From Tony Durkin
DOUBLE MUG: Graham Sargent has been battling some health issues of late and as such, has had to cut back his golfing commitments to one day a week. But he believes in the old adage that good things come to those who wait, and Saturday’s nett 63 to win the C Grade Monthly Mug – and return the best score in the field of 219 – was one of those days. Graham’s handicap has blown out from 12 to 33 in the past decade and his 96 off the bat on Saturday was the fist time he had broken through the 100 barrier since April last year when he also won the Monthly Mug, scoring 99. Graham, who owns an electrical engineering company, Metromatics, has been a Headland member for just on three decades.
CAPTAIN CHRIS: Chris Parkinson, captain of Headland’s Division Three Women’s Pennant team, warmed up for her debut match on Monday with a week of golfing success. Playing in the Noosa Open last Monday (February 25) she won the C Grade nett and was runner-up in the gross, while on Thursday her 41 points was best score in the field of 118 at Headland, by three points. Two weeks earlier the Buderim GP won the C Grade Monthly Medal at Headland and also returned the best gross, while earlier in the month she won the three-club event. In Thursday’s victory Chris had two firsts – no wipes in her round and breaking through the 100 strokes barrier, and then continued her great run with a win in her Pennant match against Beerwah on Monday.
MISSED FOURSOMES: Headland’s A Grade Pennant match against Caloundra at Hervey Bay on Sunday has robbed this Saturday’s Mixed Foursomes Championship field of some of its top male players. Because the Pennants fixtures tee off from 7.45am, the team will head up on Saturday to prepare and defending champion and men’s A Grade Pennant captain, Sean McGill – who partnered Josie Ryan to win last year’s title – will be among those unavailable. Josie is also unavailable for personal reasons. This leaves the title wide open, with last year’s runners-up, Dom Paice and Brian Kesby, now the warm favourites. The main challenge is expected to come from past winners, mother-and-son combination Sharon and Blake Thomas, and 2007 champions Lisa Ramen and Bob Trevor, who have teamed up again. And while Coralie Walsh has lost her nett-winning partner from last year, Scott Walker, who is also a member of the A Grade Pennant team, her title defence has been rescued by three-time Club Champion Adam Richards. A field of 27 teams has entered.
BOURKE’S BACKYARD: Former Queensland rugby league hooker John Bourke made Headland golf course seem like his own backyard in Wednesday’s Modified Stableford when he scored an incredible 52 points in the inaugural event. The ‘modified’ component of the event is the scoring system, which is designed to better reward players who score nett eagles and birdies. John – who played off 30 – scored six points on three holes with pars on the ninth and 15th, where he had two shots, and a birdie on 18. He scored 22 points on the front nine and 30 on the back, with his best-ever nine-hole score of 45. And the other major plus was that he didn’t wipe a hole, which under the Modified Stableford scoring system means a point is deducted. The best single-hole score from the 196 players was from C Grade runner-up to John, Ian Harper. His 25 handicap gave him two shots on the 17th hole, which he birdied, harvesting him a mammoth eight points.
JOSIE BEATEN: Kiwi ace Robyn Boniface has won the 71st New Zealand Women’s Senior Championships, beating Headland’s Josie Ryan (2&1) to reach the final. It is the fifth win for Boniface in the prestigious tournament, and her victory against Josie was sweet considering the Kiwi had captained New Zealand in the inaugural Trans-Tasman Seniors Test in Adelaide last year, when Josie was a member of the winning Australian team. Josie, one of 20 Aussies in the big championship field of 140 in New Zealand last week, was sixth-best qualifier and beat Pauline Hogan on the 19th in the first round of match play, then dispatched Lail Emerson-Smale (5&4) in the quarter final.
- Josie Ryan (left) with her bronze medal
ANDY’S ACE: Englishman Andy Whitmore has had better rounds of golf in his 15 years of playing the game ‘properly’, but never a bigger thrill than on Wednesday when he scored his first ace. Playing in a new event, the Modified Single Stableford, Andy dunked his tee shot on the par three 14th to give him six points. Describing his six-iron as ‘perfectly struck, with a majestic draw’, Andy says the ace has been the highlight of a golfing career that started at The Bedford in England and has been honed at Headland – usually twice a week – for the past four years.
WHOOPS 1: Rising octogenarian Don Follent is rarely ruffled on the golf course and consistently plays to his 13 handicap. But Don was somewhat flummoxed on Wednesday when his tee shot on the eighth struck a gum tree at the left side of the green – and stayed there. When Don arrived at the tree, he discovered the ball had been caught in wire netting – which acts as a climber for a Bougainvillea plant – and he was entitled to a free drop. Not unexpectedly, the canny Don went on to par the hole – his seventh par of the round – and finish on 39 stableford points.
WHOOPS 2: Despite playing almost twice a week, Peter Raymond has not been on the losing end of a side bet at golf since early December last year – until Wednesday, that is. The former butcher and hotelier whose handicap had crept out from a career-best nine, to 20, had been making recent hay while the sun shone – on his ball toss for a partner, and on his golf. In the past month he had had scores of 44 points, 40, 39 and 37, but that run came to a thudding halt when he and partner Ian Moore lost 5&4 to Brent Dalby and Alan Brooker on Wednesday. Alan, incidentally, won B Grade with a very creditable 49 points in the Modified Single Stableford event.
JACKPOT JACKPOTS: The mood in Headland’s clubhouse should be at fever pitch again on Friday night with the Member’s Jackpot Joker draw now at a record $6850. Only the names of those members present – who must register – will go in the draw for the Jackpot, and the member selected automatically has $100 credited to their House Account, as was the case with Richard Whittaker last Friday night. The member then selects a card from the glass cabinet and if that card is the Joker, they win the Joker Jackpot. If not – as has been the regular occurrence for the past 42 weeks – the search for the Joker continues. Just 12 cards in the cabinet remain unturned, so the odds of the Joker being selected are becoming much juicier. The largest-ever jackpot – $5500 – was won by Stuart Dykstra in August 2016.
PENNANTS: It wasn’t a memorable weekend for Headland Pennant teams, with all five teams beaten. A Grade Men were off to a disappointing defence of their 2018 title, going down 5½-2½ to Mount Coolum at Caloundra on Sunday. The only victor was schoolboy Ben Duncombe, who won 2&1, while Brad Butler, Adam Rydwanski and Scott Bromfield squared their matches, and Scott Walker (4&3), Sean McGill (3&2) and Jamie Hill (2 down) were beaten. Mount Coolum also prevailed against the Masters, winning 5-2 at Nambour. Burgess Stephenson won 2up, while his son Brett and team captain Warren Selvage each squared their matches. Ian Moore and Neven Daniel both lost 3&2, Simon Whittle was beaten 6&4 and Peter Richardson lost on the 18th. Sunday for the Juniors started badly when captain James Daniel withdrew against Noosa 2 at Maroochy River because of illness and despite a gallant fight, the team went down 2-1. The seemingly-unbeatable Keita Griffin-Klazema stepped up to captain the team and again won, his 5&3 margin taking his record to four from four. Substituting for James Daniel, debutant Jack Fisher was beaten, while Campbell Gibney – after being four down with four to play – took the match to the 18th. Headland also went down – 4½-1½ – to Mt Coolum at Bribie Island when the Ladies Pennant competition kicked off on Sunday. Monica Antony won 2up and Christine Claxton squared her match, while Kirsten Kaergaard lost 2 down, Wil Sprake was beaten 2&1 and Kristen Griffiths lost 5&3. And while the Weekday Division Three team had a closer encounter with Beerwah, they lost 3-2. Di Stark scored an outstanding 6&5 win and Chris Parkinson won 2up, while Leigh Derigo (3&1), Joy Bullock (4&3) and Kerrie Tibbets (8&6) were beaten.
WEEKLY WINNERS:
Tuesday, Medley Fourball Best Ball Stableford, (99 players) – James Fleming and Bob Trevor (80 points), Stuart Dykstra and Rodney Hutchison (78), Geoff Sawyer and Trevor Simpson (75).
Wednesday, Men, Modified Single Stableford (196 players) – A Grade, Andrew Ebb (50 points), Peter Leggo (49), Ian Farrington (46); B Grade, Alan Brooker (49), William Hegarty (49), Richard Ryan (48); C Grade, John Bourke (52), Ian Harper (51), Roly Hoy (47).
Thursday, Single Stableford, Ladies (118 players) – A Grade, Helen Venter (38 points), Jenny Ingham (36), Lisa Ramen (35): B Grade, Chris Parkinson (41), Maggie Fitzpatrick (41), Margie Howard (37); C Grade, Trish Arden (39), Rhonda Biggs (36), Sandy Linnane (36). Men (87 players) – Geoff Opray (43 points), Josh Poole (41), Rod Hamilton (39).
Saturday, Ladies, Monthly Medal (31 players) – Del Whittaker (72 nett), Trish Howe (72), Dom Paice (73). Men, Monthly Mug (219 players) – A Grade, Darren Walters (70 nett), Ken Anderson (71), Russell Harris (72), Wayne Bridgeman (72), Gross – Scott Walker (74); B Grade, Mal Bradshaw (66), Chris Klazema (67), Wayne Cassidy (68), Gavin Terry (69), Gross – Chris Klazema (81); C Grade, Graham Sargent (63), Deon Breytenbach (66), Mick Kinnear (66), Ross Wedmaier (67), Gross – Ross Wedmaier (87).
Sunday, Medley Monthly Medal (36 players) – Gavin Rooney (67 nett), Steven Bell (69), Geoff Bland (69).
Monday, Vets, Single Stableford, Ladies (27 players) – Rhonda Biggs (42 points), Mary Ann Sanderson (35), Mary Gibberd (34). Men (90 players) – A Grade, Dennis Taylor (43 points), Burgess Stephenson (41), Huki Matenga (41); B Grade, Kevin Howe (40), Peter McNeven (39), Frank Schmidt (38); C Grade, Michael Nicholls (45), Jim Macready (41), John Visser (40).
