Hawke's Bay golfer's epic final round wins him Under-19 NZ championship

A final-hole drama almost ruined Zac Swanwick's comeback: "My heart was in my mouth for a second."

A Napier golfer has been crowned the New Zealand Under-19 boys' champion, after a final day full of drama at the Pukekohe Golf Club in Auckland.

Zack Swanwick prevailed after three days at the New Zealand Age Group Championships, despite starting the day five shots behind the overnight leader, Stephen Liu.

Swanwick had shot 75 and 71 on the opening two days to be four-over, and he knew it would be a tall ask to catch the leader.

He got off to a slow start, too, playing his opening three holes in one-over.

But then he then found his groove, making three birdies on the trot from the fourth, and would make the turn in a couple under. With Liu shooting one-over in his opening nine, Swanwick had cut the lead to two.

After making seven pars in a row, followed by a birdie on the 17th, the Napier golfer had taken sole possession of the lead and stood on the final hole four shots in front.

Packed full of adrenaline, Swanwick blasted his third shot to the par 5 final hole over the green and out of bounds, leaving the door slightly ajar for Liu. However, he kept his composure, hitting his fourth shot short of the green, where he was able to make up and down to save his bogey and win by three.

He said it felt great to come from behind and win a national title.

"I'm really stoked. It was a tough fight out there; I really had to work for it, but it was awesome.

"I just wanted to hit 18 greens; that's all I was working on. If I'm hitting lots of greens, it minimises the chance of making bogeys, so that was a big part of the game plan today."

He said his heart rate increased after hitting his second shot on the last hole out of bounds, but was happy with a final round of 69.

"That was tough. My heart was in my mouth for a second there. Thankfully, I hit my provisional short, so I could chip it up to the hole and hole the putt. I'm smiling."

In the Under-19 girls' division, Amy Im led from start till finish, shooting 70, 74, and 74 to finish one-under and win by three over Espirito Santo Trophy team member and fellow North Harbour player, Eunseo Choi.

Like Im, Clearwater's Cooper Moore was dominant all week, but needed to hold his nerve up the 18th to capture the Under-16 boys' title.

In the Under-16 girls, Yoonae Jeong came from seven shots behind to win her first national title.