FALMOUTH — Who needs pars?

Chris Swift of Connecticut certainly didn’t need many of them Thursday. A quarterfinalist in the Connecticut Amateur three weeks prior, Swift made only two pars on the front nine of his fourth and final round at the New England Amateur and five on the back.

But the birdies offset the bogeys. His 1-over 72 in the final round of the 83rd regional event at Falmouth Country Club was more than enough as Swift finished four rounds at 282 to earn a five-shot victory over Jake Nutter, Garren Poirier and Herbie Aikens, and the title of New England champion.

“It’s my first amateur win, so I am pumped,” said Swift, who will be a sophomore at Marquette University in the fall. “I am really happy right now. It is good motivation going into my U.S. Amateur qualifier on Monday and to start in the fall for college.”

A topsy-turvy set of holes to start the front nine of his fourth round left Swift in a bit of a sweat. Three bogeys in six holes reduced his advantage to two strokes as he struggled to find consistency off the tee.

But none of Swift’s competitors made a move.

And then he found his groove.

Swift drove the par-4 seventh hole with a 3-wood, reached the par-5 eighth in two and stuck a wedge from the rough within 10 feet on the ninth and made birdie on each of those holes, propelling him to a five-stroke cushion at the turn.

“That was big,” Swift said. “I came off a three putt (on the 6th hole) and put it just on the fringe about 15 feet from the hole and then I make three birdies in a row. It was a big motivational booster for me going into the back nine.”

Swift found himself in the lead by two through three rounds. But he stumbled out of the gate in the fourth with a bogey at the first.

He recovered with a birdie at No. 3, but made bogey at the fifth and sixth before bearing down at the seventh, where tournament directors had moved the tees up to entice golfers to try for the green in one.

“If I am hitting it well, I am going to pull it out,” said Swift, who averages more than 300 yards off the tee. “I play aggressively and that is my style of play and that is what I am going to do.”

The up-and-down round continued on the back nine, as Swift started the back bogey-birdie-bogey-bogey before settling in and making five pars to finish the round.

“I coasted towards the end, and I held them off,” Swift said. “Walking to the 18th tee, I asked where I stood and they said three up so all nerves were gone at that point.”

Some of the biggest pressure on Swift came from afar. Nutter, of New Hampshire, posted a 72 from the first group off the first tee in the final round, settling into the early clubhouse lead.

“I didn’t make as many putts down the stretch as I wanted to, and I came up a couple of shots short,” Nutter said. “But I’m pretty pleased with the way I hit the ball. I hit it pretty well all week. I didn’t lose one ball, didn’t have a double bogey. But my putter was pretty horrendous.”

Colin Brennan, who started the fourth round in second position — two back of Swift — was three-over on the front nine. He righted the ship with a birdie at the 12th, but there was little he could do to make up enough ground in pursuit of the leader. In a last-ditch effort to try and catch up, he went for the green on the par-5 17th, but took a triple bogey to fall back.

The third round was a test of wills Thursday morning. Of the 42 golfers who made the cut, three managed an under-par round and two more finished with even-par 71s. The rest of the field dropped at least one shot.

But for those chasing Swift, they could take consolation in the fact that the leader also dropped a couple of shots to par, helping to close the gap heading into the fourth and final round.

The top Maine golfer this week was John Hayes IV out of Prouts Neck. After a 76-68 start on Tuesday and Wednesday, Hayes followed another 76 in Thursday’s morning round with another 68 in the afternoon’s fourth round for a four-round total of 288, good for a tie for fifth position.

“I played well last week at the Maine Am. It just carried over and I made more putts,” Hayes said. “I was five-over my first nine holes this week, and finished one-under my last 61. I was only three swings out of the tournament.”

Tommy Stirling of Gorham Country Club provided one of the highlights of the day Thursday, draining a hole-in-one on the 11th hole, his second of the afternoon round. Stirling finished at 304 in 39th position.

Seth Sweet, the reigning Maine Amateur champion, capped his week with a 73 for a four-round total of 295, while Judd Parsons of York finished at 292, and Joe Walp out of Falmouth came in at 300.