Novocastrian Leigh McKechnie has added his name to the famous NSW Open trophy by overcoming some of the most challenging weather conditions of his and other players' careers, to win by one shot from James Nitties and claim the biggest win of his career.

McKechnie, who started the final day at 1 under par, mustered all his skills on a day where wind gusts exceeded 75 kmh which affected virtually the entire field.  His final round of 69 (-2) to finish the tournament at -3, coupled with his earlier rounds of 70, 72 and 70 (also achieved under trying conditions of high winds and scorching heat) deserved the accolades that came his way.

Only 3 players had scores better than par - McKechnie, Scott Arnold (who shot an unbelievable 66 to finish 3rd) and Matthew Guyatt (who had a 70 and finished equal 11th).

With a number of leaderboards around the course, McKechnie avoided each one until finishing with a wonderful downhill birdie on the 18th to conclude his round.  "I was very surprised when I finished and looked up to the large screen displaying the scoreboard" he said.

McKechnie's round was so good under the conditions that 2nd place getter James Nitties joked that he must have cheated - and then went on to add that it was a seriously great round.  Nitties was happy to sign for a 4 over 76 and for outright 2nd.