Jayden Ford shoots 24 under par to notch his first Charles Tour win.

Caption: Wellington amateur Jayden Ford who was in hot form to win the Mount Open in Mount Maunganui last month and his first win on the Charles Tour. Photo credit: Golf New Zealand.

Jayden Ford tore the Mt Maunganui golf course apart to win his first Charles Tour event, the Mount Open.

The Wellington amateur last month finished 24 under par to win by an astounding eight shots after rounds of 67, 64, 64, and 65 over his Eisenhower Trophy teammate Sam Jones.

Ford, 19, began the final round of the tournament sponsored by Christies Flooring, three shots ahead of Jones and never looked like he’d be caught.

He got off to the perfect start, rolling a 25-foot birdie putt on the first hole to match Jones, who had stiffed one in tight for a birdie of his own.

However, Ford rattled off three more birdies on the trot from the third hole to pull six shots away from the chasers through the opening six holes, and he never looked back.

The dominant display continued on the closing nine as he added three more birdies and a bogey to his scorecard, stretching his lead to eight heading up the final hole. A solid par was more than enough to seal his first win on the Charles Tour, sponsored by Jennian Homes, -- an achievement that Ford was proud of.

“I’m over the moon. I’m really happy with how I played,’’ Ford said.

``It’s hard to describe the feeling – I’m just really happy.”

Ford admitted he was feeling plenty of nerves ahead of his final round, but a solid game plan put a lot of those nerves to rest.

He said he and his caddy focused on doing the simple things right, which he will implement in his upcoming overseas events next month.

“I was telling my caddy Ciaran [Sim] that I was quite nervous last night and this morning when I woke up,’’ Ford said.

``Usually, I pray on the first tee, but today, I said a little prayer in the car park as well. I felt okay for the rest of the day and took it one shot at a time – I stayed in the moment nicely throughout the whole day. Ciaran and I did our own thing.

“The winning thoughts definitely crossed my mind out there. It was just a matter of trying to switch that part of my mind off and focusing on what I could control, which was putting one foot in front of the other and hitting one shot at a time. We did that well throughout the entire last day.”

The Eisenhower team is trending nicely, with Jones finishing second and fellow teammate Kazuma Kobori finishing fourth. The Eisenhower is a world amateur men’s team event and is to be held in the United Arab Emirates this month.

Ford is looking forward to teeing it up on one of golf’s biggest stages alongside a couple of his good mates.

“I’m really looking forward to it. It’s one of the biggest golf events in the world, and it’s a team event. Playing alongside a couple of good mates is going to be really special; that day can’t come soon enough.”

Tyler Hodge finished as the leading professional in the Mount Open, finishing third at 14-under and picking up a healthy pay cheque on his birthday.

Wellington won the Grant Clements Memorial Trophy team’s event with Sam Marsters combining with the tournament winner nicely to win comfortably. Ford also wrapped up the individual men’s trophy, with Rebekah Blackwell-Chin winning the women’s event at 11 over par.

Guy Harrison went back-to-back at the Christies Floorings All Abilities Mount Open, winning by an incredible 27 shots.

The Napier golfer shot 83 and 79 to win the event again.

Harrison said: “It’s so cool to win this event again. The course was in amazing condition, and it’s a privilege to be back here playing.

“My round was a bit up and down today. I made heaps of pars, which were gritty pars from the trees most of the day,” Harrison said with a laugh.

“Those really saved me. I also made a few birdies, which was nice – it was just a really solid round of golf today.”