Ieremia has finished 29-under par over four rounds at the Mt Maunganui Golf Course to cruise to a seven-shot victory and smash the scoring record in a Jennian Homes Charles Tour event.
Ieremia began the day with a six-shot cushion over local professional and hometown favourite Mark Brown at 23-under, and says he had eyes all day at getting it to 30-under.
“I had in the back of my mind what everyone was doing around me, but I really tried to focus on myself and to keep making birdies so I could get it to 30-under.
“I came up just shy, but I played some tremendous golf all week so it’s hard to complain about that,” says a grinning Ieremia.
He was in a strong piece of form leading into the event with a tied for fifth at the Australian Open last week, and a sixth-place finish at the New South Wales Open the week prior.
He fired rounds of 64, 63, 66, and 66 to lift his first trophy as a professional and take a truckload of confidence into the Australian PGA next week.
“It’s a real honour coming back to these events and playing the way I did. I progressed through these tournaments as an amateur and I was able to learn off all the professionals that played only three or four years ago.
“To come back and hopefully be in a position to give back to the people I play with and to continue to learn to pretty special.
“I get to travel over to Australia next week knowing I’ve got what it takes to win, so hopefully I can keep making lots of birdies. We’ll see what happens,” Ieremia says.
