Noah Gillard (Indiana Golf)

Noah Gillard won the Indiana Amateur just over two weeks ago and doubled down, striking while the iron was hot at the IGA Match Play.

“Right now I’m just playing fundamental golf,” Gillard told AmateurGolf.com. “It’s worked really well for me this summer.”

Gillard used fundamentals to a ‘T’ as he marched towards the championship match. Never seeing the course before, Gillard had a rough front nine to open qualifying at Purdue’s Ackerman-Allen Course. 2-over (+2) through nine holes, Gillard flipped the switch on the backside to make the cut with a 5-under 31, good for third place and the 4-seed.

Cruising past the first round 6 & 4, Gillard’s toughest match of the week was against mid-am Jeremy Sims.

“He just applied pressure the whole time, I mean he didn’t do anything silly, I had to earn all the holes that I won, it wasn’t given to me,” Gillard said. “I would definitely say he was my most stressful match.”

Grinding out a 3 down deficit over the last six holes, Gillard was able to squeeze by Sims on the 19th hole.

Winning his next two matches 2 up and 3 & 2, Gillard faced another mid-am in Brooks Snyder.

After a par, birdie start, Gillard found himself 3 up through four quick holes. Maintaining his lead, Gillard carried the 3 up advantage to the final nine holes.

“What really got my momentum going was on hole 11,” Gillard said. “I had a 9-footer for par to tie the hole and I made it. I think that really gave me a lot of confidence in myself because it was a tough up-and-down from where I was.”

Using the momentum from that par putt, Gillard capitalized by winning the next two holes (12 and 13) before ending the match on the 15th green to win 4 & 3.

“I’ve made one bogey in that last three, four rounds,” said Gillard. “I’m just playing solid golf. I’m not short siding myself and giving myself good opportunities to get up-and-down when I do mis-hit it.”

With the fall quickly approaching, Gillard will be teeing it up at the Indiana Open next week before returning to Champaign, Illinois to (hopefully) join his Fighting Illini teammates.

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