Nashua's Cam Sheedy doesn't appear to like a putt during Friday's State Am quarterfinal loss at Cocheco Country Club in Dover. (Photo courtesy of NH Golf)

DOVER- For the fourth straight summer,the local area will be without a golfer in the finals of the State Am.

That’s because two more of the new youth wave. Portsmouth Country Club’s Myles O’Quinn and Concord CC’s Gavin Richardson each survived a grueling Friday at Cochecho Country Club, winning two matches to earn their place in the 36-hole championship match of the 123rd New Hampshire Amateur Championship.

Nashua’s Bryce Zimmerman and Cam Sheedy,the last two locals left after Thursday,both fell Friday morning in the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, Richardson and O’Quinn share similar paths to Saturday’s final. Both grew up competing on the NH Golf Junior Tour before continuing their careers at the collegiate level. O’Quinn now plays at Endicott College, while Richardson competes for Southern New Hampshire University. Now, each stands one victory away from claiming New Hampshire’s most prestigious amateur championship and an exemption into the U.S. Amateur Championship.

O’Quinn, the No. 28 seed, continued his impressive run through the bracket with a pair of convincing victories. He opened the day by defeating reigning New Hampshire Junior Amateur champion Grey Gagnon, 2 & 1, before taking on home-club favorite Kurt Eddins in the semifinals. Eddins had disposed of Sheedy, the 2020 runnerup, 2 up in the quarters by birdieing the par 5 17th to go 1 up and clinching when Sheedy bogeyed the par 3 18th while Eddins got a par.

With a sizable gallery following Eddins throughout the afternoon, O’Quinn never allowed the hometown favorite to gain momentum. After winning the opening hole to take an early lead, O’Quinn never trailed, eventually closing out a 3 & 2 victory to punch his ticket to the championship match.

“The second match was definitely a grind,” O’Quinn said. “He was really good and it was definitely a battle with him, but I was able to stick it out.”

While Eddins had the advantage of local knowledge and strong crowd support, O’Quinn felt his experience over the course of the week helped level the playing field. He said, “It was tricky. I know he had a lot of guys supporting him, knowing the course, knowing the greens, but being able to play it at least four times throughout the week really helped.”

O’Quinn’s game has continued to improve as the championship has progressed, particularly with his confidence off the tee and on the greens. He commented, “My game is working great. The putter is rolling great. The driver was working. There’s not a lot of drivers on the front nine, but on the back nine I’m able to hit driver and really capitalize there.”

Advancing to Saturday’s championship match is a moment O’Quinn has been working toward for years. He stated, “It feels really good.”

Richardson, the No. 30 seed, had a different route to the final. After defeating Bryce Zimmerman, 2 & 1, in a tightly contested quarterfinal match, Richardson squared off against Damon Salo in one of the most dramatic matches of the championship.

Salo came out firing, building a 3up advantage through six holes and putting Richardson on the brink early. But the Southern New Hampshire University standout refused to back down. A birdie on the ninth hole sparked the comeback, and Richardson slowly chipped away at the deficit before drawing even on the 15th hole. Neither player could gain the upper hand over the closing stretch, sending the match to extra holes.

It wasn’t until the 21st hole that Richardson finally secured the winning point and a place in Saturday’s final. He reflected on his semifinal match saying, “In the afternoon, it was probably the craziest match of my life. I went down pretty early, I just made some stupid mistakes, missed short putts. I just slowly chipped away and made a couple birdies coming home.”

“He’s a great player. It was a lot of fun out there,” continued Richardson.

Richardson pointed to his birdie on the ninth as the turning point saying, “On the 9th hole, I made a 10-footer, and it was the first putt I made of the day, for birdie to get it down to two. I think after that I figured if I kept going and chipping away one hole at a time, I would have a chance.”

His putting has steadily improved throughout the week, and he’ll look to put every part of his game together in Saturday’s championship. He said, “On the first couple of days, I was putting really bad and I was hitting the ball great, and now I’m hitting the ball okay and putting better. So hopefully it just all clicks tomorrow and we’ll see how that goes.”

For Richardson, reaching the championship match is another step forward after falling in the quarterfinals one year ago. He eliminated Nashua Country Club’s Zimmerman in the quarterfinals, birdieing the par 4 14th to go 1 up, and held that slim lead for the next two holes before the clinching it with an eagle on 17 — a hole Zimmerman had birdied.

“It feels awesome,” he said. “Last year I went to the quarterfinals and that whole week I didn’t have my best stuff at all. But this year, finally, to be able to break through a little bit, it feels great.”

Saturday’s 36-hole championship match will feature two former NH Golf Junior Tour players who have climbed through the state’s amateur ranks and now have the opportunity to add their names to one of New Hampshire golf’s most prestigious trophies.

By day’s end, either O’Quinn or Richardson will become the 123rd New Hampshire Amateur champion and earn an exemption into the 2026 U.S. Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia Country Club.

(Telegraph Staff Writer Tom King contributed to this report.)