Ryan Walker successfully defended his Ōhope 10,000 title at Labour Weekend.

The Ōhope Beach Golf Links general manager, who won the title last year, managed a two-shot win over clubmate and three-time winner, Matt Purdy.

Walker’s aim was to play consistent golf in a field where he considered any of the players were capable of winning.

“It’s cool to have won again,” he said. “I am stoked; I wasn’t expecting it. I am happy with how I played, and I managed to keep focused the last few holes and pick up the win.

“To win it two years in a row is a special achievement. It was close between myself and Matt Purdy, who has won it three times in a row, so I will be looking to match his efforts next year.”

Walker said conditions were pretty good for golf on the opening day but got tricky at times on Sunday with strong winds.

Of the top six golfers, four were from the Ōhope Golf Club.

Walker was three shots behind leader Josh Wilson after day one and coming third, but a solid second round saw him snare the lead and hold on ahead of Purdy, Wilson and fellow Ōhope player Ryan Anderson.

Declan Manning was also not far off the pace.

“He is always up there, Declan. He’s a dark horse.”

“Matt’s a very good golfer … He had a bit of bad luck on hole 12 and that gave me a bit of breathing space. I stumbled a little bit but managed to recover and made a couple of birdies when I needed them.

“Ryan Anderson was in the group in front of me and playing well and I knew he was a chance until he had a rough hole. I knew then, I just needed to bogey the last hole to win.”

Walker, who was in the final group alongside Purdy, Wilson and Mailau Skudder, said it was great to see new faces competing this year.

“A lot of them were new so it’s exciting that we were able to draw in plenty of new faces. There’s always a waiting list for our event, so hopefully we see some of them back next year and try and make it bigger and better going forward.”

He is grateful to everyone who supported the weekend, especially the sponsors are amazing.

“Without them we couldn’t have a tournament like we do, so it’s a real credit to them and all the support they give us.”

The division 2 crown went to another Ōhope Beach Golf Links member, Shane Baillie.

“Shane played really well – he played well the first day and played even better the second day. He is one that doesn’t play often but when he does, he plays well.”