Croudis set the scene for his win with a five-under 66 in the morning to lead Pearce by two at lunch, with Ryan Bellamy (St Clair) and Brent Butler (Chisholm Links) the leading amateurs on par 71 each.
Bellamy carded a 70 in the afternoon to stake an early claim for the vacancies in the Otago men’s team, with Butler and under-19 representative Connor Ross (St Clair) two shots back tied for fourth.
Chris Snow (St Clair) was the successful Otago No5 last year and he carded 72 and 73 to be the fourth amateur, in sixth place.
Last year’s Otago captain, Brent McEwan, has played his last representative game for Otago and started with 76 in the morning round.
He soon had his mojo back, carding a one-under-par 70 in the afternoon, and will still be favoured to take out the 72-hole North Otago event for his ninth consecutive title in mid-September.
Balmacewen’s John McIntee was the leading masters (over-40) triallist with 76 and 71, finishing two shots ahead of Peter Rae (Chisholm Links).
Abigael Crawford (St Clair) was the top woman golfer, having blitzed the field with an impressive 76 in the morning.
Despite blowing out in the afternoon, Crawford finished 11 shots ahead of Annabel Evans (Otago), Eleanor Newton (Chisholm Links) and Tracey Storer (Belleknowes).
The triallists will line up on the Kelvin Heights course in Queenstown next weekend for the first 72-hole selection tournament.