REECE Hodson relished being a member of the Bathurst division one side which ended a seven-year Central West District Golf Association's pennants drought last year, but now he's aiming for a title defence.
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It's a title defence which got off to a good start on Sunday as Bathurst posted a 4-1 over Cowra at Orange's Duntryleague course.
After being a member of the side which downed Forbes 4-1 in the final last year to see Bathurst claim its first division one title since 2012, Hodson has returned for the club's 2020 campaign.
Cameron Jackson and Justin Sutton have also returned after being part of that winning combination.
They are joined by David Clemens and Steve McDonald plus reserves James Chapple and Wayne Boserio, while Darryn Bruce is once again the captain.
Hodson feels is a team capable of going back-to-back in the annual matchplay-format competition.
"The boys are all excited about it this year. There are three of us there who won it last year and we are looking forward to trying to defend it this year," he said.
"I think with everyone doing their bit, we've got a very good chance.
"We practice on a Wednesday and try and get everyone down on a Friday to have a bit of match practice too so we are mentally right for the Sunday."
On Sunday in their opening round meeting with Cowra, McDonald saw Bathurst make a winning start as he beat Mark Dixon 4 and 3.
Jackson dominated against Michael Brooks to win 7 and 6, while Chapple bettered young gun Patrick Edenborough 5 and 3.
While Sutton went down on the 18th hole in his match against Rod McDonald - his first pennants loss since 2015 - Hodson beat Jacob Moodie 8 and 7 to see Bathurst take a commanding overall victory.
"I had a few good holes early on which was good, my game is just starting to come together really well," Hodson said.
"I've played good the last couple of rounds at Bathurst. I hit a six-under on the Thursday previous then Saturday just gone I had four-under, so I am coming into some form and that's good heading into pennants.
"As everyone knows matchplay is a different animal, so we've just got to take it week-to-week. That's what we are all doing.
"We are just going to take each week as it comes, every team has it's different challenges and there are different courses."
Joining Bathurst at the top of the standings after round one is Forbes, who recorded a 4-1 victory over Duntryleague.
Parkes holds down third spot after grinding out a 3-2 win over Mudgee.
Bathurst's division three side beat Orange 4-1 while in division four, Bathurst bettered Orange 3-2. Division two had the bye.
