Cooper Moore has held his composure to seal a maiden Jennian Homes Charles Tour win at the Christies Floorings Mount Open.
The tournament at the Mount Maunganui Golf Club delivered four days of drama, storylines and breakthrough performances, capped by the 17-year-old Golf New Zealand Academy player claiming his first Tour title.
Challenging conditions on day one made scoring difficult and favoured the early half of the draw.
Defending champion Josh Geary set a blistering pace with seven birdies, but a double bogey on the par-five 15th hole saw him close at four-under-par.
Kerry Mountcastle opened with an eagle on the 13th hole and finished on two-under, while Ricky Kang raced to four-under through four holes before a tough back nine left him at even par.
Day two brought improved morning conditions before wind and rain returned in the afternoon.
Sam Jones posted the lowest round of the tournament to that point, firing a six-under 65 with five birdies and an eagle to reach nine-under overall.
Moore rebounded from a one-over start with a superb 66 that lifted him 15 places up the leaderboard, while Tyler Wood was the biggest mover of the day, climbing 35 spots with a three-under round. Luke Kidd also rocketed into contention, producing five birdies and an eagle in a blistering run of six straight threes.
Near-perfect Saturday conditions paved the way for low scoring in the third round and Kerry Mountcastle took full advantage.
Kerry Mountcastle in action. Photo / BW Media
The former New Zealand Amateur champion produced a bogey-free eight-under 63 – the lowest round of the tournament – with eight birdies to move into outright second.
Moore backed up his strong second round with another five-under 66 to stay in the hunt, while Jones overcame a rough start to card a steady 68 with six birdies.
Geary’s mixed form continued, finishing even-par to sit seven shots adrift. In the women’s field, Yoonae Jeong edged ahead of Amy Tang by one shot, with Chloe So a further six shots back.
Overcast and chilly conditions greeted the players for the final round and the leaders wasted no time getting below par, Mountcastle, Moore and Jones all opening with birdies.
Geary also birdied the first as he chased back-to-back titles. The tournament turned on its head when Jones suffered a disastrous sextuple-bogey 10 on the par-four third hole.
To his credit, he responded with grit, steadying his round with a par at the fourth and a birdie at the par-five fifth. Meanwhile, Moore’s Golf New Zealand Academy teammate Yuki Miya surged into contention with four birdies in his first five holes.
At the turn, Mountcastle remained bogey-free and two-under, matched by Moore as the pair set themselves apart. The decisive moment came with the pair tied at 12-under on the par-three 17th hole, where Moore hit a precise tee shot and rolled in the birdie putt to edge one clear.
Mountcastle could only make par. Both players found the green at 18. Mountcastle nearly forced a playoff with a near 7m birdie putt that agonisingly hung on the lip of the hole, leaving Moore to calmly two-putt for par and the victory as the rain began to fall.
In the Women’s Amateur field, Chloe So, another Golf New Zealand Academy member, completed a huge turnaround with a one-under 70 on the final day to finish three shots clear of Yoonae Jeong in second after there was a three-way tie for the lead heading into the back nine to collect top amateur honours.
The overall win marks Moore’s first Jennian Homes Charles Tour title after coming close earlier at the Race to Tieke, where he narrowly lost to Michael Hendry. At just 17 years old, the victory underlines his status as one of New Zealand golf’s brightest rising talents.
Moore said heading down the stretch in contention and eventually taking the lead could have been overwhelming as he had been in a similar position before and not come away with the win. But he turned to his processes and trusted himself to remain calm, adding “it was nice to get over the line and it’s a big boost heading into the next few weeks”.
“I was quite nervous, I had a similar situation at Race to Tieke and let that one slide so didn’t want to let another chance slide.”
With two putts for victory, Moore hit his first a metre or so past the hole and had a tricky par putt to close it out after Mountcastle’s near-miss. Moore said he was relieved to see the final one drop, to applause from the gallery.
“First one hit a little bit firmer than I would have liked!”
The win sets Moore up for a busy stretch where he will return to Bay of Plenty for next week’s Carrus Tauranga Open and a 2025 Eisenhower Cup campaign in Singapore, swiftly followed by a trip to the United Arab Emirates to compete at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.
– Golf NZ
