From Tony Durkin
WELL DUNN: To say Peter Dunn ‘scraped in’ to win Sunday’s Medley Monthly Medal – his second in three months – may sound disrespectful, but even the Carlton United Breweries rep who services Headland and sponsors numerous club competitions, would agree his win was tinged with an ounce of luck. Unbeknown to Peter, when he stood on the 18th in the final group of the day, he needed a hole-in-one to snatch victory – and he duly delivered. However, the ace was ‘very ugly’ – Peter’s words. His tee shot hit the bank on the right-hand side of the green, scarpered to the left, struck the pin and dropped in – much to the delight of the crowd which had congregated on the clubhouse verandah. The ace – Peter’s first – gave him 66 nett and a one-stroke victory over schoolboy Kieta Griffin-Klazema who was crowned Junior Monthly Medal winner with his best-ever round at Headland. Peter, a casual golfer who moved to the Sunshine Coast with CUB six years ago, decided take the sport somewhat more seriously in light of invites to play in numerous corporate events, and he joined Headland in September last year. And the venture, as well as his goal setting, has been a runaway success. He wanted to win an event within the first 12 months – he has won three – and he targeted a handicap of 15 by the end of 2018. After Sunday’s win, his AGU handicap is now 14.6.
ODETTE’S DAY: Headland’s Odette Day is one of 24 lucky golfers from around Australia to play at The Lakes Golf Day in Sydney on day three of this weekend’s Australian Open. While she won’t be teeing it up alongside the likes of Matt Kuchar, Keegan Bradley or Cameron Smith, Odette will get to play nine holes on Saturday morning on the same course that will be trying to tame some of the world’s best golfers. The Headland member was the ‘accidental’ winner of not only the Headland section of Golf Australia’s Play 9 competition, but she also qualified No.1 female in Queensland. As a 2017 graduate of Headland’s SWING program, Odette had been regularly playing nine-hole Thursday competitions and in September tallied a phenomenal 25 points and – unbeknown to her – the score was automatically registered in the 2018 national Play 9 competition. And, because no other female golfer Queensland bettered that score between June and October, Odette is off to Sydney on Friday, all expenses paid, to join her 23 compatriots in the national final, proudly wearing her newly-acquired white and pink Headland-logoed shirt. NOTE: Since her September 20 round, Odette has lost her L plates and graduated to playing 18-hole events on Thursdays.
TEX TAKES GOLD: Mooloolaba restaurateur Antonio (Tex) Teixeira has turned in his best round in the 11 years of his Headland membership to easily win the 2018 Men’s Mid-Week Gold Medal. Playing off 10, Tex scorched the course from the championship tees in two-over 74 (four bogeys, two birdies) to record both the best gross and nett score of the day. His nett 62 took the Gold Medal by four strokes, the A Grade Monthly Medal by five strokes and – to boost his day’s earnings to a tidy $211 – he also snared the Pro Pin on the 12th. His previous best score at Headland was 75 five years ago, when he was playing off a four handicap, but in his native South Africa Tex – as a scratchmarker – Tex returned several rounds of 69. And the reason for this sudden burst of good form – less stress from running one restaurant instead of two, and a fierce determination to be crowned Gold Medal winner. Through their restaurant Lemon and Thyme, Tex and his wife Kellie sponsor a Headland mid-week event each year.
ACE WRECKED: It appeared on his card as a birdie, but Ash Reck knows he will never come closer to scoring his fourth hole-in-one at Headland as he did at the 18th on Saturday. A delightfully-clipped nine-iron covered the pin all the way and – from the tee – appeared as though it may have finished in the hole. But when the group arrived at the green the ecstasy was dulled by the revelation that his ball was sitting a mere one centimetre short of the hole. Ash, a mortgage consultant and Headland member for 17 years who played off three on Saturday, has previously aced the 18th once and the 14th twice. However, he has never won a nearest-the-pin prize with a distance as close as he was on Saturday. And the brilliant shot capped off a superb par round which featured three birdies and three bogeys, with 39 (19 points) and 35 (20 points) on the respective nines. And while his round was only good enough for second place in A Grade – Warren Sorby, playing off nine, won with 40 points – the miserly one-centimetre miss cost him victory in the Single Stableford event sponsored by his good mate Justin Nicholson.
WHOOPS: A recent series of incidents involving a stolen golf ball, poor golf etiquette, two ‘lost’ wallets and an honest golfer led to some interesting dialogue over post-match clubhouse drinks. One player in a group had teed off on the tenth when the other members stalled to allow a golfer playing the ninth to hit his second shot. But while waiting, the group noticed a player in the group in front suddenly reappear in a buggy, pick up the ball which had already been hit, and continue towards the tenth green. When the other three players had hit their drives, a quick buggy trip down the tenth ensued, the stolen ball retrieved and – much to the chagrin of the somewhat-ruffled first player – his next shot was deposited in the dam. Then, as the group was playing the 11th, the honest golfer appeared, inquiring as to whether someone had lost a wallet. Sure enough, in their hasty pursuit of the ball thief, a wallet had fallen from the cart and most of its contents strewn on the tenth fairway. In the clubhouse later, the ball stealer apologised but, as fate would have it, his wallet was sighted under his chair after he had left the clubhouse. And yes, you guessed it – the person who saw the wallet on the floor was the player whose ball was nicked.
VW SCRAMBLE: Two Headland members joined with two guests from neighbouring Mount Coolum on Friday to easily win the Cricks Volkswagen Scramble on Friday with a score of nett 55.1 in the four-person Ambrose event. Barry Newton and Chris Duhig teamed with Glenn Esden and Barry McDougall for an 11-under gross score of 61. They have qualified for the Sunshine Coast final of the VW Scramble, which will be played at Pelican Waters in March. Twenty teams contested the Headland prelim, with James Brownsworth, John Brownsworth, Toby Zaremba and Jamie Holbrook second on 56 nett, and Grant Martyn, Gary Hadenham, Sue Hadenham and Matt Prince (56.2) third.
HANDICAP MATCH: Rarely does a player’s score match their handicap, and when it does, it usually indicates a shocker. But that was not the case on Thursday for 2016 SWING graduate Bernadette Cassidy who accumulated 42 stableford points from her 42 handicap. And, she says, it could have been nearer to 50 had she not four-putted four greens. Bernadette and her husband Pat, who in recent years handed over the reins of Beerwah’s famous Big Mower to their son Gregory, are rookie golfers and new Headland members, and are both loving their new sporting interest. And while Bernadette – who openly concedes she likes a chat and finds it difficult to fully concentrate for 18 holes – was impressed by her wonderful score which included 25 points on the front nine, the greatest thrill was having no wipes on her card. Needless to say, her 42 points was the best of the day and easily won C Grade. And, to top off a breakthrough week for the ‘new’ golfing couple, Pat was a member of the winning Ambrose team in Friday’s POPs competition.
DO DUCK IN: Four ladies playing in Thursday’s Single Stableford event are still scratching their heads over an episode involving an unwanted visitor, who eventually became an adopted feathered friend. Fifteen-year member Penny Cooper was about to putt on the fourth green when suddenly the pitter patter of little webbed feet disturbed her. A tiny baby duckling then appeared and started playing with her ball, then – in Penny’s words – waddled on to introduce himself to her three playing partners. Seeing what they believed was the duckling’s mum on the adjoining fifth fairway, the ladies positioned him nearby but he was having none of that. Convinced the friendly little fella had been either abandoned or become dislocated from his family, the decision was made to ‘adopt’ him, and he was subsequently wrapped in a towel, treated to a cart trip around the course and taken back to the clubhouse. The consensus then was that the aptly-named Lucky Duck needed to be adopted into a pet-friendly environment and, as a result, is now living with Brooke Schmidt and her family at Nambour. Sadly though, Lucky’s golfing career appears to have ended.
JOKER JACKPOT: Headland’s Member’s Jackpot Joker draw will be worth $4750 this coming Friday night (November 16), and one person certain to be there is Sue Hadenham. A regular most Friday nights, Sue can’t decide whether she is lucky, or unlucky. Three times since July her selected number has been drawn – resulting in $300 being credited to her house account – but three times she has missed selecting the Joker. And fellow members be warned – arrive early if you want to beat Sue to her favourite number, 12.
WEEKLY WINNERS:
Tuesday, Single Stableford, Ladies (23 players) – Rebecca Masters (37 points), Leanne Ptak (37); Men (48 players) – Phil Kornmann (39), Bruce Horton (39), Merv Lum (39).
Wednesday, Men, Single Stroke, Mid-Week Gold Medal (198 players) – A Grade, Tex Teixeira (64 nett), Brian Kesby (69), Glenn Kelly (70; B Grade, Peter Dawson (68), Jon Welch (69), Greg Patrick (70); C Grade, David Bone (65), Ray Moody (69), Graham Wilson (69); Gold Medal, Tex Teixeira.
Thursday, Single Stableford, Ladies (100 players) – A Grade, Sue Jones (40 points), Monica Knowles (39), Gwen Nancarrow (39); B Grade, Sandra Murphy (39), Leanne Ptak (38), Kerrie Tibbits (37); C Grade, Bernadette Cassidy (42), Sue Hadenham (37), Susan Stratford (36).
Men, (81 players) – Mick Kelsey (43), Tim Nunan (41), Ian Busch (41).
Friday, Cricks Volkswagen Scramble, Four-Person Ambrose (92 players), – Barry Newton, Chris Duhig, Glenn Esden and Barry McDougall (55.1 nett), James Brownsworth, John Brownsworth, Toby Zaremba and Jamie Holbrook (56), Grant Martyn, Gary Hadenham, Susan Hadenham and Matt Prince (56.2).
Saturday, Single Stableford, Ladies (28 players) – Bev Barnes (38 points), Monica Knowles (37), Gwen Nancarrow (37). Men, (218 players) – A Grade, Warren Sorby (40), Ash Reck (39), Ron McMahon (39); B Grade, Mike McQuarrie (43), Roger Bryce (41), Shane Jefferson (40); C Grade, Alan Parker (43), Richard Senior 942), Phil Martin (42).
Sunday, Medley Monthly Medal (36 players) – Peter Dunn (66 nett), Kieta Griffin-Klazema (67), Mark Fisher (69). Junior Medal, Kieta Griffin-Klazema.
