn to “The March”, the dramatic playoff for the coveted No. 64 seed. On Wednesday morning, seven players — including three locals — tied at 9-over-par 153 will tee it up in a high-stakes battle for the final spot in match play. With only one advancing, the pressure will be intense, and every shot will count. From there, the real fight begins, win and move on, lose and go home as match play officially gets underway.

The locals “marching” are NCC’s Phil Pleat, Owen Murphy and Sky Meadow’s Rick Moreau.Also of note is Portsmouth CC’s Craig Steckowych, who was announced earlier in the day as a 2025 inductee into the NH Golf Hall of Fame.

The playoff is set to begin at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday with match play slated for a 10 a.m. start.

Hakala, who reached the semifinals at last year’s New Hampshire Amateur, delivered a sensational round of 7-under-par 65, the low round of the tournament so far, to climb 17 spots on the leaderboard. After a quiet start to the championship, he found his rhythm in Round 2.

He stated, “Yesterday I didn’t get anything going and didn’t really hit it that great,” Hakala said. “I hit it really nice today, pretty stress-free. I actually left some out there, I had two three-putts so it’s good to know that a low one is out there and I’m looking forward to match play.”

As the field transitions to head-to-head competition, Hakala is sticking with the same strategy that worked so well in his second round. He said, “Match play is a little bit different, but it’s still the same course.”

“I won’t change much from what I played today strategy-wise,” he added. “I played pretty solid and kept the ball in front of me. So if you can put the pressure on your opponent that way, it ends up working pretty well.”

Grondahl, who posted a consistent 3-under 69 to back up his opening 68, credited his ball striking and patience during a tougher scoring day. He commented, “I struck it a lot better. Putts weren’t really going the first little bit. I think the course setup was a little bit harder, which made for tougher scoring conditions.”

“I just tried to give myself birdie putts below the hole and I made a few really nice ones,” he added. “I’m just going to take it one shot at a time and not get too far ahead of myself.”

Veteran Pat Pelletier remained in striking distance, finishing solo third at 5-under 139 after back-to-back strong rounds. Pelletier knows this course well and is looking forward to what match play will bring. Nashua Country Club’s Nate Crowley and Ryan Scollins tied for fourth at 4-under-par 140, with Scollins carding an impressive 4-under-par to propel himself up the leaderboard and comfortably within the cutline.

A tightly packed group at 2-under 142 includes notable names such as former champion Jim Cilley, two-time champion James Pleat of NCC, 2023 champion Jack Pepin, and Cameron Salo. Despite where these top contenders finished in stroke play qualifying, all are happy to find themselves headed to match play as they were able to secure one of the 64 spots moving forward.