From Tony Durkin
JACK’S BIRDIE BLITZ: Justin Nicholson, better known at Headland as ‘Jack’, reeled of five successive birdies in Saturday’s Single Stableford round to turn back the clock almost two decades. Justin ripped Headland’s front nine apart with six birdies in his phenomenal round of 68, his best at his local course since he broke the course record with a five-under par 67 in September of 2003. He scored 45 Stableford points to not only return the best score on Saturday, but win A Grade by a massive four points. A teenager when he first joined the club 33 years ago, five- marker Justin credited his brilliant birdie blitz with the indignity of being one down in the side-bet match despite being par with the course after 10 holes. Starting on the back nine he and partner Scott Walker had dropped one behind Justin Walsh and Aaron Shaw, in spite of his eight pars, one birdie and one bogey. Justin then parred the second and birdied the next five holes before finishing bogey, par, to finish two-up in the match. And while he may have had better scores in a golfing career that once had him playing off scratch, Justin has never previously scored five successive birdies in a round.
FOURBALL MATCH PLAY: Six days after his 14th birthday, Jack Fisher helped his dad Matt qualify for next Sunday’s final of Headland’s annual Fourball Best Ball Match Play Championship, which is sponsored by sponsored by Michael Thomas of Zenfind Accounting. The father-and-son combination will play experienced duo Warren Sorby and Warren Selvage, who survived a close encounter with Lang Pryor and Tom Burnett to claim victory on their final hole. Matt and Jack took an early lead over Lynzey Valianes and Adam Griffiths, but were one down after the fifth. However, they turned two-up and were never headed, finishing the match on the par-three 14th hole. The ‘Warren’ pairing, mates for many years, were in control of their match at 3-up against relative newcomers to Headland, Lang and Tom, before both stumbling with three-putt bogeys at the 14th. The match was all square after 17, but Warren Sorby won the last with a par after both Lang and Tom had missed the green.
TRENT STARS AGAIN: Former Headland junior Jack Trent has again lit up the US golf scene, winning the Men’s Individual Championship at the Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship at Whispering Pines in Texas at the weekend. Representing the Australian team, Jack scored 18 birdies and an eagle over the three days, which tied the all-time Spirit International record set by Korean golfer Bumgeun Chae in 2009. The Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship is a world-class event played every two years and features the world’s best amateur men and amateur women golfers as they represent their respective country in team and individual competitions. The Australian men’s team finished equal third with New Zealand. Last month 20-year-old Jack, in his USPGA debut as an amateur, made a bold statement to the golfing world when he finished tied 29th at 16-under in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
JOE AND JACK: Joe McGuirk has been a Headland member for just three years, had never played golf competitively until he joined the club and – until Wednesday – had never won a competition. But that changed when, from his 18 handicap, Joe burned up the course on a rare day off from his job as a builder, scoring a superb 66 nett to win the B Grade Mid-Week Medal with the equal best score of the day. And better still, he did in the company of one of Australia’s best and most colourful young PGA professionals, Jack Wilson. Joe started on the back nine and confessed to being somewhat overawed by the elite company, resulting in a respectable 45 shots, which included an eight and a seven. But the father of three young boys roared home with a three-over 39 on the front nine, including a birdie at the sixth, to clinch the Medal with his best-ever round of golf. Brian Richards (also 66 nett) won A Grade while Peter Corney (68) led home the C Grade field. NOTE: Jack Wilson, who is a Pelican Waters Ambassador and heads off to Japan this week in search of his tour card, had three birdies and two bogeys in his round of 71.
MURPHY’S LAW: The flow of emotions Trish Murphy experienced when she was announced as Headland Ladies’ 2019 Medal of Medals winner on Thursday ranged from embarrassment to downright shock. A SWING graduate from 2016, Trish (70 nett) won the Medal by a shot from the more experienced trio of Mouna Humzy, Katrina Watts and Lisa Ramen, and was stunned – and somewhat uncomfortable – to learn that a C Grade player could snare the prestigious award. She was also surprised at returning her best round – 105 from her handicap of 35 – and her first-ever birdie, at the par-three 14th. Believing she could never play golf because of a permanently dislocated left arm when she was nine, Trish vowed when she and her husband Paul retired to Buderim five years ago that she would at least give the game a chance. And after her most enjoyable win on Thursday, she has been gobsmacked by her progress.
GOLDEN DUFF: Former State hockey player Aaron Duff capped off his most productive year in his new sport with victory in Headland’s Mid-Week Gold Medal. Aaron did not take up golf seriously until he joined Headland four years ago and started on a handicap of 19. Now, after his 68 nett on Wednesday to beat playing partner Greg Kuhn for the prized mid-week award, his GA is 8.5. But while that is a huge reduction, the handicap decrease in 2019 has been quite stunning – down six shots from the start of the year. And that is understandable, with Aaron winning four A Grade events in the past two months, with two of them with rounds of 78, his best in competition golf. The McDonald’s store manager credits his rapid recent improvement to better shot making and putting, more consistency – particularly with the driver – and the golfer’s best ally, a stroke of luck.
FAMILY FIRST: Headland’s immediate past President, John Alsbury, on Monday of last week had his best round is as long as he can remember and credits his great score to a visit with his family. John returned 43 Stableford points, the highest score in the Vets event, to win C Grade on a countback from Bruno Ciot. He started in brilliant fashion, reeling off three pointers on his first six holes. And while he has no idea what triggered his sudden turnaround in form, he said he had returned the night before ‘happy, relaxed and contented’ following a visit to Adelaide where he caught up with his three daughters and five grandchildren. John stood down as Headland President at the AGM in September after two years, which followed four as Vice-President, and says he certainly did not have a score close to 43 points in his time on the board. He and his wife Anne, who passed away in August 2018, joined Headland in 2001 and dedicated much of their time to serving on various committees. NOTE: The golf victory wasn’t John’s only win. Along with Tony Kelleher, Ken Maynard and Tony Coad, he won $100 in the latest lottery ‘square’, which was also drawn on Monday.
TREVOR’S BEST: Even though he had rarely played the game, former Mercedes salesman Trevor Simpson decided to take up golf when he and his wife retired to Buderim four years. He joined Headland and from his 36 handicap has gradually grasped the nuances of the ancient sport, so much so that on Tuesday he scored 43 points to win the Men’s Stableford event and return his best-ever score. His card revealed seven three-point holes, but the highlight was a four-point par on the difficult 15th. However, despite playing seven shots better than his handicap and ‘finally realising what I have been doing wrong’, Trevor was not overly impressed with his game. “I never thought it was as good as the score indicated,” said the 78-year-old who plays regularly in the Tuesday and Thursday competitions.
ADAM RETURNS: Brisbane Channel 9 sports presenter Adam Jackson returned to Headland on Sunday with retribution on his mind, and he delivered in spades. Wynnum Golf Club member Adam, who plays off a handicap of three, had his first round at Headland on Anzac Day and was bitterly disappointed with his meagre return of 25 Stableford points. But it was a different tale on Sunday when he teamed with fellow James Cook University ex-student Jason Meehan to win the Medley Fourball Stableford Aggregate event with 72 points. Adam, on annual leave from the Nine sports desk, blitzed the Headland layout with a one-under par 71, including four birdies, and 40 Stableford points. Jason, a Headland member for just on 12 months and a Nambour pharmacist, joked that his contribution of just 32 points was the result of him not wanting to overshadow his VIP visitor.
WHOOPS: Bill Oster, handicap five, scored 75 nett in Wednesday’s Mid-Week Medal. Not all that good, we might think. But considering that Bill started with a nine on the par-four first hole, his final score is reasonably impressive. Yet, the nine wasn’t Bill’s only talking point of the front nine holes. In what is best described as something quite spectacular, the fanatical Collingwood supporter birdied the second, doubled bogeyed three and four and then birdied the next three holes before bogeying eight and nine. His back nine was a little more like Bill usually plays – two bogeys, a birdie and six pars.
WEEKLY WINNERS:
Monday, Vets Single Stableford, Ladies (42 players) – A Grade, Lisa Ramen (38 points), Heather Lum (38), Lyn Forbes (37); B Grade, Ann Dykstra (38), Odette Day (34), Jackie Walkington (34). Men (68 players) – A Grade, Huki Matenga (39), William Heggarty (39), Brian Kesby (38); B Grade, John Langdon (42), Tim Schoch (41), Colin Williamson (40); C Grade, John Alsbury (43), Bruno Ciott (43), Gary Hadenham (42).
Tuesday, Single Stableford, Ladies (24 players) – Marg Howard (40 points), Ruth Simpson (38). Men (57 players) – Trevor Simpson (43 points), Barry Euston (41), Ted Banaszczyk (40).
Wednesday, Medley Mid-Week Medal (215 players) – A Grade, Brian Richards (66 nett), David Richards (67), Aaron Duff (68); B Grade, Joe McGuirk (66), Glenn Williams (68), David Munns (69); C Grade, Peter Corney (68), Doug Hancock (69), John Kingston (69). Mid-Week Gold Medal – Aaron Duff (68).
Thursday, Ladies, Single Stroke (105 players) – A Grade, Katrina Watts (71 nett), Lisa Ramen (71), Robyn Boreham (74): B Grade, Sue Keays (70), Mouna Humzy (71), Odette Day (72); C Grade, Penny Cooper (69), Trish Murphy (70), Shirley Eggleton (71); Medal of Medals, Trish Murphy (70 nett): Rabbits Cup, Penny Cooper (69).
Men, Single Stableford (94 players) – Neil McNeill (45 points), John Jamieson (44), Ian Busch (44).
Friday, Ladies Sunshine Coast Zone 27-hole Foursomes Championships – A Grade, gross, Jo Moore and Pam Reed (126), Josie Ryan and Fay Payne (127), nett, Marilyn Foreman and Colleen McDowall (113.5), Josie Ryan and Fay Payne (110); B Grade, gross, Gay David and Mary Young (138), Wendy O’Hare and Kathleen Wiggins (143); nett, Bev Barnes and Sandi Linnane (107), Gay David and Mary Young (108).
Saturday, Single Stableford, Ladies (33 players) – Janelle Heaney (39 points), Sandee Brimblecombe (38), Susan Briffa (37). Men (216 players) – A Grade, Justin Nicholson (45 points), Warren Sorby (41), Jay Gourlay (40); B Grade, Danny Shaw (42), Greg McDonald (41), Col Pledge (40); C Grade, David Evans (44), Peter Creese (41), Leo Schumacker (38).
Sunday, Medley Fourball Aggregate Fourball Stableford (44 players) – Jason Meehan and Adam Jackson (72 points), Warren gee and Raewyn Anderson (70); Fourball Best Ball Match Play Championship, semi-finals – Matt and Jack Fisher beat Lynzey Valianes and Adam Griffiths (5&4); Warren Selvage and Warren Sorby beat Lang Pryor and Tom Burnett (1up).
