March 17–20 (Thursday/Sunday), 2022

Six players only fronted up Thursday afternoon for the event due to ailments and other commitments. They were Les, Ron, Tom, Jacko, Macca and Walks. Plenty of room for us at Les’s mansion – we had a room each – and Club Santavea was at its luxurious best . . .

We settled in with plenty of drinks and food and greeted by Easter eggs on the beds (thanks Les) and Easter arrival bags (thanks Tom). And then came the complaint . . . from Les about the Winter Trophy report. "I'm disappointed. It was too little too late" he moaned (and kept reminding us over the next few days). But a response was immediately forthcoming – a
re-presenting of the trophy together with a "If the report was too little, is this big enough" memento and a book of the Trophy history. Can't now recall if the impossible happened – Les being lost for words!

New evening entertainment was also introduced by Les – quoits. They played 'til they dropped.

We had perfect weather for golf every day.

Day 1 – Mandurah Country Club

Thunderbird 4 in action – or is it Roy Jackson?

Started the day with a big breakfast. Plenty of time to eat and relax – Tee-off was 10.30.

The fairways were in perfect condition but the greens had been cored recently which made them slow, but true. Many a putt needed to be hit just a bit harder.

Walks hit a rare patch of form and blitzed the course with 43 points. He also won 2 NTPs and a long drive. Macca fought through the very obvious pain from his dicky hip to notch up 38 points. The rest were grouped in the low 30s.

The magnificent opening hole	GPS accessory?

Winners are definitely grinners . . . and coffee drinkers

Chocolate Royals were the hit of the night – a whole new experience . . . and meaning. Perhaps this was the night everyone was in bed before midnight! It was one of those "You had to be there" moments.

Day 2 – Meadow Springs

It’s a great course but very tough to make an impact on the score card. The pack wanted to notch scores that bettered the previous day but it was only Tom that improved by a couple points.

Speaking of Tom, he was putting out (or trying to) when Les observed
"Now Tom, if you went to church more often, you wouldn't have missed that putt". Tom: "Wish Reggie was here. She'd love to hear that".

Ron won the day with 34 points and Les was second on 33 points on a countback from Tom.

There was also a special event, organised by Les on Saturday afternoon. A pontoon boat was picked up by Les and Tom and the group was given a tour of the canals for a couple of hours. Drinks, nibbles and Captains Les and Tom at the wheel made for another fantastic first for the club.

The Boat Trip

	The End

The Black Tie Dinner on the balcony completed a sensational Day 2.

Day 3 - The Cut

For some reason, everybody has some fear of how they will fare on the Cut. But on this day, we teed off at 6.30 and conditions were perfect, other than slow greens because they had been cored and sanded. Happily, Squancey finished his period of isolation and joined the original six.

At the start of the day, Walks was the clear leader on 43 points followed by Macca (38) and Ron (34) and the rest on 33 and 32 points.

Match the feet to the person	D'ya really think I'll get over that rough?	Please don't do a slice

Back to the clubhouse for lunch and presentations after the golf where Captain Tom kept all and sundry in suspense about the final scores. In the slow reveal, the hot and cold Ron was announced as NAGA, thus putting him out of contention. It was then announced that Walks was fourth-placed on the round which gave everybody else some hope of a surprise winner!

Tom won the day with a brilliant 42 points. He was followed by Macca (39) and Jacko (37). However, Walks also had a good day and finished with 37 points, so the pack could not catch him.

Final results of the event were:

The Cut podium	2022 Mandurah Masters Champion	The TJ award winners

Squancey almost had the last word. Les was waxing lyrical (at considerable length) when Squancey was heard to say "Just hang on a minute Les. I'll go and get a 50c piece and you can ring and tell someone . . . who cares!

But true to form Les played one last ace, the offer of 6 crabs to either eat for lunch or take home. His offer was snapped up by Squancey and Walks.

Four memorable social and golfing days and the boat trip was certainly a highlight of one of the best ever golf trips. Thanks Les for being the perfect host. Let there be many more.