Betland, the Forbes bred and raised golfer who has had a brilliant career that ultimately saw him gain selection in a very strong NSW Country team that dominated Victoria in Wagga some 10 years ago, showed that all his experience in leading home the strong field shot a 1 over Par score of 107 for the 27 hole marquee event.

Betland's initial opening 18 holes saw him fire a 1 over Par round of 72 to lead Mudgee's Mark Hale by a mere shot while Betland's brother Steve was a further shot away in third place but still well in contention. However, the final nine holes saw Hale draw level with Betland when he birdied the Par 5, 2nd Hole only to drop a shot at the short Par 3, 4th Hole after a disastrous three putt.

Meanwhile Betland continued his solid form by Paring the final nine holes in claiming his well earnt victory.

The small Parkes greens played a big part in Betland's win as he showed his knowledge and experience by keeping the ball under the pin while his major opponents were either above or had putts that required a lot of finesse. This was the major obstacle in the game of Betland's brother Steve as he three putted no fewer than 5 greens on what is normally one of his strong attributes.

The pre-event favourite and defending titleholder Duntry League's Robert Payne was a late scratching due to a family commitment but with his scratching came the news that Mudgee's Mark Hale, a plus 2 marker, would enter the strong field and he certainly added strength and purpose to the tournament in finishing runner-up.

The strong field of players found conditions very difficult with the Par 71 undulating course rewarding the good shots and heavily penalising the stray shots. Putting on the greens became more treacherous as the course dried out with players facing difficult putts, especially with across and downhill putts.

At the presentation of trophies Betland not only thanked the sponsors SCT Logistics but praised the greens staff at Parkes for the manner and condition the course was presented, especially after all of the inclement weather the town and area has been subjected to. But his major thanks went to the club's tournament committee for the manner in which the tournament was conducted.

In the SCT Logistics A Grade 27 hole Handicap section victory went to Robert Hey of Parkes who edged out Dubbo's Jesse Carolan by the barest of margins just half a shot.

In the minor grades the 27 Hole Griffins Leading Edge B Grade title for players off handicaps of 10 to 16 went down to wire as Parkes players dominated with Jake Thompson proving the pundits wrong with a superb display after a convincing 1 shot victory over clubmate Michael Thomas. Another Parkes player in Jake Matthews was just 1 shot back in third place.

Thompson fired a solid 83 off the stick in the opening 18 holes and then came home the final nine holes in 6 over Par for a 42 for an eventual total of 125, while the runner-up Michael Thomas was equally impressive as he returned scores of 84 and 42. Matthews, playing off a 13 handicap, fired rounds of 87 and 40 for the 27 Hole championship event, however Matthews' nett score of 107 1/2 proved good enough to take victory in the grade's 27 Hole Handicap section, with Aaron Gaffey also of Parkes, in the runner-up position on 110 nett.

The B Grade pre-event favourite Parkes Golf Club president Dave Stevenson started strongly only to fade away over the demanding final 9 holes as his condition gave out when he closed with a disastrous 47 off the stick after an initial 84.

The less demanding C Grade over 18 holes for the TSG and Kooler Ice sponsored event saw another Parkes domination with Sam Standen powering his way to his maiden big event victory after he recorded an absolute brilliant round of 85 to claim that division by an amazing 4 shots over Cody Hando, with Parkes junior Simon Hogan in third place on 90.

Another local golfer in Bruce Symonds took out the handicap section with a 71 nett just 1 shot clear of Phil Smith and another local in Brendon Simpson in third place on 73 nett.

Prior to the presentation of trophies Parkes Golf Club president Dave Stevenson welcomed all visitors to the club and congratulated the tournament workforce headed by tournament director Paul Thomas. Stevenson also made mention of the club's bar staff as well as the club's caterers, while the greens staff were given special praise and major praise extended to the tournament's sponsors naming rights sponsor SCT Logistics and the prelude event sponsor Epiroc.

Dave Stevenson and SCT's Bill Wakim were honoured to represent the Leister family in presenting the John "Gidgie" Leister Memorial trophy to Sam Standen from Parkes who returned the day's best handicap score of 67.

Stevenson spoke highly of the well-respected Leister and for the work and time he had put into the club and especially the annual Parkes Open Tournament, pointing out that Leister due to his knowledge of the quality of players that the club sought to gain a strong field for its annual tournament.

In accepting the John "Gidgie" Leister Memorial, Standen thanked the club and the Leister family, and said he was thrilled and excited to win such a prestigious award. He also made it known he would always a have a thought of Leister as the welcoming person at the Parkes club.

In other awards from Sunday's event the Keith Clarke Memorial Trophy for the Veterans Scratch event which is sponsored by the Asquith Golf Club went to Parkes veteran Robert Hey with his 78 off the stick, while local mayor Ken Keith OAM proudly presented Dave Stevenson of Parkes with his trophy in the Veterans Handicap section after his 74 nett.

D'Aquino's Liquor Merchants employee Tony "Scrubba" Evans was on hand to present the Nearest the Pin awards, which went to Aaron Wilkie from Parkes in A Grade, another local in club president Dave Stevenson in B Grade and in clean sweep for the locals Nicholas Strudwick in C Grade.

Evans also revealed that no player achieved golf's most illustrious honour of recording a hole in one during the weekend.

Finally, from Sunday's event saw SCT's Bill Wakim present the TruServ Pty Ltd "Eagles Nest" award, which saw two players in Steve Betland from Forbes and Mudgee's Mark Hale share the award when they recorded Eagle 3's on the Par 5, 7th Hole during Sunday's event.

Wakim congratulated the Parkes club and the players on behalf of TruServ Pty Ltd Managing Director Gavin Graham for their support of the event, saying the "supply chain specialists" were always assisting country business in transporting their supplies.

Saturday's prelude event the Atlas Copco Australia 4Ball Best Ball Stableford event over 18 holes saw the Forbes brothers maintain their mantle as the champion 4 Ball players when they recorded a comprehensive and brilliant 4 shot victory with 40 Stableford points to be clear of another Forbes pairing of Peter Dawson and Andrew Dukes, who finished runners-up in the premier Scratch event. Meanwhile in the Handicap section it was the Parkes pairing of Greg Peterson and Phil Standen who survived a three-way countback in winning that section from the unlucky Robert Hey and Wayne Powter who managed to cling onto the second position just in front of Peter Magill and Peter Bristol.

In accepting their award at Sunday's presentation of trophies Peterson said it was very rare he manages to claim a major trophy at a golfing event but he and his partner Phil Standen will treasure this day.

The event's sponsor Alan Sharpe, in acknowledging the remarks of Peterson, said that since this would be the final major event he would be involved in with the company due to his impending retirement, he not only congratulated the winners but added that over the years he had meet many a friend at this event. He said he will cherish the friendships he has made and wished the club all the best in the future, and that he may come back as a visitor to the club that has given him many happy thoughts.

Finally, also in conjunction with the Epiroc 4Ball, players contested the Casey Surveying and Design Pty Ltd Long Drive competition on the 8th Fairway and this saw Parkes players once again dominate as Jack Elliott plundered his drive some 290 metres in claiming the A Grade as well as the overall title. In B Grade Trevor Chatman saw his tee dhot finish some 220 metres from the tee and in C Grade it was Mark Wright who walked away with the much sought-after trophy after his drive finished 210 metres down the fairway on a day that saw some 120 players contest the event.

Nearest the Pin winners from Saturday's event went to Craig Matthews at 431cm on the Idlerite Tyrepower sponsored 1st Hole, Robert Cheney hit a sweet 8 iron to just 167cm of the Griffins Leading Edge 4th Hole, Federals Jim Dixon struck a well-judged 5 iron to 190cm of the Dirt Doctor Landscaping 6th Hole, on the Harvey Norman sponsored 11th Hole it was all Peter Boschman as he claimed the award at just 47cm, while on the final Par 3 the Westlime sponsored 15th Hole Forbes golfer Steve Betland struck a superb 7 iron to just 231cm of the pin.

Ball winners on the day were won by Peter Bristol and Peter Magill on 44 points; on 43 points were Scott Winter and Matt Swetland, Andrew Bourke and Jack Elliott and Peak Hill's Andrew Brownlow and Duncan Constable of Parkes; and on 42 points were Max Keith and Michael Thomas, and Anthony Riach and Fine Latu.