Whanganui golfer Tara Raj places second at NZ Amateur Championship

Tara Raj during the New Zealand Amateur Golf Championship. Photo / Simon Watts / www.bwmedia.co.nz

Whanganui golfer Tara Raj narrowly missed out on a New Zealand Amateur Golfing Championship title on the weekend, with the tournament culminating in a tightly fought final at Poverty Bay Golf Club on Sunday.

Raj, who won the Whanganui Open earlier this month, was competing in the tournament for the third time, placing second behind Fiona Xu.

The matchplay final was a tough contest, Xu and Raj giving no quarter during the morning round and finding themselves locked up going into the afternoon's second round.

Xu won the 19th with a birdie to get back to one-up over Raj, before Raj rallied, winning the 23rd and 24th to lead for the first time in the match.

Xu was three-up with six holes to play, and won the 35th to win 3 and 1.

For Raj, the loss was still raw the next day.

"I'm a bit gutted to get so far and not quite finish. I think once I get over not getting the whole way I think I'll be happy, but right now it kind of hurts," she said.

The performance was Raj's best finish at the tournament, which she has participated in for the last three years.

"I didn't quite do as good as I wanted to, but this week was good," she said.

"I played good and I was happy how I did. If someone told me at the start of this week I'd come second I'd probably be happy."