Jake Meenhorst wins Charles Tour opener
- NZ Sports Wire
- Mar 20
- 2 min read
New Zealand golfer Jake Meenhorst took the long path to victory at the Charles Tour's NZ Super 6s.
Aucklander Meenhorst had to survive 30 holes of match-play at the season-opening strokeplay/match-play hybrid tournament to claim victory at the Manawatu Golf Club in Palmerston North on Sunday.
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After three rounds of strokeplay, Meenhorst was the No 19 seed for the unique knockout phase, which featured six-hole match-play contests, meaning he had to win five matches to lift the trophy.
His path to victory was anything but easy for Meenhorst, who took down Nathan Clark, 2024 runner-up Jayden Ford, James Hydes, last year's champion Tyler Hodge and Dominic Brettkelly.
It was a statement performance from the Tara Iti cadet, who now sets his sights on upcoming Pro-Am events in Whangarei as he looks to continue his rise on the New Zealand professional circuit.
Over the first three rounds, players battled through traditional 18-hole strokeplay, with the top-24 advancing to Sunday’s showdown.
The early rounds saw low scores and shifting leads, with Dongwoo Kang, Cameron Harlock, and Jared Edwards trading places at the top. But as the wind picked up and conditions changed on Saturday, the leaderboard tightened, setting the stage for a tense finale.
In a clutch moment, Edwards drained a birdie on the 54th hole to claim the No 1 seed heading into Sunday.
From the opening rounds, upsets rocked the competition, with Steven Oh eliminating early tournament leader Kang. One of the most dramatic clashes came when Edwards and Cameron Jones went to three extra playoff holes before Edwards prevailed.
