Bleach (18) finished three shots clear of Otago’s Ben Patston and Brandon Hodgson, who both finished two over par for the day.
Bleach’s round of 68 was the lowest score of the day in the first Otago trial and he set up his score in the first ten holes.
He made an eagle two on the third hole to get back to square for the day and made further inroads on par with birdies at the sixth and tenth holes.
His only blemish in the round was a bogey four on the difficult seventh but he parred the final eight holes on the back nine for the title.
Michael Ormandy (St Clair) chipped in for an eagle two on the final hole for 69 to get up to fourth after carding 78 in the morning.
Michael Smith (Otago) was in the running but had a forgettable front nine in the afternoon before tidying his round to finish fifth.
Terry Kim (Wakatipu Junior) had a good day with 74 and 75 to be one shot behind Smith for one of his best performances in open competition.
Hodgson took the lead at lunch after a par 71 in the morning with Patston one shot back to lie in second place.
Patston repeated his 72 in the afternoon while Hodgson had a triple bogey seven at the twelfth hole in the afternoon which cost him getting into a playoff with Bleach.
The women’s event only attracted four golfers with Abigael Crawford (St Clair) scoring 74 in the morning to be the best performer on the day despite playing little golf since April.
Sean Geary (Chisholm Links) always plays well on his home track and he finished with a par 71 to take gross honours in the masters (over-40) 18-hole section.
