NH Golf
Mike Cullity

A new event on the New Hampshire tournament scene debuted last weekend, and although it started small, its organizers are aiming for a bigger future.

Disappointed with the meager turnout at last year's Concord City Championship, which had only seven championship-flight competitors, Penacook golfer Jim Cilley decided to create an alternative for low-handicap amateurs in the state's central region. The 2011 New Hampshire Golf Association State Amateur champion, Cilley teamed with Matt Delois, the head pro at Plausawa Valley in Pembroke, to organize the Central New Hampshire Amateur.

Open to golfers with a USGA handicap index of 8 or lower who play out of one of several designated clubs in the region, the inaugural 54-hole tournament attracted 28 players for its the opening round at Canterbury Woods on Aug. 17. Handing off the administrative reins to Delois come tournament time, Cilley shot 70 on his home course to take the first-round lead by three over Crotched Mountain's Josh Chamberlain.

With a second-round 72 at Lake Sunapee, Cilley extended his lead to four over Chamberlain and Ridgewood's Ken Nilson. And with a blistering final-round 66 at Laconia Country Club last Sunday – a round that equaled his lifetime best on the course he grew up playing – Cilley ran away with the title, defeating Laconia's Chris Houston (78-71-70) by 11 strokes. Chamberlain (73-73-74) finished third, while Nilson (74-72-75) finished fourth and won the senior title.

“I love Laconia,” Cilley said. “The greens are so good that if you putt well and have a reasonable ball-striking day, you can be in the 60s. … The putts just kept going in.”

Cilley took some good-natured ribbing for dominating a tournament he organized, but the 31-year-old real-estate agent was pleased with the event's inaugural run, his victory notwithstanding. Although the event drew only half the competitors Cilley had initially targeted, he was heartened to learn that the Seacoast Amateur – a 31-year-old regional tournament that drew 90 players this year – started with only 17 golfers, he said.

Conflicts with club championships at a few central New Hampshire facilities limited this year's field, Cilley said. By establishing and publicizing the tournament's dates earlier, he hopes to attract a field of 60 in 2013. And like the Seacoast Amateur, the Central New Hampshire Amateur will seek to rotate among the region's leading courses.

“We have three or four of the top courses in the area, (including) a couple private ones that we've talked to, and there's some positive momentum building in those directions,” Cilley said. “We should have another very strong course rotation for next year.”

Gals at Augusta: The lords of Augusta National Golf Club announced last Monday that they had admitted the club's first female members, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and financier Darla Moore. While many commentators reacted by saying it's about time the home of the Masters admitted women, I'd go a step further by suggesting that Augusta host a women's Masters. Of course, staging two major championships annually at a course that's closed all summer might present logistical hurdles, but at very least the club should consider hosting a future Solheim Cup, the team event pitting the top American women against their European counterparts. Count me among the golf fans who'd love to see top women pros tackle the National.

Underhill update: Bedford golfer Scott Underhill, who returned to the course this summer after undergoing brain surgery last December (NH Golf, July 22), will play golf for Southern New Hampshire University starting this fall. A 21-year-old Manchester Country Club member who advanced to the round of 16 at the 2012 State Am, Underhill withdrew from the University of Northern Colorado after suffering a concussion last fall that precipitated his surgery, which addressed a Chiari malformation – the same structural defect that had prompted PGA Tour golfer J.B. Holmes to undergo similar surgery a few months earlier. Underhill will be part of the Penmen squad that starts its season Sept. 9 in the Franklin Pierce Invitational at Keene's Bretwood Golf Course.

Putting for patriots: Twenty-five New Hampshire golf facilities will participate in the sixth annual Patriot Golf Day. Golfers playing at these facilities between Aug. 31 and Sept. 3 will be asked to donate a minimum of $1 to benefit the Folds of Honor Foundation, which provides post-secondary educational scholarships for children and spouses of military servicemen and women killed or disabled in the line of duty. For a list of participating facilities, visit playgolfamerica.com.

Through the green: Manchester Country Club's David Larrivee and Derryfield's Louise Billy will defend their respective titles in the Manchester men's and women's city championships starting Saturday. The men will play 54 holes of stroke play at Intervale (Saturday), Manchester (Sunday) and Derryfield (Monday), while the women will play 36 holes of stroke play at Derryfield (Saturday) and Intervale (Sunday). … Nashua's Phil Pleat will defend his title at the NHGA Senior Championship, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday at the Country Club of New Hampshire in North Sutton. … Souhegan Woods' Diane Doran, Farmington's C.J. Gauthier Prenaveau and Derryfield's Andrea Morrell (76) shared low gross at the New Hampshire Women's Golf Association Division A tournament at Beaver Meadow last Tuesday. Stonebridge's Maryellen St. Laurent (67) won low net. At last Tuesday's NHWGA Division B tournament at Sagamore Hampton, Windham's Carol Rivard won low gross (87) and Atkinson's Marny Peabody won low net (65).

Mike Cullity's column on New Hampshire golf appears weekly during the golf season in the New Hampshire Sunday News. E-mail him at mcullity@unionleader.com.