Playing consistent golf throughout the weekend, Matt Tautari was a convincing winner of the Dunedin strokeplay championships at St Clair.
Tautari (25), of Invercargill, has been in a rich vein of form over the past few months and was never headed in the 72-hole tournament at St Clair.
He led by four shots going into the final 18 holes and eventually finished on 13 under, five shots clear of defending champion Brent McEwan, of St Clair.
Tim Leonard, of Aorangi, finished one shot further back.
Tautari said he had enjoyed the course and the wet weather on Saturday.
"I thought I played pretty well throughout the weekend. I'm playing a bit more and that is really helping my game," he said.
"It was pretty wet on that first day but I do not mind. I like the rain."
Tautari, from the Queen's Park club, was part of the winning Southland side which won the Toro interprovincial title at Gisborne last year.
Playing at No 5 for the southerners, he did not lose a game and was named the player of the tournament.
During the weekend, he started off with rounds of 67 and 65 on Saturday on the par 71 course.
McEwan got as close as two behind yesterday before he had a disappointing effort on the 15th hole, which put daylight between him and Tautari.
Tautari did not hesitate to say what paved the way to the win.
"My putting went very well. It came down to that really and I just enjoyed the greens.
"They weren't playing fast and I got them to drop, especially on that first day.
"It was a bit of a grind today though. Just managed to hang in there."
Tautari, a forklift driver at a freezing works in Invercargill, had never got close in the tournament before.
His previous best finish being 15th.
Tautari will play the Shirley Open next weekend before the SBS provincial tournament in Invercargill next month.
