Balneaves (22) adds this title to the 2005 title which he won by beating Sean Roach on the fifth hole of a playoff, as well as his course record of 62 he set two years ago.
"I am spending all of my time on golf as I work in the professional shop at Greenacres and get to hit balls on the driving range every day," he said.
His practice routine was evident when he played exceptional recovery shots at 16 and 18 in the morning round to eliminate Otago No 1 Brent McEwan.
Balneaves made four birdies in the all-Southland final including back-to-back birdies at the sixth and seventh to take the lead.
The day did not totally belong to Southland, with Monica Tulisi (Arrowtown) winning the women's final from Robyn Pullar (Invercargill) by a resounding 6 and 4 margin.
This final was evenly poised over the first five holes but Tulisi won the sixth and eighth holes to turn two up.
It was one-way traffic on the back nine, with the Otago No. 1 winning four of the first five holes to close out the match.
Tyrone Ratahi (Otago) continued his fine form to win the senior plate, Michael Ormandy (North Otago) took senior B honours, Morgan Will (Riversdale) won the intermediate event, Dan Elder (Otago) the junior, while Scott Clarke was the pick of the masters (over 40) players.
In the feature match, Balneaves took an early lead, winning the first two holes - the second by chipping in for a birdie 3.
Hellier birdied the third to get one back and squared the match with a birdie on the fifth.
Balneaves responded with back-to-back birdies on the sixth and seventh holes to again go two ahead but he led by only one at the turn after three-putting the ninth green.
Hellier had a costly three-putt on the 10th to trail by two and went three behind when he dragged his 6-iron at the par 3 12th.
A vicious hook put Balneaves out of bounds at Tipperary to lose the hole but he finished the match with a birdie 3 at 16.
