There were two new winners on New Zealand’s Charles Tour following the Akarana Open in Auckland.
They were Bay of Plenty professional Kieran Muir, who took out the men’s division of the Akarana Open, and Auckland amateur Brittney Dryland who won the women’s section.
Muir started the final day of the Akarana Open with a five-shot lead and never looked being beaten. He birdied the first hole and then reeled off pars for the remaining 17 holes to win by four shots.
Muir had been close on several occasions to winning on the Charles Tour so to finally break the drought was a great moment for him.
“It’s still settling in, when people say congratulations, I don’t really know what to say,” Muir said with a beaming smile.
“Obviously I have had a couple of occasions where I haven’t got it done, so to get it done today when you had a big lead was pretty important for me.”
It was difficult weather conditions for the final day but Muir showed his class with save after save on the green.
“My putting was the key today,’’ he said.
“I made some important par saves which helped me hold on to that lead. Starting with a birdie and then having 17 straight pars was pretty pleasing in these conditions.”
There was a hiccup to proceedings when rain belted down to flood greens. Play was suspended for 30 minutes. That gave Muir the chance to compose himself and stride to victory.
“It gave me a chance to gather my thoughts and see how everyone else was going, so it wasn’t too bad for me personally.’’
The Charles Tour, sponsored by Jennian Homes, is all about building the future of New Zealand golfers and the win will go a long way for Muir and his career.
“It’s a huge confidence booster and knowing I can get over the line is a great feeling. After working on my mental game recently this also adds to that and the progression I am making.
“I love it here at Akarana, it’s a special place to me so to become the champion here tops off a great year so far.”
In the women’s competition, Dryland won by two shots and was all smiles in front of friends and family.
“It feels amazing, it’s the greatest feeling,’’ Dryland said.
“I played really well this week and to come down the last with a two shot lead was also pleasing.
“It was nice to have family and close friends by my side and to win at Akarana is especially good after playing a lot of golf around the corner at Maungakiekie. There is quite a few people here to celebrate with.”
She held off one of the strongest fields seen this year which shows great composure to end the summer nicely.
Scores:-
Akarana Men’s Open
(par 70)
264 Kieran Muir (P) 67 61 67 69
268 Nick Gillespie (P) 69 64 70 65
269 Brad Shilton (P) 63 68 69 69
270 Tyler Hodge (P) 66 69 69 66, Ryan Chisnall (Greenacres) 71 63 68 68
271 James Beale (P) 66 67 70 68, Brad Hayward (P) 62 70 71 68, Daniel Pearce (P) 66 70 67 68
272 Oscar Cadenhead (Clearwater) 64 67 70 71
273 Troy Ropiha (P) 70 64 68 71, Jordan Loof (Royal Wellington) 62 67 72 72
274 Doug Holloway (P) 67 72 68 67, Jake Meenhorst (Huapai) 66 70 71 67, Hayden Beard (P) 64 68 71 71
275 Mark Brown (P) 70 70 69 66, Mark Hutson (Muriwai) 75 68 64 68, Mark Purser (P) 67 65 73 70, Victor Janin (P) 66 67 70 72
276 Luke Brown (Muriwai) 68 67 71 70, Wesley Jeon (P) 67 67 67 75, Gareth Paddison (P) 69 62 69 76
277 Harry Bateman (P) 72 69 69 67, Jim Cusdin (P) 70 70 68 69, Sam An (P) 70 67 70 70, Martin Pettigrew (P) 67 70 70 70, Lachie McDonald (P) 66 66 71 74
278 David Smail (P) 70 65 70 73, James Betts (P) 68 69 67 74, Jared Pender (P) 69 67 66 76
279 William Howard (Tauranga) 68 69 69 73
280 Chase McKeown (Akarana) 68 72 69 71, Cameron Jones (Muriwai) 66 72 70 72
281 Fraser Wilkin (P) 63 73 78 67, Chang Gi Lee (Pupuke) 69 69 71 72
282 Kit Bittle (Peninsula) 69 70 73 70, Joshua Munn (P) 70 72 69 71, Leonard Powell (Clarks Beach) 68 70 71 73, Dominic Barson (P) 69 71 68 74
283 Jason Gulasekharam (North Shore) 69 71 75 68, Tony Simpson (Titirangi) 69 70 72 72
284 Nick Ming (Akarana) 69 72 72 71, Sam Vincent (Riverside) 69 73 69 73, Joshua Bernhard Rookes (Waitemata) 70 69 71 74
285 Steven Han (P) 70 68 70 77
286 Regan McConaghty (Manawatu) 69 68 78 71, Kyle Wong (P) 67 72 75 72, Joonsang Chung (P) 70 68 73 75
287 Nick Coxon (Riverside) 76 66 77 68, Ben Williams (P) 70 72 74 71
288 Grant Moorhead (P) 71 72 73 72
289 Sam Yoshifuji (Gulf Harbour Country Club) 71 72 73 73, Christian Nitsche (Whangarei) 70 69 77 73, Minsoo Ko (P) 69 73 72 75, Dane McArdle (P) 70 67 74 78
290 Jake Lee (Huapai) 74 68 74 74, Matty Tiplady (Maungakiekie) 66 68 75 81
291 Taylor Gill (Bay of Islands Kerikeri Incorporated) 72 71 74 74, Cathryn Bristow (P) 70 72 73 76, Jared Edwards (The Grange) 70 72 71 78
299 Shanon Holden (P) 69 74 77 79
Akarana Women’s Open
(par 72)
277 Brittney Dryland (Titirangi) 71 70 68 68
279 Jenna Hunter (P) 72 68 70 69
282 Rica Tse (P) 68 69 73 72
286 Chantelle Cassidy (Riverside) 68 72 76 70
287 Munchin Keh (Titirangi) 72 71 73 71
294 Cheerie Tan (Australia) 74 69 76 75
297 Jessica Huang (Pakuranga) 74 75 75 73
298 Juliana Hung (Russley) 79 72 73 74
301 Yena Chang (Akarana) 75 75 71 80
304 Hillary O’Connor (Russley) 75 74 75 80
306 Siyi Keh (Pakuranga) 69 78 82 77
309 Rose Zheng (Pakuranga) 74 75 77 83
314 Jocelynn Katu (Aviation Country Club of NZ) 73 78 85 78
318 Silvia Brunotti (Gulf Harbour Country Club) 75 76 82 85