A strong afternoon performance gave Graeme Barbara a win in the men’s tournament played over 36 holes in fine conditions in Wanaka on Saturday.
Barbara finished one over par with 71 in the morning round to be tied with Ben Patston (Otago), Kyle Clark (Cromwell) and Ryan Shuttleworth at lunch.
But in the afternoon, Barbara birdied holes 3, 8, 9 and 11 to be four under par after 17 holes and took the honours despite a bogey four on the final hole.
National left-handed champion Patston came in under par on 69 to finish in second place, two shots off the pace.
He had a good chance of winning in the afternoon with birdies at 5, 9, 10 and 11 but bogeyed 7, 8 and 18.
Clark and Shuttleworth both finished two over on 72 in the second round to tie for third on 143 for the day.
Clark has had a good trial performance this year with strong play at Queenstown a week ago but dropped out of contention on Saturday with three bogeys on the front nine. Shuttleworth always plays well on his home course but with 72 in the afternoon, had to settle with the tie for third.
Hills golf professional Craig Palmer shot the low score of the day with a five-under-par 65 in the afternoon to finish fifth.
Jonathan Mackay (Lower Waitaki) shot 77 and 69 to come in one shot behind Palmer in one of his first appearances since returning from Ireland.
Chisholm Park winner and one of the frontrunners for the Otago team Brandon Hodgson (Otago) did not repeat his recent winning sub-par golf, finishing seventh with 74 and 73.
