Jared Nelson and Jackson Roman finished round two with a share of the lead. Before they even hit a shot in their final round there was a leader in the clubhouse. Holy Cross' Christian Emmerich polished off a course record 62 before Nelson and Roman teed off on Wednesday.

It's rare for the leaders and final groups to have a number to aim for before their names are announced on the first tee. Emmerich dropped the gauntlet. It would take a score of 8-under par to pass the new Alpine Country Club course record holder.

“I was like, ‘I’m just going to go out there and see what happens,” said Emmerich. “I honestly was thinking going into it, 5-under would be pretty neat. I would leave happy.”

After the second round, Nelson explained how he planned to attack the final round.

“I’ll have a target score to where I want to get to,” said Nelson, a rising fifth-year senior at the University of Connecticut. “I will probably look at the leaderboard at the turn and see where I stack up. It’s just another round of golf. I am sure there will be some nerves, but I have some experiences to draw from to help me.”

Emmerich helped Nelson with some of that planning at the turn. He made seven birdies and two eagles en route to his 10-under par 62. He did the majority of his damage on hole Nos. 6-12. He played those seven holes in a blazing 9-under par. His only par came on the ninth hole in that stretch.



Another Massachusetts player that was on fire early was Andrew DiRamio. The man who putts one-handed was 8-under par in his final round after 16 holes. He couldn't keep the momentum through the last two holes and bogeyed both of them, leaving him off the pace at 4 under but signing for an impressive 66.

A 68 from Bryson Richards had him watching Jared Nelson with bated breath alongside Emmerich. Richards, from Plainfield, VT, finished second in the Vermont Amateur to Nelson earlier this month.

Three birdies on hole Nos. 11, 14, and 16 got Richards to 8-under par, but a costly bogey on the 18th hole dropped him into a tie with Emmerich.

Roman, a rising sophomore at Loyola University Maryland from Berlin, Conn., was paired with Nelson. He hung in for most of the final round. After making bogey on the first hole, he managed to battle back and reach 8 under after ten holes, just two shots behind Nelson. However, three bogeys in the closing eight holes dropped Roman down the leaderboard to 5-under par.

Nelson did have some equipment trouble leading up to the New England Amateur when his driver head cracked. It wasn't an easy transition to a new one.

“I had a driver head that I loved but I cracked it last weekend,” said Nelson. “I got a new driver head, but I just haven’t been comfortable with it. I need to trust it and hopefully I can find it. If not, I will just hit 3-wood off the tee.”

Even with an unfamiliar driver in his bag, Nelson displayed his winning mettle early in his round as he made two birdies on the opening nine to reach 8-under par.

An eagle on the 10th hole gave Nelson a bit of breathing room. An 8 iron left hime a 20-foot eagle putt.

“I had a feeling that was a huge putt,” said Nelson, 22, of Rutland, Vermont. “Making that putt gives you so much more leeway coming in with a lot of guys chasing you. It was a good one to make.”

Nelson needed the leeway because he made bogeys on hole Nos. 11 and 17 on his way to an 8-under par total.

Jared Nelson has had quite a summer. The Rutland, Vt. resident won the Hornblower at Plymouth Country Club in June and the Vermont Amateur in July while also claiming medalist honors in his U.S. Amateur qualifying.

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