Nick Borren carded a 5-under-par 66 at Chisholm Links yesterday to lead the qualifiers for the New Zealand Open Championship to be played on the Hills course and Millbrook, in Arrowtown, next month.
Borren (Otago) will be joined by Duncan Croudis (68), Michael Smith (69) and Scott Hellier (70) in the final stage of qualifying at Cromwell on March 7.
The quartet led the 21-strong field seeking a place in New Zealand's top tournament.
Borren started with a bogey 5 on the second hole but birdied the fourth and ninth holes to turn one under.
He saved his best form for the homeward nine, finishing in 32 with birdies on 11, 12, 15 and 18.
Croudis struggled early on and was one over par with six holes to go before having a golden finish to make the cut.
He made four birdies on the final six holes for his 68 and second place.
Michael (Moxy) Smith was the third Balmacewen golfer to make the cut, after turning square with the card but coming home with a 2-under-par 34.
Hellier (Gore) featured for the second year in a row with his 1-under-par 70 to take the final qualifying place.
● New Zealand's best female golfers went head to head for the remaining three spots in the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women's Open.
Twelve players shot under par to prove the quality of the field yesterday.
Sadly for nine of those players, it was not quite enough.
Grace Senior was the pick of the bunch and took all stress out of the equation as she carded an impressive 66 to win by four shots.
That was only one shot off the course record, set by her now rival for the weekend, world No1 Lydia Ko.
Waikato's Brooke Hamilton showed determination shooting a classy 4-under-par 70 which was enough to secure her a place in the field at Clearwater later this week.
Shandon Golf Club's Je Yeong Lee was the third and final player to qualify.
Lee showed patience around the Christchurch Golf Club course to shoot 71 and earn her spot by just one shot, denying several players who shot 72.
The New Zealand Women's Open tees off this Friday. Large galleries are expected at the Clearwater Golf Club in Christchurch.
