From Tony Durkin 

MUG AT LAST: Brad Downes has been playing golf for 35 years, has been handicapped as low as nine, yet has never won a Monthly Mug – until Saturday, that is. The civil engineer, who has captained Headland’s B Grade Pennant team for the past two years, shot an impressive 81 in the heavy conditions on Saturday morning for a nett 66, to head both the B Grade nett and gross, and with that take his first-ever Monthly Mug. But bizarrely, it wasn’t his lowest score in the event which each month fully tests the ability of all golfers, irrespective of their skill level. Brad recalls signing for a nett 64 at Headland five years ago, but being beaten by a score of nett 62. His card on Saturday revealed a round of very satisfying consistency – eight pars, eight bogeys, one birdie and one double bogey, for nines of 40 and 41 respectively. Teenager Josh Holbrook continued his recent run of superb form, breaking through the 80-barrier for the first time to win the A Grade Monthly Mug (66 nett), while Graham Miller (67) was the C Grade Mug champion for June. Josh also won the Junior Monthly Medal on Sunday, with 70 nett. 

PRO AM FILLING: Such has been the response to news of Headland’s Pro Am since 2016 that the afternoon field has already been filled. Sponsored by members Jamie Holbrook (Property Today) and James Brownsworth (Innovative Planning Solutions), Headland Golf Club will stage the always-popular Pro Am on Wednesday, July 10. Teams of three amateurs will be joined by a professional in both the morning (6.45am shotgun start) and the afternoon (12 noon) fields. Cost per team (of three) is $89 for the morning, which includes lunch, and $99 for the afternoon field which includes lunch and post-golf nibbles before official presentations in the clubhouse. While the professionals will play a stroke event, amateurs will score for a single stableford with individual and team (best three stableford scores, including that of the professional) recognised. Entries are online at https://form.jotform.co/HeadlandGolfClub/2019pro-am and will close on Wednesday, June 26. Sponsorship opportunities are also available, and anyone interested should contact Head Professional, Adam Norlander on 5444 5800 or email anorlander@pgamember.org.au.

 EQUAL OPPORTUNITY: From the first Wednesday in July, Headland Golf Club will adopt guidelines from the Australian Human Rights Commission in conjunction with Golf Australia, and permit women to play in Wednesday events. Previously, Wednesday was a men-only competition day, which meant an inequity existed where men had the opportunity to play in regular club competitions five days a week, and women only four days a week. Being a club with a history of being inclusive of women – in 1984 Headland was the first golf club in Queensland to provide full membership status to women – the decision has been made to make Wednesday a medley competition from July 1. No other changes will be made to existing competition days, with Thursday mornings to remain a women’s-only competition and Thursday afternoons men-only. This decision to provide equal opportunity for all members has been strongly supported by the Men’s Match Committee.

 OXLEY UPGRADE: Neil Oxley is one Headland golfer keen for a challenge, and in the past two Wednesdays he has conquered a couple. Playing off 15 last Wednesday week, he signed for 81, which gave him plus six in the Single Par event, the best score in the field of 189 and a comfortable win in B Grade. But Neil wasn’t satisfied which his second-best round of golf ever – he had 79 two years ago in a fourball – because on Wednesday he carded 80 from his new handicap of 14, and his nett 66 won him the Mid-Week Medal, this time in A Grade. His extraordinary card featured four birdies – all on his front nine of 37 – four pars, eight bogies and two doubles, which tells the recently-retired financial adviser that there is room for more consistency, and even better scores. And the good form continues to run in the family. Wife Vicki, a 2018 SWING graduate and recent winner in an event at Tenterfield, scored 34 points in Tuesday’s Ladies Single Stableford, to collect second prizemoney.

DOCTOR GOLF: Dr Quentin Mungomery relocated from Toowoomba to the Sunshine Coast to practice psychiatry, but if his score in Wednesday’s Mid-Week Medal is a gauge, he has been practicing other skills as well. A self-confessed ‘social-golf hacker for many years’, Quentin first joined Headland in 2016, but rarely played. Then, four months ago, he decided all work and no play was not for him and he now dedicates every Wednesday afternoon to golfing with the Young Doctors group. And that decision, plus practice and lessons, finally paid off on Wednesday when he broke through the 100 barrier for the very first time, and won the C Grade Mid-Week Medal with 64 nett. But the adulation was lost on the psychiatrist who admitted he was oblivious of his score – which included a birdie on 16 – until after this round. “I just concentrated on hitting it straight, and left the scoring to my partners,” he confessed. As result, five strokes have been sliced off his handicap – from 35 to 30. In B Grade, Mike McQuarrie won both the gross (81) and nett (64) with a consistent card that included eight pars, eight bogeys, a birdie and just the single double bogey. 

DAWSON’S DAY: Former train driver Len Dawson didn’t exactly start with a full head of steam in Thursday’s Single Par event, but he certainly finished like an XPT. The 17-year Headland member who almost lost his left leg three years ago following an infection contracted during an overseas holiday, claimed his score of plus six – 89 off the bat – was his best round in a ‘long, long time’. And, to add to the thrill, 23-marker Len won nearest-the-pin shots on the fifth and eighth holes. He started the round scoring minus, square, minus, but his game then kicked into gear and he completed the front nine at plus two, then stormed home in 44 shots, with not a single minus on his card for a winning score of plus six. Len, who moved north from Armidale in 2001 to retire, was once on a handicap of 14 but is now happy – after a return to good health and his third good round in the space of a week – to be back to 20 after recently drifting out to 24.

WEEKLY WINNERS:

Tuesday, Single Stableford, Ladies (57 players) – Gwen Nancarrow (35 points), Vicki Oxley (34), Jenny Pirini (33); Men (69 players) – Josh Poole (37), Tony Flint (36), Bob Hayward (35).

Wednesday, Men, Mid-Week Medal (189 players) – A Grade, Neil Oxley (66 nett), Ian Farrington (68), Jamie Holbrook (70), gross – Brad Butler (73); B Grade, Mike McQuarrie (64), Terry Lawlor (70), Malcolm Webster (71), gross – Mike McQuarrie (81); C Grade, Quentin Mungomery (64), Phil Lovett (67), John Nagel (68), gross – Phil Lovett (92).

Thursday, Ladies, Monthly Medal (82 players) – A Grade, Kristin Griffiths (73 nett), Pik Chong (77), Robyn Homans (80), gross – Kristin Griffiths (88); B Grade, Monica Knowles (75), Susie Fenton (76), Helen Fraser (76), gross – Monica Knowles (94); C Grade, Trish Murphy (70), Sandi Linnane (75), Kym Mason (75), gross – Sue Keays (106). Men, Single Par (86 players) – Len Dawson (plus six), Paul Stephens (+5), Tony Kelleher (+4).

Saturday, Ladies, Single Stroke (11 players) Anne Callahan (72 nett), Kate Wilkie (76). Men, Monthly Mug (173 players) – A Grade, Josh Holbrook (66 nett), Damian Moelands (69), Chris De Bruyn (70), Andrew Stirling (70), gross – Sean McGill (74); B Grade, Brad Downs (66), Kirk Hardy (67), Bernie Green (68), Reily Moffat (69), gross – Brad Downs (80); C Grade, Graham Miller (67), Men Maguire (70), Dennis Farmer (72), Shannon Walters (72), gross – Ken Maguire (90).

Sunday, Medley Monthly Medal (60 players) – Steve Walters (69 nett), Anthony Fichera (70), Josh Holbrook (70); Junior Monthly Medal – Josh Holbrook (70).