Some of New Zealand’s top amateurs are looking to make their presence felt on the Jennian Homes Charles Tour again as we head into the final four events of the season.

Players are looking to play their way into the top 24 on the Jennian Homes Trophy standings to earn a place in the new season-ending Race to Tieke event early next year.

Following their overseas campaigns, several amateurs, including Mako Thompson, Sam Jones, and Kazuma Kobori, dominated the Jennian Homes Charles Tour leaderboards, which they are looking to do again this week.

Reigning Autex Muriwai Open champion Kobori comes into the week as one of the favourites, having recently won the prestigious Western Amateur Championship and the Elite Amateur Series.

After a well-deserved break, Kobori says he’s looking for a positive week as he builds towards the Asia-Pacific Amateur and World Amateur Teams Championship in a month.

He says he’s excited to get back into tournament golf.

“I feel refreshed and ready to go again. It was a big stint over in the US, and I’m really happy I was able to produce some of my best golf in some big events.

“I’m excited to see what I can do over the next couple of weeks again. Hopefully, I add another win so I can catch Sam, who has two Jennian Homes Charles Tour wins.”

Sam Jones is another who dominated after his overseas travels last year, finishing second at the Christies Floorings Mount Open and DVS Clearwater Open, third at the Taranaki Open, and a win at the Carrus Tauranga Open, which saw him win the Jennian Homes Trophy.

He returns to New Zealand boasting similar form to last year, having made the quarterfinals at the US Mid-Amateur and is eager to replicate the same form.

Sam Jones.

“I was really close to some great golf overseas. I obviously played well at the US-Mid-Am again, but I was just off at a lot of the other events I played in. I’ll be looking to sharpen a few things up under some tournament conditions leading up to some big amateur events in a month’s time – it’ll be great to see a few more solid shots and a couple of good finishes before then.”

Of the professionals, local Bay of Plenty players such as Mark Brown, Josh Geary, Luke Toomey, and Kieran Muir are all expected to feature somewhere on the leaderboard come Sunday afternoon.

Round one begins at 8am.