Steve McDonald wins his first Bathurst Golf Club Championships title

But unlike November's previous edition this time McDonald was able to maintain his advantage and come away with the top prize.

McDonald held his nerve going into the second weekend of play, ending his tournament with a score of 293 (9+) to beat runner-up Phil Campbell by four strokes.

Defending champion Reece Hodson finished third (300).

The victory is the first club championships title for McDonald, who has continued his brilliant run of form since making his return to golf.

McDonald said after going close to the championship in his previous bid in November he returned fired up for a shot at the title.

"This is my first title I've won since I was a junior. I've only just come back to playing golf," he said.

"It feels unreal. I've worked very hard to get this. For the last six months I've been keen on getting this. It feels like a weight lifted off my shoulders."

It's a turnaround for McDonald after he surrendered a two-stroke lead at the halfway mark of 2020's rescheduled championships.

"I was reminiscing about last year. All I thought about was that I didn't want to crumble like last time," he said.

"The weekends definitely played differently. The first Saturday and Sunday were very windy, and the Sunday was cold, and on the second weekend the pin placements were in very hard positions."

There were no concerns this time around.

McDonald's bigger advantage on this occasion allowed him to play more risk-averse golf across rounds three and four.

"The windy conditions across the first weekend was where I set the lead up. I was playing well there. On Sunday I didn't play the best but I kept hitting the fairways and kept with them," he said.

"I knew I had a few shots advantage so I didn't really go aggressively for pins on the day. I was just trying to playing conservative golf on Sunday.

"I'd been in good form over the last couple of months so I felt that I had a good chance of getting close to it. It just depended on how Reece was playing. If he's on fire then he's going to be the hard one to beat.

"I've come back from a tournament in Queensland where I had been playing consistently so I knew I was coming in with good form. All I had to do was try and keep that level of golf going through four rounds."

Meanwhile in B grade Noah Constable (332) saw off a final round charge from Tremayne Power (336) to take first place. Will Casey was six strokes behind in third.

David Sams came away with the B1 grade crown thanks to his total of 354, beating Stephen Johnson (358) and Jeremy Baker (359).

Col Hope (365) continued the trend of four-stroke victories throughout the event, winning the C grade battle over Andrew Hicks (369) and Mark Davis (374).

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