Pakuranga golfer Yun Seok Gang missed a place in the next round of qualifying for the New Zealand Open by one shot on Friday, but there was nothing close about his victory in the Auckland Anniversary tournament yesterday.
The 18-year-old won the 54-hole event at Akarana by eight shots with a total of 202, eight under par.
It was his first major victory against a big field including most of Auckland's top players.
Gang has just completed three years at St Kentigern College, which offers a golf programme, and he is heading for Unitec for a similar line of study.
His rounds of 68, 67 and 67 were a model of consistency, with only five bogeys over the three days on the well-prepared Akarana course.
After two rounds the race was for second with first-round leader Albert Kim (Whitford Park), Franz Schwanner (Manukau) and Mike Leitch (Maungakiekie) finishing level at even par.
The evergreen Leitch, who first won this tournament in 1969, holed a chip to birdie the last, while Schwanner had to play out of trees and then a bunker to save his par on the same hole.
Seve Ha from the host club, 40 years younger than Leitch and half his size, finished alone in fifth place at one over. The defending champion, Logan Holzer (The Grange), dropped out of contention after a disappointing final round.
Golf: Teenager clinches victory at Akarana
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