Canterbury-born James Anstiss notched his maiden professional victory in the Harewood Open in Christchurch last month.

Anstiss won the Jennian Homes Charles Tour event by four shots. Even though the winning margin was comfortable he was pushed all the way by runner-up Ryan Chisnall.

Chisnall got to within one shot of Anstiss with three holes to play but Anstiss held his nerve.

Anstiss had a hat-trick of bogeys from holes 12-14 before he produced the shot of the championship on the par five 16th hole. Anstiss played a near-perfect seven iron for his second shot that ended a foot from the pin and a tap-in eagle three.

“I had the perfect yardage and knew I had to do something big with Chissy [Chisnall] right on my tail,’’ Anstiss recalled afterwards.

“So it was an amazing feeling to pull it off and see it so close to the hole.”

Anstiss said the win was a boost for his golfing career as a professional.

“It feels great and it’s very special,’’ he said.

“I felt like this year was my chance to get one of these titles, so to tick that box is awesome and I’m meeting my goals in my first year as a pro when you never really know how it’s going to go, so it’s great.”

It was a family affair for the Anstiss family with his grandmother stealing the show and getting to witness his first win.

“Being back here in Christchurch is really nice and to have my grandmother here to watch was really special and I don’t get to see her much. We used to play mini putt together and she is a big reason why I play the game, so it was pretty cool having her here.”

Chisnall’s chances were extinguished with a wayward drive on the 72nd hole resulting in a bogey while Anstiss made a clinical birdie.

David Smail ended a solid campaign in third place as he starts to play more in preparation for the seniors’ tour which is not far away for the 48-year-old. Fraser Wilkin and Dongwoo Kang rounded out the top five after solid play on the weekend.

Meanwhile the women’s division of the Harewood Open was won by Wanganui 15-year-old Tara Raj.

It was also her first win on the Charles Tour but had to battle hard after giving up a six-shot lead with just four holes remaining.

Despite starting with a birdie on the first hole of the final round, Raj dropped eight shots in a six hole stretch to allow Caryn Khoo to enter the contest as she came within a couple of shots of Raj.

But in the end Raj held her nerve in the end to win by one.

“It feels really good,’’ a relieved Raj said.

“It got a little bit stressful out there but it feels nice to get it done and hopefully I can get some more wins in the future.”

With a two-shot lead playing the par five 18th, Raj left her approach shot short of the green as Khoo applied the pressure by chipping it close for a tap in birdie. Raj then needed to make up and down for the biggest win of her young career which she did in style by chipping it to just inches from the hole.

Raj added: “It’s such a special moment and I talked to mum who was with grandma and they were screaming down the phone which was awesome. I wish they were here, but I’m happy and they’re happy so all is well.”

Harewood Open leaderboard

Men’s (Par 72)

October 4-7

279 James Anstiss (PGA New Zealand) 70 69 69 71

283 Ryan Chisnall (PGA New Zealand) 72 69 70 72

284 David Smail (PGA New Zealand) 73 66 71 74

285 Fraser Wilkin (Royal Auckland and Grange) 70 72 70 73

286 Dongwoo Kang (PGA New Zealand) 76 67 72 71

287 Lachie McDonald (Marton) 75 73 68 71

289 Josh Smith (Harewood) 74 73 72 70, Jake Lee (Muriwai) 72 74 73 70, Woonchul Na (PGA New Zealand) 72 71 74 72, Tyler Wood (Manawatu) 76 66 74 73

290 Justin Morris (PGA New Zealand) 73 69 78 70, Reid Hilton (Russley) 68 72 79 71, Trevor Marshall (PGA New Zealand) 73 72 74 71, Sam An (Titirangi) 73 73 73 71, Kieran Muir (Omokoroa) 74 69 74 73, Oscar Cadenhead (PGA New Zealand) 68 74 75 73, Jared Edwards (Royal Auckland and Grange) 70 71 75 74, Pieter Zwart (PGA New Zealand) 73 68 75 74

291 Brandon Hodgson (Otago) 75 72 75 69, Daniel Pearce (PGA New Zealand) 75 72 74 70, Scott Manyweathers (Harewood) 70 73 76 72, Nick Coxon (PGA New Zealand) 76 71 72 72, Fraser MacLachlan (Millbrook Resort & Country Club) 71 74 73 73, James Hydes (Gulf Harbour Country Club) 76 68 70 77

292 Troy Ropiha (PGA New Zealand) 75 70 76 71, Mark Hutson (Muriwai) 74 72 74 72, Johnny Tynan (Titirangi) 74 74 71 73

293 Kevin Koong (Muriwai) 79 72 71 71, Mark Brown (PGA New Zealand) 68 73 80 72, Brad Shilton (PGA New Zealand) 74 72 74 73

294 Jordan Pruden (Bottle Lake) 73 72 70 79

295 Hamish Campbell (PGA New Zealand) 73 75 76 71, Victor Janin (Rotorua) 80 71 72 72, Nick Loach (PGA New Zealand) 74 73 74 74, Mason Lee (Royal Auckland and Grange) 71 73 77 74, Hayden Beard (Mt Maunganui) 77 70 70 78

296 Jonti Philipson (Marlborough) 76 73 77 70, Charlie Smail (Walton) 73 77 74 72, Richard Lee (PGA New Zealand) 75 72 77 72, Kunaal Singh (Whitford Park) 74 73 76 73, Craig Palmer (The Hills) 78 72 72 74

297 Cameron Jones (Muriwai) 73 76 75 73

298 Dominic Barson (New Plymouth Inc.) 72 77 78 71, Douglas Holloway (PGA New Zealand) 74 77 72 75

299 Jonathan Mackay (Lower Waitaki) 78 72 72 77, Kwanghue Kim (PGA New Zealand) 73 71 77 78

300 Dean Sipson (Mt Maunganui) 72 75 80 73, Mitchell Newport (Nelson Inc.) 80 70 74 76

301 Jee Hwan (Davis) Oh (Gulf Harbour Country Club) 75 73 78 75, Leonard Powell (Muriwai) 70 78 77 76, Sung Jin Yeo (North Shore) 73 77 73 78

302 Mako Thompson (Maraenui) 69 72 87 74, Ben Guilford (PGA New Zealand) 74 74 79 75

305 Kit Bittle (Wainui) 71 81 75 78

306 Carl Brooking (PGA New Zealand) 76 77 78 75, Matthew McDowell (PGA New Zealand) 74 72 83 77

307 Wei Huang (Paraparaumu Beach) 74 76 86 71, Joe Tiplady (Royal Auckland and Grange) 76 77 79 75

308 Sungwoo Han (Queenstown) 78 75 79 76

309 Peter Giles (PGA New Zealand) 78 75 79 77, Matthew Latham (Muriwai) 78 72 82 77

311 Kyle Clark (Cromwell) 70 78 85 78

312 Guy Perry (PGA New Zealand) 76 77 79 80

Women (Par 72)

295 Tara Raj (Wanganui) 74 68 76 77

296 Caryn Khoo (Pakuranga) 77 73 75 71

298 Yoonjeong Huh (Gulf Harbour Country Club) 78 72 74 74

299 Miree Jung (Titirangi) 73 77 76 73

304 Vivian Lu (Royal Auckland and Grange) 77 74 81 72, Laura Hoskin (Arrowtown) 78 74 78 74

306 Siyi Keh (Titirangi) 76 80 73 77

307 Fiona Xu (Akarana) 81 74 77 75

308 Anna An (Muriwai) 75 77 75 81

312 Hillary O’Connor (Pegasus) 75 79 81 77

314 Caitlin Maurice (Omokoroa) 73 79 81 81

316 Misong Jang (North Shore) 78 76 84 78

320 Amy Im (Pupuke) 80 76 82 82

323 Grace Jung (Remuera) 83 73 82 85