Brent McEwan, of the St Clair club, sinks a putt on his way
to winning the Otago strokeplay championship on the
Balmacewen course in Dunedin yesterday. Photo by Jane
Dawber.
Brent McEwan (St Clair) carded a birdie 3 on the 17th
hole to beat Scott Prince (Queenstown) on the first hole of a
playoff and win the Otago strokeplay title at Balmacewen
yesterday afternoon.
McEwan (28) trailed by four shots going into the final round
but a one-over-par 72 in the final round was sufficient to
force the playoff while other contenders drifted out of
contention.
Millbrook greenkeeper Prince finished in second place while
the defending champion, Liam Balneaves, who set a course
record of 62 last year's strokeplay, came in third.
This trio was followed by Matt Whittington (Invercargill) in
fourth place, Michael Smith (Otago) fifth, Jamie Mead
(Rangiora) sixth and Balmacewen junior Thomas Facer seventh.
Toby Crosbie (Lumsden) won the senior B title by an
impressive eight shots from Murray Edgar (Otago) while Watene
Hema (Ben Ohau) took intermediate honours by a nine-shot
margin.
Sean Geary (Chisholm Park) was easily the best player in the
masters (over-40) field, winning by eight shots from John
Cunningham, of Oamaru.
The championship was the first Otago trial and the first
outing in the new order of merit series.
Facer took an early lead with a sub-par 70, playing his
second nine four under, with the assistance of an eagle 2 on
the difficult sixth hole.
But a four over 75 on Saturday afternoon put Facer in a tie
for second at the halfway stage.
Mead and McEwan shared the halfway lead while the big mover
in the second round was Michael Minty (St Clair), who grabbed
a share of the lead with 69, the best score of the day.
The leader board was shuffled again on Sunday morning, with
Prince carding 68 to share the third-round lead with Mead.
Prince made three birdies and an eagle 2 on the 17th hole to
set up a good contest in the final round.
McEwan lost a ball after driving on the third hole but drove
the green with his second drive, to make a birdie 3 and
minimise the effect of the two-shot penalty.
He birdied the fifth to get back to square and stayed within
one or two shots of par on his way to the title.
The best round of the tournament came in windy conditions in
the final round with Russell Newman (Taieri) making seven
birdies to finish with 66.
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