Mackay started strongly, winning four of the first five holes, but Judkins pegged the first one back with a birdie three on the sixth hole.
The margin was reduced to two when Mackay bogeyed the par-3 seventh and the pair halved the next two holes with Mzackay turning two ahead.
Judkins made a birdie three on the 10th and got back to square with a birdie three on the short 13th.
The pair were neck and neck with halves coming home but a three-putt on the par-3 17th cost Mackay the hole and the title.
Top qualifier Phil Bungard (North Otago) relished playing at home after a stint in Christchurch but went out of the championship io Balmacewen’s Ben Patston in the first round.
However, he regained his mojo yesterday beating Kyle Clark and Stephen Waby to win the championship flight.
Leading triallist Brandon Hodgson (Otago) was a casualty of the cut-throat 18-hole qualifying but posted three convincing wins to win the second-tier event.
He was 5-under when he beat Ryan Bellamy 7 and 6 in the morning and claimed the final 6 and 4 at the expense of Mackenzie Gibson (Chisholm Links).
• Foursomes may be worth only half the points, but the Town women learned their value when they lost to Country in windy conditions at St Clair yesterday.
Country won 7-5 but took a valuable lead winning three of the four morning foursomes.
The teams finished 4-4 in the afternoon singles games.
The individual scoreboard also pointed to Country dominance as Joanna Booker, Liz McRae and Becs Calder all featured in a foursomes and single win.
Country junior Danielle Bailey was also unbeaten with a foursomes win and a half with the experienced Susan Greig in the afternoon.
The upset of the day came when Town’s Annabelle Evans beat the highly-rated Laura Hoskin in the feature singles match.
Hoskin has recently returned from a scholarship in the United States and scored the best at Chisholm Links and at Queenstown.
Beating Hoskin by an impressive 4 and 3 is a notable win for Evans which augurs well of the younger brigade of women’s golf.
