Mark Brown returns to defend Muriwai Golf Open
- Apr 29
- 3 min read
The Charles Tour heads to Muriwai Golf Club this week for the 2026 Muriwai Open, with $110,000 in prize money on the line and defending champion Mark Brown headlining a quality field.
Brown, who produced a composed final-round performance last season in carding a three-under 69 to overhaul 54-hole leader Kerry Mountcastle and claim the title by a single shot.
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The Lower Hutt-born veteran turned 51 in February and moved swiftly to make his mark on the senior circuit, winning his Legends Tour debut at the Swiss Seniors Open in July 2025 in a statement of intent that surprised nobody who has watched him compete at the top level for the better part of three decades.
Brown said to defend a title on the Summerset Charles Tour is always special, made even more so by the fact heading into next week's UNLIMIT Taranaki Open he will be a defending champion of sorts as well, having not played the 2025 edition.
"I'm looking forward to it. Like it's always special to defend [I've] kind of got two in a row 'cause I didn't play New Plymouth last year. So, sort of two tournaments in a row to defend and that's always special, especially coming back to such an awesome golf course here at Muriwai. Super looking forward to it."
Muriwai presents a unique set of challenges in being a links test, Brown said his early days in the Hutt Valley prepare him as well as anything for the Tasman Coast conditions.
"Usually handling the weather, especially the wind, which I should be good at growing up in Wellington. Really just depending on the conditions that's given to you on any day is the challenge here."
The course's recent redevelopments have only added to his own personal enjoyment of the course and tournament, he said.
"For me it's the fact that it's a links course and I love links golf. The challenge of the golf course, the quality of the golf course, I think is the number one. And it's just got better and better over the years too. Last year was outstanding."
The field will be sharpened further by the presence of Kerry Mountcastle, who arrives at Muriwai with fresh momentum after claiming the Super 6s title at Manawatu Golf Club, his second Super 6s victory.
The Palmerston North-based professional secured top seeding in the stroke play and then defeated four opponents without dropping a match before beating Sam Jones in the final with birdies on four of the six holes. Mountcastle was also the 54-hole leader at Muriwai last year before Brown’s closing 69 overhauled him, and his recent form makes him the most compelling challenger to the defending champion.
Brown and Mountcastle will not go unchallenged. Tyler Hodge, the left-handed Levin professional who claimed the Wallace Development New Zealand PGA Championship at Hastings Golf Club last year in a one-shot victory over Mountcastle.
Australian Tim Hart, arrives at Muriwai as a regular Charles Tour challenger while James Hydes knows this course as well as anyone in the field, having won the Autex Muriwai Open here as an amateur in 2020, and the North Shore professional will be eyeing a return to the venue where his career first announced itself.
Auckland-based Jared Edwards brings a run of international form that includes top-ten finishes on the PGA Tour of Australasia, while local professional Cam Jones and 2005 New Zealand Open winner Mahal Pearce round out a field with the depth to make 2026 as competitive as any previous edition.
