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Newbury, NH - The first Champions of the 2024 NHGA season were crowned today at the Player’s Invitational at Baker Hill Golf Club . On the second day in a row of perfect sunshine and 70-degree weather, the Players Invitational came to a close by seeing many similar faces come down to the wire, and two divisions saw playoffs for the title. In the end, Amy Dickison (+6, 150), Dave Larrivee (+1, 145), and Damon Salo (-5, 139) all took home the Champion title in their respective divisions.
 
One of the playoffs today crowned Amy Dickison the champion of the women’s division after yesterday’s lead. She was able to fend off Kat Bordeau who shot two over par, 74 today. Bordeau was able to slowly work her way up the leaderboard with a couple of key birdies on the card that moved her into the playoff position.
 
 
After sinking the tournament-winning putt Dickison said “I was a little nervous but I thought, if you’re going to make one today, make it this one”. Yesterday, Dickison mentioned her putting could be the difference maker and land her the championship, but today she said “I was wrong, I wasn’t comfortable with the putter today and it got into my head. But I think I hit the ball better today than I did yesterday”. She stated that “not trying to go above and beyond, and just play my game” was how she kept her focus and finished on top of the leaderboard today.  
 
 
In the senior division, Dave Larrivee was able to maintain his lead and finish +1 which was 6 strokes ahead of the runner-up Pete Beaulieu, who finished at +7.
 
D ave Larrivee came into the second day with a 5-stroke lead and was able to finish the day as champion with a 6-stroke lead. “After playing really well yesterday I was hoping to come into today and follow up with a solid round of golf” said Larrivee. He mentioned “I missed a couple of putts and hit it a little squirrely at times but I birdied hole 9 and was able to right the ship from there and then played solid coming in”.
 
When he was asked about his game plan to maintain the lead throughout the day he said “my mindset was to be aggressively conservative and in the end it all worked out”.  
 
The regular division saw a fight to the finish, with the top three players on the leaderboard, Pelletier, Paradis, and Salo battling back and forth for most of the round. Pat Pelletier, who started the day at -5, found consistency throughout the round, with only a couple of bogeys on the card. The mistakes gave way for Matt Paradis and Damon Salo to make key moves to drive their names to the top.
 
Paradis who shot -1, 71 today, started his round strong, carding two birdies back to back on the first two holes. He found consistent pars, and a couple more birdies, but found trouble on hole #15, and ended up with a double bogey, which opened the door for Damon Salo.
 
“I told Matty, I was going to come back from behind. We were kind of neck and neck, but I made some great up and downs coming in and made a big eagle on #11”, stated Salo. Damon was trailing the lead all day until the back nine where he carded the impressive Eagle on the 588 yard par 5, hole #11. He then quickly birdied hole #12 to tie Paradis for the lead. Pars on the rest of the back nine, was enough to send him into the playoff, where he was ultimately crowned Champion.
 
When thinking back on the playoff hole, Salo said, “I was just praying, and I have been playing really well, and I felt like I haven’t won in awhile so I was like, I got to get this one. I hit a great wedge shot to three feet and sealed the deal. It feels really good to win.”
 
The NHGA would like to thank Baker Hill Golf Club and their entire staff for hosting the Players Invitational once again.  It is always a treat to host a tournament at Baker Hill!
 
Regular Division | Results
Senior Division | Results
Women’s Division | Results