2023 Super 6s champion Jordan Loof. Photo / lintottphoto.co.nz/BWMedia
Jordan Loof has survived a marathon day of golf to win the Brian Green Property Group NZ Super 6s at the Manawatū Golf Club in Palmerston North.
This is his first Jennian Homes Charles Tour title. He did it the hard way, playing 35 holes in the shortened Super 6 Sunday shootout format, beating Jared Edwards in a tense final on the fourth playoff hole.
After 54 holes of stroke play to decide the seeds heading into the medal match play, Jordan qualified 10th, meaning he would not get a bye in the first round.
On his way to the finals on Sunday, he managed to beat Jake Meenhorst, Sam An, and Junhyong Lim to reach the semi, where he met Sung Jin Yeo.
After six holes, the pair couldn’t be separated and needed extra holes to see who would progress to the final against Auckland amateur Jared Edwards.
Jordanstepped up, hitting an aggressive shot to the short 97m playoff hole, which was played from the third tee to the 18th green, and rolled in the 6-foot birdie putt to book his place in the final.
Jared and Jordan went shot for shot early until Loof birdied the fifth to lead by one going into the final hole of regular play.
However, Jared wasn’t done with that easily and produced a magnificent birdie of his own to force extra holes again. The pair shaved the hole countless times in the sudden-death playoff, making pars the first three times.
Jordan took the initiative and went straight at the flag again, hitting his approach to around the same distance he did in the semifinal but from the other side of the hole.
He rolled in the winning putt and let out all his emotions as he realised he’d just won his first Jennian Homes Charles Tour event.
“It feels really special. I’m still trying to process it. I can’t express how happy I am; I’ve had a few close calls on Jennian Homes Charles Tour events and I’ve missed a few key putts when it mattered most. To see a couple of them slide early was a little daunting, but I couldn’t be happier to see one of them drop when it mattered.”
Jordan has been in a playoff before, losing to James Hydes at the Autex Muriwai Open in 2020.
He says there were plenty of learnings to call on to help him get over the line on Sunday.
“I kept reminding myself that I’d been here before. I’ve been in the final group on Sunday a couple of times and trying to manage the nerves is difficult, I felt sick to my stomach out there today.
“It’s important to acknowledge it’s okay to feel like that; it just means you care and that I’m doing all the right things. What I tried to bring this time was some intensity, and I’m not sure if swagger is the right word, but I believed that this was my tournament and I’m going to go out there and win it. There were definitely some experiences to draw on for sure.”
Amazingly, the Super 6 format wasn’t the short format he expected, playing well more than the required number of holes to get the job done.
Jordan says there was a point in the playoff where he knew he needed to make something happen, and he was able to do it on his fourth try.
“I saw on my watch that I had 170 zone minutes, and the last time I had something like that, I ran a half marathon. Playoff holes are hard. I think going second in every one of them is really hard too, especially trying to follow some of the great shots Jared was hitting. In the end, I thought one of us has got to seize the moment and try and make something happen. Thankfully, I was the one to do that.”
Jared Edwards takes home the silver medal and finished as the leading amateur after an outstanding week of golf that included an albatross in the first round.
Steven Heyes beat Sung Jin Yeo in the third and fourth playoff holes.