Kerry Mountcastle racks up his second Super 6 win

By Patrick Taylor

Twenty-four hours after his place in the tournament was in jeopardy, Kerry Mountcastle from New Zealand broke through for his first win on the PGA Tour of Australasia at the Gippsland Super 6 at Warragul Country Club in Victoria recently.

It had been a strong debut tour season so far for the Masterton golfer, with top 10s at the PNG Open (10th), and the WA Open (fourth), but this victory takes his professional career to new heights.

As well as securing a spot in both the Australian PGA Championship and the Australian Open, the win also saw him take  over No1 spot in this season’s order of merit standings.

But there was a chance on the Saturday that he would not even make it through to the final day on Sunday with the former New Zealand amateur representative having to survive a 10-man playoff to reach the last 24 who contested the sudden-death medal match-play rounds.

He finished the 54 holes of strokeplay in a tie for 17th at six under par, and then had to get through five opponents on Sunday (a total of 30 holes) on his way to the trophy.

Jye Pickin, Lawry Flynn, Michael Wright, and Jak Carter were Mountcastle’s final-day victims before he faced the formidable Jake McLeod in the final.

“I only just snuck in today through the playoff yesterday, so I kind of came into today just trying to finish as high as I could for the order of merit … and all of a sudden I was in the final,” Mountcastle said with a laugh after his win.

“I was probably more nervous in that (Saturday) playoff than I was at any point today.

“To get into those (the Australian PGA and Australian Open) is massive, because obviously they’re worth the most money and points. It means a lot. I can now plan what I want to do.”

Mountcastle, 28, is coached by Dom Azzopardi, coach of Australian professional Lucas Herbert and Mouncastle’s partner Momoka Kobori, and said the work they’ve put in has changed his game dramatically.

“The major changes happened end of last year, beginning of this year and then I was able to work on them through winter,” he said.

“It’s made my game a lot more consistent what I’ve done with Dom. I don’t have the massive miss off the tee that I used to have and putting and chipping has got a lot better.”

The win was Mountcastle’s second in a Super 6 tournament. The other win was the New Zealand Super 6s at the Manawatu Golf Club in Palmerston North in 2021.

The Victorian tournament carried a first prize of $A36,000 ($NZ39,000).

Runner-up Jake McLeod, from Queensland, played near-flawless golf until the final, and took down the No 1 seed Jarryd Felton from Western Australia  in the quarter-finals.

The McLeod versus Felton match was the pick of the day, with both players finishing at three-under after the six-hole match. Two knockout holes were required, with McLeod eventually making birdie on the second extra hole.

Western Australian amateur Joseph Owen, who made an ace on the 15th hole in round one, made it all the way to the semi-finals before being knocked out by McLeod.