Halls Head Western Open

The tournament was founded in 1979 as the Mandurah Classic. The event was held at Mandurah Country Club in Halls Head, Mandurah, Western Australia.^[1] The event was managed by Tuohy and Associates, a golf management group run by Bob Tuohy, a former professional golfer.^[2] In the inaugural event, local resident Terry Gale came from behind in the final round to match the course record with a 66 (−6) and win by five shots.^[3] The following year, Gale repeated as champion.^[4]

In 1981 and 1982, the event became part of the PGA Tour of Australia. The purse increased significantly to A$30,000.^[5] The first two rounds were a neck and neck struggle between Bob Shaw and Colin Bishop with Terry Gale close behind.^[6][7][8] In the third round, however, Bishop and Shaw "faded" with over-par rounds. Gale, meanwhile, scored four consecutive birdies on the back nine for a five-under-par 67.^[9] He suddenly led by seven shots.^[10] In the final round, Shaw recorded a number of birdies on the back nine to reduce Gale's lead to two. However, he bogeyed the 17th and Gale finished two strokes ahead.^[11] It was his third consecutive victory in the event.^[12] The following year, Gale was among the favorites,^[13] and held the lead after the first three rounds.^[12][14][15] However, in the final round he failed to make a birdie, and Mike Cahill took advantage, shooting a 70 to win by a stroke.^[16] In 1983, Bob Shaw, who had been runner-up in both 1981 and 1982, won by a stoke from Peter Fowler after having a two-stroke penalty applied for replacing a tee marker on the final hole.^[17]