March 9–13 (Monday/Thursday), 2026

From the diary of the 2026 Mandurah Masters Champion . . .

First up on the Agenda, I would like to share a little message to all . . .

Moving on to the week just passed before I forget, a few thank you's to those that contributed to make our time as enjoyable as it was . . .

• Les for opening up his Castle for us to all totally indulge in;
• For the guys that had anything to do with any of the behind the scenes organising that makes everything run smoothly;
• Macca for his unrelenting mastery in keeping the finances in check;
• Our Master Chef Chris and his Sous Chef Squancey for the time consuming and great job done with not only the cooking but the prep, the purchasing of food and plenty of the cleaning of dishes;
• And for anyone I have left out . . . Thank You!

Secret Harbour Warmup
Well things could not have kicked off any better. The Magnificent 7 rolled up to Secret Harbour for a Pre-Tournament round of 18 holes – with Lunch! Macca, being the "Wallet Wizard", was quick to tell me to "Piss off" upon seeing my entry into the Pro Shop as he had just fashioned me into being, One also with many years of Wisdom. The upside being I had just saved $40; the downside being lunch was to be chosen from the Senior's Menu - and the Fish and Chips was bloody awful!!

As far as the golf was concerned, we all had acceptable rounds. I found the course really enjoyable to play and in pretty good condition seeing it had recently been renovated. A course I think should be included in future competitions. The round went fairly quickly, the weather was great and we were all eager to arrive at Club Santavea rather than hang back to enjoy a beer or two.

Club Santavea was immaculate as usual but parking 11 cars had Les knocking on neighbour's doors. A great effort to arrange the home for a comfortable stay for 12. Drinks and nibbles on the patio.

A relaxing start with superb views . . .	. . . from the balcony

Ron waxed lyrical with copious facts and figures and novelty gifts for most topped off by a presentation to Les of his favourite Grant Burge Shiraz and a Baileys Chocolate for Deb.

The facts man	Masterful Masters opening	Up go the handicaps

Squancey got the $60 Pick -A-Sport while I was grateful for the "great to be back" golf balls with the GBWGC logo and to get into the Perfect (family size) Pizzas followed by either Boysenberry or Vanilla icecream cones (YUM). Not being around in recent times, I had either forgotten or a new protocol has pairing and teams pre-organised and the order of who is off first all organised and made aware at the clubhouse well before arrival at the course.

Day 1 – Meadow Springs
For as long as I can remember I have always held Meadow Springs as my #2 favourite W.A.G.C. Nothing has changed. The fact that I haven't played there for so many years and also that we started on Hole 10 had me in a mindset that I was a virgin to this course. An apt description being all my peers have a foot or even half a foot in the . . . Only joking!! OK, so the greens had sand on them from recent renovations, but the "Tee Box" fairways, the Exceptional Undulations, the manicured grass surrounding the greens and even the strategically placed bunkers make this course an absolute pleasure to mosey around and swing a club or two.

And we're off!	And we're back (on the fairway)	And take that!

With my partner in crime for the day, Sam, I felt his pain. I have been there many a time when you just cannot wait to get off the course. And to rub salt into the situation, I managed to put together the best round I've had since my return to the Club. It had to be a good round to beat that and Tom delivered with 41 pts that included 2 wipes! Mr Squance was in blistering form with an opening 20 pts but lost some mojo with 13 coming home but still claimed third position on the day.

WHAM!!	Bugger . . more trees!	Bunker brothers

Back at the shack and I introduced the boys to the Old People's game - Bingo! Created much fun and joint winners - Tom and Phil. Treasurer Macca paid himself $80 by winning Pick a Sport and it was into another delicious Chris meal of roast lamb and roast potatoes but no seasonal veges please.

A cooling off	What's he up to?	BINGO!!

A magnificent roast with all the trimmings		Chef had put in a big effort . . .

Day 1 winners . . . 1st Tom 41 points 2nd Steve 37 points 3rd Squancey 33 points

Day 2 – Pinjarra

Perfect weather for golf	Band of Brothers breakfast

For me – more new or either forgotten protocols. And another course where I am a 100% virgin. As previously mentioned, the groupings, teams and order of teeing off had already been pre-determined. I was to be off 1st again which I prefer as I am not a patient stand byer. The other organised area of the tournament itinerary that I found very civil and accepting was the later start times. The unrushed need to awake, shower, eat and leave to desired "Steve" time to visit the Library is a massively welcomed change. And not to mention enough time to then allow a visit to one of Greater Perth's most popular bakeries.

To this point in time, everything was humming along nicely. I was again nervous as I strode to the tee to be again the first player to tee off. I was confident as it had worked for me the previous day. Not only that, but I had had 2 rounds and everything was going great . . . BANG!! The slice was off the Richter Scale and 7 lost balls later had me crashing back to the "Reality" that golf seems to dish up. I would go on to blame Les and Phil for the pressure that they had NO idea they were putting on me. I had a terrible day. Not sure if it was because of how bad I played but, in my opinion - apart from a few nice Par 3's and the 18th, the rest of the course had little desire to offer. So happy to have played there but my thoughts are that the region has much better on offer.

Rusted on members	Not the only one with butterflies before tee off

A slice off the Richter Scale	Start of Phil's 27 point first 9	If it's not trees it's . . .

The Home Captain had a few challenges . . . and good fortune . . .		. . . and, no, it's not what you think!

Much nail biting back at the clubhouse as our basketball tragics watched the Wildcats go down valiantly by 1 point in the first Final. Tom barked and we all trudged upstairs for the presentations.

Swanning it on the upstairs balcony	Upstairs (by decree) presentations

Two presentations stood out for me - Squancey, our NAGA, got an Office Answer Wheel ("It's not my job" "It wasn't me" "I will get back to you" etc.); Chris a golf card wallet for his brilliant food efforts. Sam got the $100 Pick a Sport and we were all treated to Chicken Schnitzels with potato chips (and salad) then (fruit salad and) ice cream.

Day 2 winners . . . 1st Phil 39 points 2nd Lindsay 31 points 3rd Tom 28 points

Day 3 – MCC

A little warm-up . . .	. . . before tackling "Mint" Mandurah

Having an acronym like this means surely there is an element of greatness? We arrived at the course and, only ever playing there once before, we were met with windy conditions. But the raised outlook gave us a view of a course in "Mint" condition. The view was further enhanced when the wind caused havoc with a few "Upskirt" moments happening to a lady golfer who was not only the pick of the bunch but was also forced to now include "Spanks" over the top of her G String. Was this the element of "Greatness" we just witnessed??

Today's round had me in the last group to tee off as we were the 4 leading players. Tom was to be 1st off. He possessed a 4 point lead over me, Phil was second with a 2 point lead and Squancey was 4th a few points behind me. Before we all headed to the first tee, a little confusion began to bubble as the score cards we had didn't match current tee allocations. Minutes before, I had heard the Golf Pro mention to the group of Upskirts (as I was loitering around for close up views!!) that the 1st had become the 10th and vice versa. Long Story Short - Our cards would be fine to use. Whatever the situation we needed to do, we would be applying the same requirements.

After my very poor showing the day before, I had made the decision to go into the day with a game plan. And I was really wanting to stick with it no matter what. This meant also sticking with it if things weren't going along OK. It was simple - I was going to drive plus fairway drive at 80-90%. It worked all round albeit for one shot on the 17th when I started to get excited that I might complete the round with No wipes. The other reason for trying that little extra was the final two holes were offering up extra Stableford points for me that I wanted to capitalise on.

At the beginning of play, my putting helped to have me thinking after a few holes that I had made up enough points to be level with Tom and Phil and to extend my lead over Squancey. Squancey and I were partners and for so long he kept racking up the points hole after hole. The difference was that I would get an extra point or same point with extra shots as his handicap was far superior. After the first nine I let him know that I did not want to know any scores – I never do! I had no idea how Tom and Phil had scored but knew they were both going along pretty good. I actually had no idea I had racked up as many points as I had and had thought I might be in with a chance, but not really. It was not until, when having a putt on the 18th and I said it was for birdie, I holed in for par and Tom said "You got it with that!".

The four of us played great games and I was lucky enough to play the best game of my life!!

Macca firing the first shot	Les's trips to the sand and rough but he still scored well

Huh??	Sam's middling shot . . .	. . . and (effective) short putting style

At the 18th . . . but did they drop?

Oops . . . here comes a tree	Phil caressing it onto the 18th	"GO IN!" It just missed but the longish tricky return putt did at the 18th to cement a magnificent round.

Day 3 winners . . . 1st Steve 46 points 2nd Phil 39 points 3rd Squancey 35 points

The 2026 MANDURAH MASTERS WINNERS . . .

1st STEVE 83 points 2nd PHIL 78 points 3rd TOM 73 points CONGRATULATIONS STEVE!
Competition: Nearest NTP: Macca, Hole 2, Pinjarra Golf Club, 33cm; Longest Drive: Lindsay, Hole 6, Meadow Springs, 226m.

Golf over and done with, attention turned to different games

The Black Tie Dinner of steak, sausages, potato and peas, corn and peppercorn sauce was a great final meal, Chris's efforts recognised in Toms final comments as was Les's hospitality.
	Squancey won the Black Tie dress-up hands down

Close of Play
Apparently Chris's farewell breakfasts are legendary and after watching bacon, sausages, eggs, cheese-topped tomato, mushrooms, baked beans, hash browns and toast rolled out, I'm convinced!