One day Ben Campbell will walk up the 18th green at Millbrook, sink a birdie putt, and face his home fans with pure joy in his face.
That dream remains fierce but frustratingly out of reach for Queenstown’s favourite golfer, who has to wait another year to attempt to get his name on the New Zealand Open trophy.
Campbell tied for 10th on Sunday, finishing four shots behind Japanese winner Takahiro Hataji.
He was his usual consistent self with four under-par rounds — 65, 69, 70 and 67 — but knew he needed to go really low at the weekend to be in the hunt for his most-coveted title.
"It was a little bit disappointing today," Campbell said after his final round.
"I missed a couple of small putts through the turn, which hurt. It was close."
While his short game caused some frustration over the week in Arrowtown, Campbell felt other parts of his game were strong, and he relished the usual support coming from familiar faces along the fairways.
"There are lots of good things to build on over the next few weeks," he said.
"The swing was feeling really good as are a lot of other parts of my game. I just have to get that putter going a bit better and things won’t be very far away.
"It’s good when you get on a bit of a run and get the crowd going. It would have been nice to rev them up a bit more, but unfortunately, we’ll have to wait till next year."
Campbell is immediately on the road, to Hong Kong, where he is a reserve for the LIV event this week and desperately hopes the golf fates will conspire to get him a start.
He will then play in the Asian Tour’s International Series tournament in Macau.
"It’s been a busy start to the year. It’ll be good to get these next two under the belt and then get home for a bit so I can get some good practice in, reset, and then go again."
— Hayden Meikle in Arrowtown
