From Tony Durkin
ECLECTIC SANDI: The past week has produced a number of firsts for Headland’s Regis Aged Care Seniors Single Stableford Eclectic winner, Sandi Linnane. An eclectic score of 50 points over Monday and Tuesday won the event for the 2018 SWING graduate, with respective scores of 39 and 44 points. During the two days of competition she had one five-point hole on her card, five four-pointers and nine three-pointers, with just two wipes in 36 holes. Among her collection of firsts were – first time she had played in a major tournament; first time playing over successive days; first time winning an individual event; first birdie; first time playing with two of her three playing partners and, as a result of her win, on Thursday she used a GPS for the first time – the prize for winning the annual eclectic. However, her 44 points on Tuesday was not the first time she had scored in the 40s. In her very first competition match in July last year she scored 43 points and was beaten, but until last week has not come anywhere close to those numbers again. And while very pleased with her victory, Sandi is most proud of the fact that within 12 months of her taking up golf she has shaved eight strokes from her handicap. The best individual score over the two days of the Regis Aged Care Seniors tournament was from Gail Young, who had 45 points on Monday.
PATRON’S DAY: Increased prizemoney for the winners, cheese platters at presentation time and an early booking opportunity are the incentives for more pairs to play in the mixed section of Headland’s annual Patron’s Day on Saturday week, August 24. Entries for Patron’s Day – a Mixed American Foursomes event – will close at 2pm this coming Friday, August 16. An encouraging response has already been received but Patron Simon Whittle has urged more members to join in the spirit of the day in what is a non-handicapped event. American Foursomes involves both players teeing off, hitting each other’s ball for the second shot and then, taking alternate shots, playing out the hole with the ball of their choice. A shotgun start will be held at 7am and 12.15pm, entry is $20, which includes a hamburger before or after play, and only mixed entries can be lodged at https://www.jotform.com/HeadlandGolfClub/2019-patrons-day. A same-sex overflow event will be played in conjunction, with bookings open at the new time of 6.30pm on Saturday (August 17).
MATCHPLAY MONICA: Monica Antony has become the first Headland SWING graduate to win the Ladies Matchplay championship – and she has done it in devastating fashion. A graduate of the SWING class of 2014, on Thursday Monica crushed Carol Dwyer 8&7 in the 2019 final after receiving a forfeit from Trish Arden then beating Gail Young and Mandy Oster in the quarter and semi-final, respectively. Playing some of the best golf since she joined Headland in 2015, Monica (handicap 27) was conceded eight strokes by Carol and jumped out of the blocks quickly, winning the first eight holes. Carol then won the ninth and squared the difficult tenth with par, before the match was decided on just the 11th hole. For Monica, who sliced 19 strokes from her handicap in her first year at Headland, the victory was her first major trophy success and she paid tribute to the ‘wonderful mentors’ at the club for the encouragement they have shown her, as well as her recent experience playing Pennants for Headland.
FEWER DUFFS: In scoring his second round of 78 in a month in Wednesday’s Medley Single Stableford, Aaron Duff says making better decisions, and subsequently limited mistakes, has been the chief ingredient. The 14-marker blitzed the field to win A Grade with 64 nett, and also returned the best gross score, with his birdie on 18 enabling him to beat Dean Smareglia on a countback. Four weeks earlier Aaron, a former Queensland state hockey player, also shot 78 in a fourball event. Previously, his best at his home course had been in the low 80s. A more conservative approach to chipping – running the ball, rather than lobbing to greens – has paid dividends for Aaron’s game, as has a recent session in the Headland Simulator with Teaching Pro Matt Douglass, where the pair worked on his drives. Richard Senior (68 nett) won B Grade on Wednesday while Denis McGrath, recovering brilliantly from a disastrous nine on the first hole, won C Grade with 66.
TRUMPED ACE: She is not a fan of Donald Trump, but Liz Dunford celebrated like never before when she aced the fifth hole at Headland on Saturday using a golf ball sporting the logo of his eminent US course, Trump National. Liz and her husband Tony recently returned from a trip to the US Open at Pebble Beach and while away played a number of courses, including Trump National where three TaylorMade golf balls are ‘generously’ included in the exorbitant cost of a round of golf. And it was one of those balls that Liz used on Saturday for her first ace which – her partners agreed – was the result of a perfect golf shot. And while the hole-in-one was reason alone for her exhilaration, beating Tony to the family honour was a greater thrill. Liz (handicap 20) did not take up golf until the couple moved to the Sunshine Coast from Forbes a dozen years ago, while Tony (10) has been playing for more than four decades without an ace. Liz was one of three eagle scorers on Saturday – Russell Harris achieved the same feat on the par-four sixth hole, and Andrew Stirling on the par-four ninth.
PAR GOLF: More than a quarter of Saturday’s Headland men’s field – 58 of 221 – played to or bettered their handicap in the Single Par event, with Civil Engineer Brad Downes returning the best score of plus six. Playing off 13, Brad had eight plus holes on his excellent card, blemished only by wipes on two par threes – the fifth and 18th. He convincingly won A Grade by three shots. C Grade created the closest competition with three players, Phil Kornmann, Peter Elsworth and Bernie Duncan each scoring plus five – Phil winning on a countback. Geoff Opray (plus four) won B Grade.
TIMESHEET CHANGE: From tomorrow – Tuesday, August 13 – the timesheet booking procedure at Headland Golf Club will change. Rather than the various opening times currently in place, all competition play timesheets will open at 6.30pm, seven days prior to events. Impacted will be those events played from Tuesday, August 20, onwards. However, the change in booking times will not have an effect on Veterans competitions, social play or bookings for the club’s Golf Simulator. Headland’s Match Committee has made the booking time adjustment in response to a recent survey conducted among members, which had just on 350 responses. Of those, almost 80 per cent indicated their preference for an evening timesheet opening, with 44 per cent voting for 6.30pm, seven days in advance. The new booking system will be closely monitored in the initial weeks of introduction.
WHOOPS: Playing from the front tees and with the wind at his back, James Kidd effortlessly drove the par-four sixth green on Saturday. Most golfers would be proud of the feat – most, that is, apart from the Club Captain when the preceding group was still on the green, and putting. But one member of the forward-playing quartet, Dave Wickham, lightened the moment for the mortified Captain when he limped towards him saying ‘I now have a limp’. Dave, incidentally, has had his imperfect gait since birth. In fine form with the big club, James launched another monster on the 12th, leaving his drive just three metres from the putting surface.
WHOOPS II: The question begs to be asked – how does a former Maroons’ hooker pull a hamstring playing golf? Brisbane Brothers premiership winner of the late 60s, John Bourke, accomplished the feat at Bribie Island on Monday, playing his first shot of the day in the Vets event, and had to immediately walk off the course. A fit 74-year-old who regularly works out in the gym and paddles a kayak, John reckons the shotgun start on unlucky hole 13 at Bribie was the catalyst. But maybe it had more to do with the fact the dicky hammy had been twinged five weeks earlier.
WEEKLY WINNERS:
Monday, Regis Aged Care Seniors Single Stableford Eclectic, Ladies (61 players) – Division One, Sue Jones (39 points), Mandy Oster (37); Division Two, Dianne Kean (40), Di Stark (36). Men (66 players) – Division One, Pietro Zappone (38 points), Simon Whittle (37); Division Two, Dennis Farmer (38), Col Williamson (37).
Tuesday, Regis Aged Care Seniors Single Stableford Eclectic, Ladies (61 players) – Division One, Lorelle Palmer (40 points), Catherine Petersen (39); Division Two, Kay Campbell (39), Carmel Visser (36). Men (65 players) – Division One, Burgess Stephenson (41 points), Bill Oster (40); Division Two, Will Norman (41), Steve Eggins (40).
Eclectic result – Tournament winner, Sandi Linnane (50 points); Ladies, Division One, Gail Young (49), Christine Parkinson (45); Division Two, Bec Francis (48), Trudi Russell (45); Men, Division One, Ken Maynard (47 points), Garry Clotz (47); Division Two, Allan Deller (48), Ian McRaild (48).
Wednesday, Medley Monthly Medal (192 players) – A Grade, Aaron Duff (64 nett), Grant Martyn (67), Dean Smareglia (68), gross – Aaron Duff (78); B Grade, Richard Senior (68), Mike Hardy (68), Ross Carvell (69), gross – Mike Hardy (83); C Grade, Denis McGrath (66), Douwe Hoeksema (67), Rodney Berger (67), gross – Denis McGrath (93).
Thursday, Ladies, Chinese Foursomes (103 players) – Leeanne Ptak, Bec Francis, Althea McLean and Helen Martyn (116 points), Joy Bullock, Dianne Kean, Barb Marrington and Donna Rose (114), Robyn Homans, Maggie Fitzpatrick, Pam Vincent and Trish Marsden (113). Men, Single Stableford (91 players) – Colin Cross (42 points), Peter Ross (39), Neil McNeill (39).
Saturday, Single Par, Ladies (25 players) – Leeanne Ptak (plus 3), Fiona Munro (+1), Del Whittaker (square). Men (221 players) – A Grade, Brad Downes (plus 6), Kevin McDougal (+3), Terry Ward (+3); B Grade, Geoff Opray (+4), James Kolbe (+3), Chris McArdle (+2); C Grade, Phil Kornmann (+5), Peter Elsworth (+5), Bernie Duncan (+5).
Sunday, Medley Single Stableford (63 players) – Michael Needham (39 points), Lang Pryor (39), Gary Small (39).
