Hale's two under par round in Saturday's blustery opening round was the winning day for the Mudgee golfer, who gave himself a big enough buffer to win with a total of 141.

Conran applied the pressure with a second round of 66 but Hale still finished two strokes clear to win his second Bathurst title in the space of three years.

Hale wasn't put off by the windy weather on his arrival in Bathurst, and figured it would be a chance to get clear of the pack.

"I used to play pennants at Long Reef in Sydney and it was always windy down there, so when the wind was blowing I was confident I would go alright. I ended up with 69, two under, and I was pretty stoked with that," he said.

"I was sitting at four under after nine on the next day then the putter went south. I had four three putts, four two putts and one one putt on the back nine. Having 21 putts is unheard of. That's how golf goes.

"I've had a fair few seconds over the last few years. I ran second in the mid-amateur there last year and double bogeyed the last hole to lose by one and that was in my mind as well."

Conran wasn't in Hale's playing group but Hale knew there was a chance the Duntryleague golfer could make a charge during the calmer Sunday weather.

"I knew after he shot 77 on the first day he wasn't going to do that again," Hale said.

"I had to keep my score around par because him having the Sunday round he did isn't unpredictable because he's the best golfer in the Central West by a fair margin.

"Him shooting five under is just like shelling peas for him. He'll make a good career out of golf, for sure."

Hale came close to mirroring his winning rounds of 71 and 69 he achieved in his maiden 2017 appearance.

Much of the enjoyment for Hale over the two days isn't just from the golf but from the company on course.

"I had a couple of local lads walking around and I had my son caddying for me. I really enjoyed being around him at golf," he said.

"One of the local blokes walking around with us on the last day was Ray Pepper. I said to him 'How can you play like Tiger Woods for nine holes and Ray Pepper for the other nine'."

David Clemens finished third in A grade with 147.

In B grade Stuart Brown took home the crown with 165, finishing clear of Matt Lester and Andre Schuster.

James Acreman (180) won a big C grade battle ahead of Lindsay Cartwright (181) and Grant Clarke (182).