Shilton far from happy despite record score | Rotorua Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Rotorua

A comprehensive seven-shot win, a new tournament record and a little slice of history - yet Brad Shilton would have traded it all for victory a week earlier.

The Te Awamutu golfer swept to his third Omanu Classic win yesterday, a class above the rest of the field in finishing with an 11-under total of 273, well clear of his nearest challengers, Rotorua's Jae An and Mark Smith.

But a week earlier Smith nailed a crucial putt on the 16th hole to beat Waikato's Shilton in the final of the Lion Foundation Interprovincial tournament and help Bay of Plenty capture their third title in a row.

No amount of pain inflicted on Smith yesterday could ease Shilton's burden.

"It still hurts," Shilton admitted with a twisted grin. "Today doesn't really mean anything - it doesn't make me feel any better about last week to beat the Bay guys now. It's definitely a week too late."

Smith was second to Shilton two years ago when he last won, the margin that time 10 shots as he reached 17-under, albeit on a different course layout.

At one stage yesterday in the 72-hole Heineken Imbide-sponsored event, Waikato players Shilton, James Gill and Guy Penrose had sole ownership of the first three spots on the leaderboard.

But a stunning final-round 64 by An - and Smith's no nonsense closing rounds of 70 and 67 - helped the Bay duo into second and third respectively. Gill faded to be a further shot back with a two-under total of 282 and Mount Maunganui's Josh Geary was four shots further adrift.

An's blemish-free 64 included a run of four birdies from the 10th to the 13th holes, helping him record a five-under 30 for the back nine.

It was especially noteworthy given the blustery spring westerlies which buffeted the course for both days, sapping energy and chasing ball-flights into peculiar trajectories.

Shilton though, felt at home on the course which is quickly becoming one of his favourites.

"It's always pretty windy here by I guess I'm used to it. I drove it really well yesterday and made a few good up-and-downs but I didn't hit my irons that well.

"Today I struggled with my driving - it was pretty bad actually - but I got away with a fair bit. There must be something about this place though."

His third victory equalled the record of another former New Zealand representative, Carterton's Reon Sayer, and has set him up perfectly for another crack at the tough Australasian Tour qualifying school tournament next month.

It will be the 25-year-old's second attempt at trying to gain his professional card - he missed out two years ago when a second-round 80 wrecked his hopes.

* When North Shore golfer Phil Mosley took out the Omanu Classic Mid-Amateur title yesterday, it capped a remarkable double for the former Eisenhower Trophy representative.

Winning the Mainfreight Trophy for the best golfer over 30, the 51-year-old added to the Omanu Classic title he'd won exactly 20 years earlier.

Mosley finished on nine-over 293, ironically only three shots clear of another former Classic champion, Omanu's Terry Cochrane. It's the first time he's played the tournament since he won the main title in 1984.

"I wasn't even going to play this weekend but I got talked into it by my good friend Steven McCollam," Mosley said.

Mosley set a tournament record of 13-under when he won two decades ago but hasn't played the course since - he admitted it was vastly different now than what it was then.

The Mid-Amateur section was established last year.

Omanu Classic scores:

273 t - Brad Shilton (Te Awamutu) 67 68 69 69

280 - Jae An (Springfield) 73 76 67 64

281 - Mark Smith (Springfield) 72 72 70 67

282 - James Gill (Cambridge) 68 72 70 72

286 - Josh Geary (Mount) 74 74 70 68

289 - Steven Han (Nth Shore) 72 74 70 73

290 - Danny Lee (Springfield) 75 75 71 69, Richard Wright (Matamata) 73 77 72 68

293 - Phillip Mosley (Waipu) 75 75 72 71, Terry Hong (Springfield) 76 73 70 74, Joonsang Chung (Redwood Park) 78 72 74 69, Guy Penrose (Cambridge) 72 70 76 75, Riki Kauika (Wanganui) 73 77 72 71

294 - James Fisher (Omanu) 71 75 74 74, Toby Jeon (Springfield) 72 71 75 76

296 - Terry Cochrane (Omanu) 78 73 72 73, Jim Cusdin (Hamilton) 79 72 71 74

297 - Chris Johns (Auckland) 69 78 74 76

298 - Carl Mapley (Ngahinepouri) 77 70 75 76

299 - Blair Murdock (Tauranga) 80 77 73 69, Jang Jin Seo (Springfield) 71 79 73 76

300 - Jason Kim (Mount) 76 75 75 74

302 - Mark Boe (Hamilton) 77 77 70 78, Samuel Shin (Gulf Harbour) 72 78 75 77, Troy Ropiha (New Plymouth) 81 76 71 74

303 - Jacques Nortje (Pupuke) 70 78 79 76

304 - Campbell Irvine (Waitemata) 80 72 79 73, Nick Muller (Mount) 74 81 74 75, Paul Greenslade (Pupuke) 73 79 72 80, James Hamilton (Omanu) 77 78 69 80, Dean Johnson (Rotorua) 71 77 78 78

305 - Bi Ho Um (The Grange) 75 79 76 75, Scott Maclean (New Plymouth) 78 80 71 76, Matthew Gray (Nth Shore) 78 76 79 72, Ben Guilford (Rotorua) 77 76 77 75.