Hawley, who missed the cut after scores of 70 and 81 at the Australian Masters event at Kingston Heath, was a one-shot winner of the $10,000 event.

He fired six birdies in a four-under round of 66 to win the title from Euan Walters and Christopher Hynes, who both finished on 67.

Hawley was part of the morning group of golfers which took to the course and his score was good enough to hold on to first place for the remainder of the day.

The right-hander was not there at the clubhouse to receive his award, instead catching a flight back interstate.

A total of 148 golfers, including 50 professionals, played at Mt Xavier yesterday.

In other competition, Matt Moore won the A-grade stableford event with 40 points, finishing clear of Mitch Canny (38) and Darren Bowman (37), while Russell Dunne collected the B-grade spoils on a countback from Bill Kuiler after both golfers finished on 38 points. John Coughlan was third, a further two points behind.

Yesterday’s event was the second annual pro-am at the Ballarat East course after the event’s inauguration in 2011.

FINAL LEADERBOARD

66 - Alex Hawley (NSW)

67 - Euan Walters (VIC), Christopher Hynes (VIC)

68 - Wade Lowrie (VIC), Michael Choi (VIC), Grant Scott (NSW)

69 - Andrew Rogers (VIC), Brendan Chant (SA)

70 - Mitch Davis (NSW), Paul Maiolo (NSW), Tony Collier (VIC), Kevin Harris (VIC), Scott Wearne (VIC), John Wade (VIC).

tim.connor@thecourier.com.au