GRANTHAM, N.H. - Nick MacDonald may have graduated from the University of Hartford, but his golf career is far from over. The 2010 Division I PING All-Northeast Region performer and Lebanon, N.H. native won the 107th New Hampshire State Amateur Championship over the weekend, defeating Ken Nilson in a 36-hole match play final at Eastman Golf Links, 7 and 5.

A birdie at the first hole gave MacDonald an early one-hole lead, an advantage he never relinquished. The Hartford veteran carded six birdies overall, and his seven-hole lead after the 31st and deciding hole matched his largest lead of the final.

MacDonald held a two-hole lead on Nilson after finishing the 13th, with Nilson having cut his four-hole lead in half. MacDonald took off from there, though, winning four of the next five holes to go up five after 18. After winning the 19th hole with a par four, MacDonald's lead never shrunk below six the rest of the way.

The victory marked the third straight summer in which a University of Hartford golfer won his home state's amateur title. Brian Albertazzi, a Killington, Vt. native, claimed the Vermont Amateur Championship in 2008 and 2009.

All told, 132 golfers competed in the 107th New Hampshire State Amateur Championship, with the top 64 in a two-round stroke play qualifier advancing to the match play tournament. MacDonald was seeded fourth overall in the tournament. In the Round of 16, he defeated Hartford commit DJ Lantz, 3 and 1, to move onto the quarterfinal.

MacDonald's final opponent, Nilson, was seeded 23rd overall.