Going into the final round of the New England Amateur golf championship, Eli Spaulding knew he was going to have to get hot. Really hot.

“I wasn’t really thinking about my score too much,” he said. “I was just trying to make birdies.”

Spaulding did just that, and as a result, the comeback kid did it again. Spaulding fired an 8-under 64 Thursday to erase a six-shot deficit and win the New England Amateur, finishing at 14 under to clip Matt Parziale of Massachusetts and Alex Elia of Connecticut by two shots at Neshobee Golf Club in Brandon, Vermont.

Spaulding’s victory, made possible by nine birdies, was the first by a Maine player since Reese McFarlane in 2018, and only the second since Mark Plummer won in 1994. It also earned him a berth in next year’s Northeast Amateur in Rhode Island.

“It was sinking in on the drive home, I was like ‘Wow, this is by far and away the biggest golf tournament I’ve ever won. It’s not even really close,'” the Freeport resident said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean I’m the best golfer in New England now, but it certainly means I’m up there with some of the best guys.”

The win continued a flair for comebacks that Spaulding has shown in big events. Last week, he won the Maine Amateur after trailing by three shots going into the final round. He also climbed out of a three-stroke hole in 2024 to win his first Maine Amateur title.

“I kind of like the feeling of chasing, and coming from behind,” he said. “Last week, it was fun to be in that position and know with every shot you’re gaining on this guy.”

Spaulding began the final round tied for seventh place, six shots behind Rhode Island’s Harry Dessel.

“If someone said to do odds, it would be less than 5%,” Spaulding said of his chance to erase that deficit.

Still, he didn’t rule out the possibility of another comeback.

“I definitely did not think I was out of it,” he said. “I knew I had an outside chance.”

After playing the front nine at 1 under through the first two rounds, he was 3 under by the turn Thursday. The front nine at Neshobee is tougher than the back, so Spaulding knew he was set up well.

“I was kind of like, ‘OK, this is a good spot,'” he said.

He birdied 10, then almost eagled 11. His lone bogey came at 12, but excellent wedges into 13 and 15 set him up for two more birdies. When he two-putted for birdie on 16, he began to wonder if he was closing in on the lead.

“I never even looked at the leaderboard,” he said.

His playing partner, Anthony Guerrera, had fallen out of contention and instead became his cheerleader.

“(He was) kind of rooting me on. He’d be like ‘All right, let’s get another one. One more,'” Spaulding said. “I kind of knew I must have been relatively in it if (he was) cheering me on and rooting for me.”

A final birdie on 17 and a closing par on 18 finished off Spaulding’s latest comeback, and his most impressive yet.

“It kind of feels surreal,” he said. “I would like to think that I’m one of the better players in New England. To win this kind of solidifies that spot a little more.”