After shooting 71, 69 and 68 respectively in each of the first three rounds, the former St Johns student dominated the final 18 holes, to finish the four-day tournament 12-under par - behind winner Bryden Macpherson (18-under) from Melbourne.

The $9500 earned by Zunic also saw him jump a handful of spots, into 29th position on the ISPS Handa Australasian Order of Merit.

The significance of Zunic's top-30 ranking is it guarantees him a start at all of next season's tour events, including all the European Tour co-sanctioned events, should they go ahead later in the year or early next year.

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And with the NSW Open proving to be the last event on the extended 2019-21 COVID-19 affected tour, his seventh-place finish was extremely timely.

Fellow South Coast products Jordan Widdicombe (Kiama) and Jye Halls (Mollymook) both missed the cut at the event.

The former shot two rounds of 71, to miss the cut by one shot, while Ulladulla High School student Halls shot a solid even-par opening round before fading with a 74 in round two - to miss the cut by three shots.

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