Jayden Ford has torn Mt Maunganui apart to win his first Jennian Homes Charles Tour event, the Christies Floorings Mount Open.

The 19-year-old amateur finished 24-under-par to win by an astounding eight shots after rounds of 67, 64, 64, and 65 over his Eisenhower Trophy teammate Sam Jones.

He began today’s final round three shots ahead of Jones and never looked like he’d be caught. He got off to the perfect start, rolling a 25-foot birdie putt to match Jones, who had stuffed one in tight for a birdie of his own. However, Ford rattled off three birdies on the trot from the third to pull six shots away from the chasers through the opening six holes, and he never looked back.

The dominant display continued coming home as he added three more birdies and a bogey to his scorecard, stretching his lead to eight heading up the final hole. A solid par was more than enough to seal his first Jennian Homes Charles Tour title – an achievement that Ford is proud of.

“I’m over the moon. I’m really happy with how I played. It’s hard to describe the feeling – I’m just really happy.”

Securing your first Jennian Homes Charles Tour event is never easy. Naturally, Ford was feeling plenty of nerves ahead of his final round, but a solid game plan put a lot of those nerves to rest.

He says he and his caddy focused on doing the simple things right, which he will implement in his upcoming overseas events next month.

“I was telling my caddy Ciaran [Sim] that I was quite nervous last night and this morning when I woke up. Usually, I pray on the first tee, but today, I said a little prayer in the car park as well. I felt okay for the rest of the day and took it one shot at a time – I stayed in the moment nicely throughout the whole day. Ciaran and I did our own thing.

“The winning thoughts definitely crossed my mind out there. It was just a matter of trying to switch that part of my mind off and focusing on what I could control, which was putting one foot in front of the other and hitting one shot at a time. We did that well throughout the entire last day.”

The Eisenhower team are trending nicely, with Jones finishing second and Kazuma Kobori finishing fourth.

Ford is looking forward to teeing it up on one of golf’s biggest stages alongside a couple of his good mates.

“I’m really looking forward to it. It’s one of the biggest golf events in the world, and it’s a team event. Playing alongside a couple of good mates is going to be really special; that day can’t come soon enough.”

Tyler Hodge finished as the leading professional, finishing in third at 14-under and picking up a healthy paycheck on his birthday.

Wellington won the Grant Clements Memorial Trophy team’s event with Sam Marsters combining with the tournament winner nicely to win comfortably. Ford also wrapped up the individual men’s trophy, with Rebekah Blackwell-Chin winning the women’s event at 11-over-par.

Guy Harrison went back-to-back at the Christies Floorings All Abilities Mount Open, winning by an incredible 27 shots.

The Napier golfer shot 83 and 79 to win the event again, an achievement he’s proud of.

“It’s so cool to win this event again. The course was in amazing condition, and it’s a privilege to be back here playing.

“My round was a bit up and down today. I made heaps of pars, which were gritty pars from the trees most of the day,” Harrison laughs. “Those really saved me. I also made a few birdies, which was nice – it was just a really solid round of golf today.”

The Jennian Homes Charles Tour will travel 20 minutes up the road for next week’s Carrus Tauranga Open, which starts on Thursday.