Records smashed at inaugural Mount Open
Denzel Ieremia with his trophy following his runaway victory in the Mount Golf Open at Mount Maunganui.
Denzel Ieremia broke all sorts of records on his way to winning the Mount Open on the Jennian Homes Charles Tour to record his first win as a professional golfer.
Ieremia finished a massive 29-under par over the four rounds of the Christies Floorings-sponsored event at the Mt Maunganui Golf Course in Tauranga to cruise to a seven-shot victory and smash the scoring record in the Charles Tour event.
Ieremia began the final day with a six-shot cushion over local professional and hometown favourite Mark Brown at 23-under, and said he had eyes at getting to 30-under.
“I had in the back of my mind what everyone was doing around me, but I really tried to focus on myself and to keep making birdies so I could get it to 30-under,” Ieremia said afterwards.
“I came up just shy, but I played some tremendous golf all week so it’s hard to complain about that.”
Ieremia had been in good form leading into the event with a fifth at the Australian Open the previous week and sixth at the New South Wales Open a week earlier.
At Mt Maunganui he fired rounds of 64, 63, 66, and 66 for the par 72 course.
“It’s a real honour coming back to these events and playing the way I did,” Ieremia added.
“I progressed through these tournaments as an amateur and I was able to learn off all the professionals that played only three or four years ago.
“To come back and hopefully be in a position to give back to the people I play with and to continue to learn is pretty special.”
In the women’s event, Fiona Xu romped to a 15-shot victory to claim the inaugural Mount Women’s Open and Grant Clements Memorial, breaking records of her own in the process.
The victory was the most of any women on the Charles Tour, showing how dominant the Auckland golfer has been.
Xu began the final day with a nine-shot buffer but continued her impressive form to card a six-under par 66 to cruise to victory.
“This feels really good,” Xu said.
“It’s awesome to finish the year like this and I’m happy to do it here at Mt Maunganui.”
Xu also broke her own personal milestone this week, shooting her lowest total in a four-round event.
“The best I have ever got to in a tournament is 10-under over three rounds. I’m a little surprised I went this low, but I guess it’s a sign of good things to come,” Xu said.
The other trophy up for grabs was the season-long Jennian Homes Trophy awarded to the player who accumulates the most points throughout the Charles Tour season.
James Anstiss had one hand on the trophy this week, and only Luke Toomey could take it from his grasp with a three-way tie for second place or better.
Toomey fought hard all week but would come up just short in sixth place at 15-under for the tournament, making Anstiss the 2019 winner of the Jennian Homes Trophy.
Auckland golfer Fiona Xu following her easy win in the Mount Golf Open at Mount Maunganui.
RESULTS
Scores (par 72)
259 Denzel Ieremia (PGA New Zealand) 64 63 66 66
266 Mark Brown (PGA New Zealand) 66 66 67 67
268 Fraser Wilkin (PGA New Zealand) 69 64 72 63
271 Tyler Wood (Palmerston North) 70 63 70 68
272 Jared Edwards (Royal Auckland and Grange) 66 64 75 67
273 Luke Toomey (PGA New Zealand) 67 68 68 70
274 Sam An (Titirangi) 63 73 69 69
275 Chang Gi Lee (PGA New Zealand) 63 70 74 68, Jared Pender (Te Puke) 65 68 71 71
276 Daniel Pearce (PGA New Zealand) 65 70 73 68, Zachary Maxwell (Australia) 70 70 66 70
277 Kazuma Kobori (Rangiora) 68 69 66 74
279 Mako Thompson (Maraenui) 72 68 72 67, Harry Bateman (Muriwai) 70 71 69 69, Dongwoo Kang (PGA New Zealand) 66 69 74 70, Jayden Ford (Judgeford) 67 73 68 71
280 Tae Koh (Windross Farm Golf Course) 72 70 71 67, Charlie Hillier (P) 71 70 69 70, Hayden Beard (Mt Maunganui) 72 66 70 72
282 James Hydes (Gulf Harbour Country Club) 71 72 72 67, Jordan Loof (PGA New Zealand) 68 74 72 68, Sung Jin Yeo (North Shore) 70 72 72 68, Zachary May (Russley) 68 72 70 72
283 Kit Bittle (Gulf Harbour Country Club) 71 70 73 69, Mat Perry (PGA New Zealand) 73 69 72 69, Gareth Paddison (PGA New Zealand) 72 73 68 70, Kerry Mountcastle (Masterton) 73 71 69 70, Jordan Woodall (Cambridge) 71 75 66 71, Josh Geary (PGA New Zealand) 66 73 70 74
284 Samuel Jones (Manaia) 75 64 75 70
286 Stephen Liu (Pakuranga) 72 73 72 69, Kieran Muir (Omokoroa) 68 68 77 73, Charlie Smail (Walton) 74 71 68 73, Pieter Zwart (PGA New Zealand) 68 73 71 74
287 Inia Logan (Cromwell) 72 74 72 69, Mitchell Kale (Tauranga) 72 70 74 71, Lachie McDonald (Marton) 73 71 72 71, Sam Nichols (PGA New Zealand) 75 70 70 72, Daniel Freeman (Remuera) 68 73 69 77
288 Victor Janin (Rotorua) 73 74 73 68, Andrew Henare (Napier Inc.) 74 69 74 71
289 Oscar Cadenhead (PGA New Zealand) 70 68 81 70, Joel Stahlhut (Australia) 70 75 73 71, Jesper Bengtsson (North Shore) 72 67 79 71, Tony Jung (Remuera) 69 70 75 75, Cameron Jones (PGA New Zealand) 71 67 75 76
290 Trevor Marshall (PGA New Zealand) 68 73 77 72, Scott Manyweathers (Harewood) 70 72 75 73, James Tauariki (Futures Geyserland) 70 72 75 73, Matthew McLean (Harewood) 70 72 74 74, Josh Smith (Ashburton) 71 70 71 78
291 Thomas Woods (Miramar) 71 73 75 72, Steven Williams (Tauranga) 73 72 72 74, Joshua Bai (Akarana) 68 74 72 77
293 Mark Hutson (PGA New Zealand) 71 72 76 74
295 Justin Morris (PGA New Zealand) 72 75 69 79
296 James Betts (P, Australia) 73 74 72 77
298 Damian Kempson (Mt Maunganui) 73 74 77 74
299 James Watkins (Royal Wellington) 70 74 80 75, Sean Blomquist (PGA New Zealand) 70 77 74 78, Joseph Hancock (St Clair) 67 75 77 80
300 Shaun Campbell (Hawera) 71 75 74 80
Women scores
274 Fiona Xu (Akarana) 69 71 68 66
289 Angela Ju (Pakuranga) 73 72 72 72
293 Caryn Khoo (Pakuranga) 72 74 74 73
296 Caitlin Maurice (Omokoroa) 71 76 78 71
298 Maddie May (Russley) 72 75 76 75
299 Marina Ito (Mt Maunganui) 72 77 75 75, Siyi Keh (Titirangi) 72 75 75 77
301 Darae Chung (Shandon) 77 74 77 73
302 Anna An (Muriwai) 72 76 77 77
303 Jessica Green (Futures Geyserland) 75 78 75 75, Tara Raj (Whanganui) 75 78 75 75, Yeonsoo Son (North Shore) 77 76 74 76, Mimi Guo (Royal Auckland and Grange) 74 73 76 80
306 Mary Chen (Remuera) 76 77 78 75
312 Taylor-Rose Perrett (Omanu) 79 72 81 80
Jennian Homes Trophy Points
1st James Antiss 1200 points
2nd Luke Toomey 1100
3rd Josh Geary 637
4th Fraser Wilkin 631.5
5th Daniel Pearce 617