When he’s not dialing in his irons, PGA Life Member Mark Duder is taking aim at checkered flags from behind the wheel of his restored Alpine A110 rally car.

There’s no escaping the irony with PGA Life Member and rally car enthusiast Mark Duder. For a man who feeds on adrenalin away from the golf course, it’s the furthest thing from his mind when he’s on it.

"The golf carts of today have controlled speed so the temptation to race around the course is not there," admits Duder. "Personally, I prefer to walk when playing golf anyway. With a cart you arrive at your ball too quickly and don’t have time to properly consider your next shot as you approach it."

Welcome to the paradoxical life of Mark Duder, 71, a member of both the British and Australian PGA for more than 50 years and stalwart of the game in Western Australia. 

Born in Cardigan, Wales, in 1945 Duder emigrated to Australia in 1957 when his mother secured a job as a Governess on a cattle station 500 kilometres from Alice Springs.

After being introduced to golf by his grandfather ‘Chip’ during a spell back in England in 1960, Duder returned to Australia a year later to take up a PGA Traineeship with Charlie Earp at Redcliffe Golf Club in Queensland.

He eventually found his way west to complete the Traineeship with Charlie Newman at Royal Perth Golf Club and has enjoyed a long association with the region ever since, spending the final 25 years of his career at Joondalup Resort as its PGA Professional and, later, general manager.

Along the way Duder caddied for Arnold Palmer and Kel Nagle, missed the cut in The Open at Muirfield by one shot and spent six years at Albany Golf Course where he looked after more than 20 regional courses from Katanning to Salmon Gums, offering golf lessons and selling equipment from the back of the car with wife Margaret. But with his love for golf came an off-course hobby he was just as passionate about – motorsport.

"I first got involved in gravel rallies (racing) in the late 1960s up to the early ’70s," recalls Duder. "At that point I had finished my PGA Traineeship under Charlie Newman at Royal Perth, spent a year on the European circuit in 1966 and during the later part of the ’60s was working for Roy Draddy.

From then on I was totally involved with golf, working with Len Thomas, Ray Thomas and John Hadley at the Perth’s Golf Centre and Wembley before going to Albany."

It wasn’t until 1990 that Duder once again found a need for speed. "In 1990 my navigator and I bought a Renault 8 Gordini, like the one we used to rally in the ’60s, and restored it after work," he says. "We enjoyed competing in many events across Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. That was the start of my passion for restoring the car I have now, a French-built Alpine A110, which I imported from overseas in pieces."

Duder recently returned from the world-renowned Targa Tasmania rally, where he made the 7,500km return trip from Perth – including a ferry from Melbourne to Tasmania – to tick off a dream. "I guess we all have a bucket list and Targa Tasmania was high up on mine," says Duder. "Luckily, we own a motorhome and towed the Alpine across on a trailer, so our accommodation for the trip was sorted."

As fate would have it, Duder found a French connection of his pride and joy in the most unlikely of places – along Australia’s longest stretch of road without a bend. "During the drive across the Nullabor we bumped into a Frenchman on holiday who could not believe that he was looking at such a French icon in the middle of Australia."

Duder believes it is vitally important for PGA Members to have friends and interests outside of golf. "There is no reason to be spending 16 hours a day in your business," says Duder. "To have a hobby or interest that takes you away from the fairways is certainly a smart move. Having a break away can help rekindle your passion for the game. Obviously your job always comes first and you need to be well organised to be able to combine two great passions but I was able to do it because I had great staff around me in golf."
 
Duder hopes more PGA Professionals follow his path and use their PGA qualifications to hold down numerous roles at clubs.

"I am so pleased that more PGA Professionals are already taking on roles that traditionally are not one of a Club Pro, like club management, operations and even general manager positions," he says. "The PGA must continue to promote these avenues and provide the means to achieve them."