From Tony Durkin
EAGLE HUNTING: Conditions following a spate of inclement weather may not have been ideal, but that didn’t prevent two members from scoring eagles on the same hole on Wednesday – the par five second. But the circumstances could hardly have been more contrasting for eagle hunters Ian Farrington and Neil Playford. For Ian, an 11-marker and Headland member for almost 25 years, it was his sixth eagle. His prior conquests have been on the fourth, seventh, 14th, 15th and 17th holes. He tugged his drive left into the trees, hit his second to the top of the hill and, from 110 metres, struck a perfect wedge which hit the green, took two hops and rolled into the hole. It was a different story for Neil (handicap 8), who re-joined the club two months ago after being a member from 2006 to 2010 and leaving to start a travel business – Travel Associates – with his wife Therese. He hit driver, driver to the 452-metre par five, landed his second on the green to three metres, and sank the putt. It was his second eagle at Headland – his first on the seventh during his prior membership stint.
AMY UPDATE: Following her out-of-character round of 159 in the Monthly Medal the previous week, 92-year-old visiting club legend Amy Pincott struck back with some vengeance on Tuesday. Amy, once a four-marker and the winner of 20 championship titles at Headland, had 25 points playing off her 34 handicap to finish mid-field in her much-preferred Single Stableford event. After 57 strokes and 14 points on the front nine, Amy faltered somewhat on the back with four wipes for just 11 points. But she did celebrate with a par on the 12th.
BROTHERLY LOVE: Nick Reed turned in his best-ever round of golf on Wednesday, won his very first event at Headland and then gave credit to elder brother Tim for his unstinting support. The recently-graduated structural engineer has rekindled his love affair with golf since returning from four years at university in Brisbane and in Wednesday’s single stableford event had 41 points – with two wipes – registering the best score of the day and winning C Grade. But his promising round could well have ended after just six holes had Tim decided to walk off the course because of the rain – as two others in the four had done. Yet Tim stuck it out, marked his brother’s card for 21 and 20 points respectively, and collected some well-deserved Brownie points from other members of the golf-mad Reed family.
WHOOPS: For a fleeting moment on Wednesday Doug Hancock became one of the most revered golfers in the history of our ancient game. After all, a hole-in-one on a 492-metre par five doesn’t occur every day – or has ever transpired for that matter. But alas, it was a technical scoring error not detected by an embarrassed Doug until he sat down to sip his celebratory beer and looked up at the electronic scoreboard to see his name at the top, sitting alongside a brilliant 43 stableford points. Doug, who joined Headland 18 months ago and plays off a 23 handicap, actually wiped the tenth hole but for some unknown reason his score registered as a one, giving him an unheard of seven stableford points. The mistake was immediately rectified and the amended score of a very respectable 36 points earned Doug $4 in the rundown – and not worldwide recognition.
SENIORS ECLECTIC: Entries for Headland’s 2018 Regis Aged Care Senior Eclectic are now open, and close on the morning of August 2 – a little over two weeks away. The tournament, sponsored by Regis Aged Care of Sippy Downs, will be staged on Monday and Tuesday, August 6 and 7, and is open to men and ladies Headland members, their guests and visitors aged 50-plus. Costs of $50 (members) and $65 (visitors and guests) includes all competition fees, lunch from the halfway house on both days plus nibbles at Tuesday’s presentation ceremony. The event on both days is a single stableford and one in every five players is a chance of winning a prize.
WOOD DUCK CASH: Rob Cunningham and Daniel Diachkoff are the latest victors singing the praises of the concept of Headland’s recently-introduced monthly Medley Wood Duck event. They were the only players to break their handicap in Sunday’s 18-stroke and each pocketed $110 from the sponsorship pool provided by EKO Financial. The Wood Duck Single Stroke is played from the championship tees on the third Sunday of every month with the prizemoney shared between those who score 71 nett or better.
ROUND OF THE WEEK: Gary Martin reckons staying calm and having his partner fill in the scorecard could have been the secret to his best-ever round at Headland on Saturday. Partnering Luke Mitchell in the Fourball Aggregate Stableford, the pair scored 81 combined points to easily win the event, with Gary’s 43 points (22-21) the best round of the week. In a sensational start, he was two-over par after six holes and completed the front nine in 41 shots. Only a social golfer until he joined Headland four years ago, Gary has lowered his handicap to 23 and with just one wipe on the card on Saturday is hopeful his ‘calmness’ theory may lead to more consistency. Meanwhile Luke (10), who had 38 points, credits his good form of late – he was nett runner-up in the B Grade championships – to the recent winning run of his beloved Brisbane Broncos who, before Sunday’s defeat, had won seven from their past nine. And for both Gary (Directline Timbers) and Luke (Bidfood) their win could be construed as payback for their support of the club as sponsors.
WEEKLY WINNERS:
Tuesday, Single Stableford, Ladies (54 players) – Helen Venter (36 points), Margaret Howard (33), Deborah Thomas (32); Men (72 players) – Mark Garcia (38), Gary Rugless (37), Russell Ferguson (37).
Wednesday, Men, Single Stableford (164 players) – A Grade, Barry Newton (39 points), Brian Kesby (38), Warren Chapman (36): B Grade, Col Pledge (40), Michael Gregora (39), David W Smith (37); C Grade, Nick Reed (41), Peter Creese (39), Geoff Montgomery (38).
Thursday, Ladies, Single Stableford (abandoned because of inclement weather). Men, Single Stableford (17 players) – Steve Walters (38 points), Bruce Horton (38).
Saturday, Medley Fourball Aggregate Stableford (229 players) – Luke Mitchell and Gary Martin (81 points), Roger Van Ginkel and Ken Anderson (77), Chris De Bruyn and Jay Gourlay (74), Craig Jackson and Tristan Scott (71), Peter Francis and Alan Parker (70).
Sunday, Medley Wood Duck Single Stroke (51 players) – Rob Cunningham (70 nett), Daniel Diachkoff (70).
