Brad Shilton topped off his best payday as a golfer with a runaway victory in the Harewood Open in Christchurch.
The Auckland professional had the previous week finished third to American Brandt Snedeker in the Fiji International which earned him $A71,000 ($NZ76,000).
That was more than the total purse of $50,000 for the Harewood Open but Shilton was just happy to put a win on the board following an absence of seven years.
“I’m stoked to win,’’ Shilton said after the win.
“It’s been a long time between drinks so it was nice to get the job done today, even though it was a little scratchy at times.”
The previous win for Shilton, 37, had come on his 30th birthday.
In the Harewood Open he went into the final round with a seven-shot lead and ended up winning by six.
“It was a strange day having a big lead and just trying to hang on,’’ Shilton said.
“I just wanted to be positive, but after four weeks of golf I think the mind just wandered a bit.”
Any chance of a comeback didn’t last long as the chasing players failed to get going which allowed Shilton a stress-free final few holes.
“Fortunately the boys didn’t get going which made it easier for me and meant there was not too much of a challenge from behind so it was a nice walk down 18.”
Shilton finished the tournament, sponsored by John Jones Steel, at 16 under par with scores of 69, 66, 67 and 70.
Josh Geary was the only player to take advantage of the benign conditions on the final day and he did it in style breaking the course record with a nine-under 63, to soar into second place.
Ironically he played alongside Fraser Wilkin who held the previous course record of 64.
Rounding out the top three was Mark Brown who got a surprise when he found Geary had climbed his way into the runner-up position.
Daniel Hillier, the winner of the tournament last year, finished 10th at four under par and was the leading amateur.
In the women’s division of the Harewood Open, it was a similar display of dominance with Rose Zheng winning her first win on the Charles Tour, sponsored by Jennian Homes, after carding an incredible final round of seven-under par to win by seven shots.
Zheng was simply too good for the rest of the field finishing at 17-under par, while two-time defending champion, Chantelle Cassidy, in second place with a total of 10-under and first round leader Alanna Campbell finishing in third on seven-under.
“It feels great, I have never felt like this before,” Zheng said.
“I’ve never played this good in a tournament before, I’ve never been this far under par.”
At the tender age of 14, she showed maturity beyond her years in what was an extremely consistent week for the Aucklander.
“It was just about being consistent and waiting for birdies, I didn’t go searching and it paid off. I can’t describe how happy I am and hopefully it will keep going from here.”

Harewood Open scores

Scores from the Harewood Open, a Charles Tour event, in Christchurch from October 13-16:-
Men (par 72)
272 Brad Shilton (PGA New Zealand) 69 66 67 70
278 Josh Geary (PGA New Zealand) 70 73 72 63
279 Mark Brown (PGA New Zealand) 68 71 71 69
280 Benjamin Campbell (PGA New Zealand) 66 73 70 71
282 Nick Gillespie (Titirangi) 71 74 68 69, Sam An (Titirangi) 75 69 67 71
283 Troy Ropiha (PGA New Zealand) 76 71 70 66, Daniel Pearce (Titirangi) 69 76 71 67, Hayden Beard (Mt Maunganui) 69 72 70 72
284 Fraser Wilkin (Royal Auckland) 76 73 66 69, Joonsang Chung (PGA New Zealand) 66 71 77 70, Daniel Hillier (Manor Park) 73 68 72 71
285 David Riordan (Nelson Inc.) 74 72 71 68, Ben Slaven (Royal Wellington) 71 71 73 70, Luke Brown (The Pines) 72 72 70 71
286 Victor Janin (Rotorua) 72 69 74 71, Ryan Chisnall (Greenacres) 71 72 72 71, Wesley Jeon (Whitford Park) 71 73 71 71
287 Inia Logan (Wakatipu Junior) 72 72 73 70, Shaun Jones (PGA New Zealand) 74 71 71 71, Martin Pettigrew (PGA New Zealand) 69 72 75 71, Oscar Cadenhead (Clearwater) 74 71 71 71, Peter Lee (PGA New Zealand) 72 73 70 72, Matthew McLean (Harewood) 72 70 69 76
288 John Bae (PGA New Zealand) 71 75 77 65, Kieran Muir (Omokoroa) 72 75 73 68, Chang Gi Lee (Pupuke) 70 74 74 70
289 Nic Kay (Coringa Inc.) 75 74 71 69, Daniel Graham (PGA New Zealand) 73 72 75 69, Dominic Barson (New Plymouth Inc.) 74 71 74 70, Pieter Zwart (PGA New Zealand) 69 75 75 70
290 Brad Hayward (New Plymouth Inc.) 73 76 73 68, Jonti Philipson (Marlborough) 71 75 74 70, Jonathan Cane (Royal Wellington) 75 73 69 73, Kerry Mountcastle (Masterton) 71 68 73 78
291 Grant Guerin (P, England) 72 71 72 76
292 Henry Spring (Whakatane) 71 74 71 76
293 Duncan Croudis (P) 76 73 75 69, Craig Palmer (PGA New Zealand) 75 72 72 74, Mahal Pearce (P) 73 74 72 74
294 Hamish Campbell (PGA New Zealand) 69 77 72 76
295 Scott Manyweathers (Harewood) 73 73 75 74
296 David Klein (PGA New Zealand) 75 74 76 71, Jake Hallinan (Weedons Country Club) 78 71 75 72, Mark Hutson (Muriwai) 72 73 79 72, Douglas Holloway (PGA New Zealand) 72 73 77 74
299 Jakob Bleach (St Clair) 75 74 80 70
301 Sul (Banaba) Im (Huapai) 73 75 77 76, Steven Heyes (New Plymouth Inc.) 74 75 76 76
303 Ryan Bellamy (St Clair) 77 72 78 76
Women (par 72)
271 Rose Zheng (Pakuranga) 68 68 70 65
278 Chantelle Cassidy (Riverside) 72 70 69 67
281 Alanna Campbell (Omanu) 67 70 74 70
284 Miree Jung (Titirangi) 68 75 70 71
286 Brittney Dryland (Titirangi) 70 77 69 70
288 Juliana Hung (Russley) 71 75 75 67, Jasmine Rou (Russley) 74 71 74 69
292 Jessica Reid (PGA New Zealand) 72 75 74 71
293 Amelia Garvey (Kaiapoi) 72 80 74 67
295 Catherine Bell (Kaituna) 77 74 74 70
298 Hillary O’Connor (Pegasus) 73 77 72 76
302 Monica Tulisi (P) 69 80 78 75

Plenty of room at the Shilton

Harewood Open scores