The Invercargill man placed third while Rowland Smith, of Hastings, won with 60.850 points and a time of 17min 18sec.
Smith (27) is the reigning Golden Shears and New Zealand open champion, and has won almost 50 Open titles. He also represents New Zealand in the Elders Primary Wool series against Wales.
Fellow Hawkes Bay shearer John Kirkpatrick was not far behind, finishing with a time of 17min 25sec and scoring 62.812.
However, the South was also represented, Brett Roberts (Mataura) winning the Otago senior shearing, and Juliette Lyon (Alexandra) winning the New Zealand senior woolhandling.
The Balclutha event is held over two days and is the first in an unofficial ''Grand Slam'' dating back to the 1970s, when it was won for the first time by 1977 world champion Roger Cox.
The Grand Slam also includes, in successive weeks, the Southern Shears in Gore (this Saturday) and, in the North Island, the Pahiatua Shears and the Golden Shears.
Results
Open shearing: Rowland Smith (Hastings), 60.850 points, 1; John Kirkpatrick (Napier), 62.812, 2; Nathan Stratford (Invercargill), 64.050, 3; Darin Forde (Winton), 67.166, 4; Tony Coster (Rakaia), 68.799, 5.
Senior shearing: Brett Roberts (Mataura), 53.247 points, 1; Sam Bullingham (England), 56.973, 2; Ethan Pankhurst (Masterton), 60.972, 3; Andrew Leith (Dipton), 61.295, 4; Linton Palmer (Dipton), 61.923, 5.
New Zealand open woolhandler: Keryn Herbert (Te Awamutu), 112.326 points, 1; Joel Henare (Gisborne), 159.694, 2; Tina Rimene (Masterton), 215.850, 3; Sharlene Adamson (Milton), 281.650, 4.
New Zealand senior woolhandler: Juliette Lyon (Alexandra), 139.630 points, 1; Cheri Peterson (Milton), 163.800, 2; Sharon Tuhakaraina (Gore), 173.834, 3; Natalie Collier (Gore), 186.976, 4.
South Island open woolhandling circuit: Joel Henare (Gisborne), 166.800 points, 1; Keryn Herbert (Te Awamutu), 200.520, 2; Tia Potae (Milton), 206.410, 3; Pagan Rimene (Masterton), 256.410, 4; Amy Ruki (Invercargill), 266.910, 5; Tina Rimene (Masterton), 289.620, 6.
New Zealand woolpressing team: Angus and Matt, 109.989 points, 1; Josh and Tani, 118.459, 2; Kara Girls, 157.592, 3; Potae, 210.813, 4.
Shearing team: Keryn's team, 97.575 points, 1; Moore Effort, 105.978, 2; Lyon Shearing No. 1, 133.440, 3; Work Hard Play Hard, 157.157, 4.
