SALEM — Although one might have expected Chelso Barrett to be a little groggy after a 3:30 a.m. wake-up call, he was nothing but sharp in Wednesday's New Hampshire Golf Association Junior Championship final.

Leaving home before sunrise to make his 7 a.m. tee time nearly two hours away, the 17-year-old Keene golfer put on a shotmaking clinic in the championship match at Campbell's Scottish Highlands. Facing Matthew Killam, Barrett hit the first 13 greens in regulation and made five birdies en route to a 3-and-2 victory, a command performance that earned him a second State Junior crown.

Barrett, who won his first title in 2010, redeemed his 2011 semifinal loss to eventual champion Joe Leavitt and built momentum for the U.S. Junior Amateur, which visits New Hampshire in less than three weeks. While preparing for a national championship in which he finished second last year, Barrett executed his game plan almost flawlessly against Killam, a 17-year-old Newport Golf Club player.

“I was just trying to hit greens in regulation, and then hopefully make a couple putts,” said Barrett, who plays out of Keene's Bretwood Golf Course.

A rising senior at Keene High School who plans to play golf at Texas Christian University starting in 2013, Barrett produced a highlight reel with four consecutive birdies at Nos. 8-11. Despite his compact build, he displayed impressive power, most notably driving the green at the 307-yard, par-4 10th before two-putting from 20 feet.

Acknowledging early nerves, Killam lost the first three holes, and despite matching Barrett's birdies at Nos. 8 and 9, he found himself 6 down after losing the 11th.

A Texas resident who spends summers with his family near Lake Sunapee, Killam refused to roll over, winning Nos. 13-15 to stay alive. He stuck approaches to within 3 feet at the par-4 13th and par-3 15th for conceded birdies and parred No. 14, the only hole on which Barrett found trouble.

Needing only to halve the hole to win the match, Barrett hooked his tee shot on the blind, dogleg-left par-4, lost the ball and made double bogey.

“I just got too greedy,” he said.

Killam's comeback stalled at 16, where the two competitors halved with pars, ending the match.

“I just thought I would play my own game, and if I win that's great,” Killam said. “I'm not too disappointed. I was just happy that I didn't lose 6 and 5.”

With his second State Junior trophy in hand, Barrett can grab some rest before playing the U.S. Challenge Cup World Series of Junior Golf in Rhode Island and U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship in Utah the next two weeks. After that, it's back home for the U.S. Junior, scheduled for July 16-21 at the Golf Club of New England in Stratham.

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Mike Cullity may be reached at mcullity@unionleader.com.