2025
9–13 November

Always a favourite warm-up course and Secret Harbour was dressed to please on a warm sunny day. The weather was a precurser of what transpired over the three Open days - just perfect for our players Walks, Jacko, Squancey, Tom and Dalbs. Our vouchsafe vouchers hit two initial snags - some expired/used; and Squancey's frustrating attempts to register his new set without success. But, wait . . . where's Walks? With 5 minutes to tee off, Joe Cool sauntered in but too late for us poor pensioner's to use the voucher.

The facets that characterise this great course - thick rough, water, sand . . . and wildlife . . .

Perhaps "warm-up" was a misnomer, scores wobbling between high 20s and low 30s. But, on a positive note, were we (hopefully) exorcising a good portion of our bad shots. And on that positive note, we charged off to Binningup . . .

. . . to join earlier arrivals Ronzo, Macca and Scobes. Tom got the proceedings underway with a Welcome to Country – Allardice Country – followed by a special presentation to Ron and Steve for their much valued and on-going Binninup hospitality. In true Tom style, each was provided with a 20th Binningup Open Booklet and a Welcome Pack of golfing goodies.

Left: Recognising the Allardice hospitality Centre: A value packed Welcome Pack Above: Settling in for a brilliant Open

A great start with extra interest created by the introduction of a daily Putting Competition in which Scobes was to be a key player. With the rules explained and finally agreed to, each group of four was then divided into Team A and Team B and it was off to quench the hunger - the thirst partly taken care of.

A simple order of fish and chips from the Binningup General Store shouldn't present too many dramas, should it? Only when the paper wrapping was ripped apart revealing a plethora of chips but very few fish! Dalbs' mercy dash found a very embarrassed vendor needing to dispose of the extra order he'd forgotten to hand over. But a Lemon Roulade and vanilla ice-cream to follow washed down with a fine red and the incident was but a memory. Hmmm, a neat segue into a Ronzo specialty - potted highlights of the 19 Binningup Opens to-date, with a highlight being 2008 the year of a Hawks Premiership (?).

And the Great Man wins the first $50 Pick-A-Sports-Card before the chips of a different kind were rolled out and the cards shuffled well into the night.

Monday 10 November – Harvey
Cereals and Jacko's delicious Bacon and Egg wraps for an 8.30 breakfast were woofed down and made for the perfect start on the first of three leisurely mornings which proved a hit this Open. An easy drive to Harvey Golf Club with an uneasy feeling after the indifferent reception when it was last played in 2016. A later tee off time may have helped but, in any case, we were greeted with a smile, buggies were charged and ready to go and the course proved to be in very good condition, courtesy of their imminent Open competition. It's all in the timing.

Wham, bam, thank you maam – Macca obviously enjoyed his return to Harvey accumulating 4 pars, 9 bogeys and 46 pts, a far cry from the 24 pts he scored the last time we played this course in 2016. Tom promised to help Macca get around the course and performed exceptionally as the Macca Whisperer. Most of Macca's 46 points resulted from the Mystic's ministrations. He was going to take some catching. The course proved quite testing, the rest of the field unable to play to handicap with Tom's 34 pts next best which further emphasised how well Macca played. Ronzo, Jacko and Walks were relieved that they could drop one of the first two courses, Ronzo best with 24 pts. Not a happy hunting ground for most but the course did its best to entice us back.

Partners in putting	The tee tree	On his way to third placing
Wasn't one of Chris's best days today		Thank goodness, we're home!

An afternoon snack of chicken wings with yoghurt was a winner with Chris's famous Spaghetti Bolognese with green salad a nourishing evening meal topped off with Tira Misu and strawberries and ice cream.

A chicken wings snack . . .	. . . proved to be the perfect relaxant!

And when the day's results were revealed, the heart tablets were passed around. Macca had opened up a 12 point buffer and the smile never left his face for the entire Open.

ROGUES GALLERY - Day 1
1st Macca 46 points 2nd Tom 34 points 3rd Squancey 30 points   Putting Competition Team B GW, CJ, TJ, GM 53 putts Team A RD, GS, DS, RA 61 putts

Tom's touch with memorable prizes was at its best: Our winner the recipient of two crystal "balls" The NAGA – tees with their own tracker. Tom took out the $50 Pick-A-Sport and copious cards followed well into the night, but not before . .

. . we hoed into a delicious and filling Jacko Spaghetti Bolognese and salad . . .	. . . and were later serenaded . . .	. . . while Squancey did the dishes

Tuesday 11 November – Remembrance Day
Sanctuary
Cereals for those a bit peckish before tripping to Sanctuary and enjoying a brunch and a minutes silence in remembrance. The course was in great condition but strangely not that busy on a fine sunny day.

The course has always presented challenges with acres of sand and water and many a tricky green. However Tom proved to be the little master this Open, his two consistent 9's producing 37 points and a birdie to be the only player to play to handicap or better. In the 19 Opens played at Sanctuary, only 1 player has played to handicap or better on 12 hit outs with no player achieving the feat on 4 attempts.

And we're off . . . but low	It wasn't all clear sailing for today's winner - but he recovered well

Squancey opening nine featured 3 wipes and just 3 strokes over for the other 6 holes! A bit more sedate with just 1 wipe and a birdie coming home. Jacko hit the day's third birdie on his way to 18 pts on the outward but struck trouble with 2 wipes coming home but still made the podium. After his first day heroics, Macca had a lay day and a scare. He was seen collapsing into a bunker but deep concerns were allayed when it was revealed he'd lost his footing as the bordering grass gave way. Ronzo and Dalbs were mired in doubles, triples and wipes but were still too good for a hapless Walks who just couldn't get it together, both on the course and in his attempts to get the right score on the card! Walks commented he saw only one pelican last time he played at Sanctuary. This turned out to be a bad omen as a number of pelicans (or perhaps one evil bird) followed Walks around the course and clearly ruined his concentration. At one point, he was thrashing away in a bunker without success. "I don't care!!!" he cried to which Tom replied "Looking at your score, you didn't care!!". At another point, the Long Drive 6th hole was initially Walks's with a 300m effort, the hole eventually won by Squancey – 180m! It was fun.and games at Sanctuary with Tom's score biting somewhat into Macca's Open lead.

Between a tree and a wet place	No thrashing here . . . and this pelican didn't ruin his concentration "Great shot Walks"

The afternoon snacks continued to excel, this time an Oriental delight of coconut prawns, vege spring rolls, beef curry puffs and Gochujang Kyiv balls with chilli sauce. Hao chi!!

It was a decisive win BUT the Little Master was not presenting a winners prize to Tom! However today's runner-up received a classic as did today's NAGA - Walks again! And Dalbs took out the $50 Pick-A-Sport.

	Priceless!!	A First Aid kit!

ROGUES GALLERY - Day 2
1st Tom 37 points 2nd Squancey 32 points 3rd Jacko 30 points   Putting Competition Team A DS, RA, CJ, GS 61 putts Team B GM, GW, RD, TJ 65 putts

It's traditional, it's dress up and it's grand eating, and this Black Tie Dinner was one of the best with Chef Jacko on song . . .

And cards again went well into the night . . .

Wednesday 12 November – Capel
With an afternoon tee-off, it was a very casual and relaxed morning with cereals for the early peckish and burgers for brunch. Sleep-ins were proving the perfect antidote to late night cards. And it was off at 11.50 am to be reunited with the Capel Golf Course and hopefully a friendlier reception. The trip along the 27-kilometre, $1.46 billion Wilman Wadandi Highway was a good start and a friendly smile, buggies at the ready and a course in very good condition was a good finish. Everyone enjoyed the golfing experience.

As the Macca Whisperer had done at Harvey, Tom repeated his support after Macca scored just 9 points over the front 9. The result – a 21 point second 9 to quash the ambitions of any title hopefuls. The effort didn't distract Tom, his 31 points enough to claim consecutive wins to go with an opening second place making for a very successful Open outing. Ronzo was the steady improver, his 30 point effort today earning him a third placing.

Let the Capel capers begin	The "good out" caper	The "excellent pitch shot" caper
Audience totally disinterested	He's got the touch	"Great shot Mr Squance"
Walks took a liking to the course, his 27 points 7 points higher than his previous highest score. And he didn't wipe a single hole. Jacko and Dalbs' cards were littered with wipes and 1 pointers after ho-hum rounds, both scoring 14 going out and 12 coming home for a modest 26 point scores. And, to Walks's relief, Squancey had a vociferous round he'd rather forget. It was a sunny, warm end to an enjoyable visit to Capel and to another great Binningup outing. And we still had one more Jacko evening meal to look forward to . . . . . . but not before the final hurrah.
	Just missed - not Squanceys day	Rounding off an excellent Open win

It was straight into the presentations with Capel winning results a very close affair . . .

ROGUES GALLERY - Day 3
1st Tom 31 points 2nd Macca 30 points 3rd Ronzo 30 points   Putting Competition Team A CJ, GS, RA, GW 57 putts Team B GM, TJ, RD, DS 59 putts

And for the BIG announcements, Mr Scoble stepped up to do the honours in his brilliant inimitable style. He had the crowd in stitches and brought one of the winners to tears!!

A tremendous effort by the Away Captain and Walks to organise prizes and trophies. But wait – there was one more presentation to make . . . . . . a special prize for the Open winner =====> for his "green" caper. Macca hit his ball onto the 8th green 1m from the pin. He then proceeded to pick up the ball, his marker being a spec of fertilizer!!

The 2025 BINNINGUP OPEN WINNERS . . .

1st MACCA 76 points 2nd TOM 68 points 3rd RONZO 58 points CONGRATULATIONS MACCA on your MAIDEN Open win!
		A happy NAGA winner
Competition – Longest Drive: Chris, Capel, 180m. Nearest NTP: Dalbs, Harvey, 4.5m

And speaking of Macca, our very dedicated, hard working, money spinning Treasurer then took leave to work out the finances . . . .

The hungry gathered for Jacko's last evening offering – Sausage sizzle "wraps" followed by Boysenberry and Vanilla Ice Creams. Now we know why Chris finds Coles irresistable. And the red wine flowed. A last Pick-A-Sport and dirty Dalbs took out two in a row! What better way to see out another brilliant golfing journey than to lay your cards on the table until the bewitching hour . . . yet again.
	The last supper

And, finally, the President declared . . .
"My measure of success as President to make the GBWGC great again has been the best ever Binningup Open"