An even-par 70 at Branxton Golf Club on Sunday was enough for Mark Hale to claim a nine-shot victory and a record 16th A-grade championship.
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For Hale, his 16th title was just as sweet as the 15 that had preceded it.
“They’re all special, and this year was actually really good because some of the young guys really stuck it to me,” he said.
“But yeah it’s still massively satisfying, that’s why I keep on playing.”
While he acknowledged the presence of a number of up-and-coming juniors at Branxton, Hale said a pursuit of 20 club championships or more was not out of the question.
He went into Sunday’s final round with a three-shot lead and didn’t take long to build on that buffer, firing a birdie on the opening hole of the day.
With an even-par 280, Hale finished nine shots ahead of second-placed Mick Tracey, who his beat 16-year-old son Josh on a countback after draining a 20-foot putt on the 18th hole.
The B-grade club championship saw Phil Carter (340) run away with an eight-shot win from Tony Seamer, while Errol Munzenberger took out C-grade on 358, five shots ahead of Michael Simpson.
Anthony Bentley was the A-grade nett winner with 270, Mick Armstrong claimed B-grade with 275 and in C-grade John Martin recorded the best nett score of the championship with 266.
