From Tony Durkin
WE ARE OPEN: Headland’s clubhouse has finally re-opened to members following the Covid-19 period of restrictions – but with limitations. The Clubhouse is now trading from 10am to 6pm daily, and Friday night dinner (from 6.30) resumes this week – but only to patrons who have booked. To comply with the one person per 4m2 rule, the number of patrons in the clubhouse at any one time will be capped at 88. When entering the clubhouse – via the front door only – guests must visit the clearly-designated ‘Welcome Desk’ were they will be given details of how to record their name, phone number and either email or home address. As per regulations, these details – as well as the time each patron enters and exits the clubhouse – will be kept in a secure onsite safe for 56 days. While the drinks cart has also returned to the course, pre-golf-round drinking in the clubhouse is discouraged. However, alcohol to be consumed on the course may be purchased from the service window on the northern balcony (overlooking the 18th green) and at the Halfway House. Scorecard scanners in the clubhouse will not be operational, and the club strongly encourages members to continue using the MiScore App, while the alternate option of texting scorecard photos will continue. And in keeping with Covid-19 guidelines, only contactless payments (EFTPOS/Credit Card and House Account) will be accepted at both the Bar and Restaurant.
WINNING WEEKEND: Glenn Kelly’s superb 64 nett to win Saturday’s A Grade Monthly Mug was the start of a memorable weekend for the plasterer. A Headland junior who has been as low as a three-handicapper in the past, equalled his previous best score of 73 to win both the A Grade gross and nett, with an eagle on the 16th thrown in for good measure. And while his impressive round added $120 to his House Account, Glenn was just as excited about the result the following day when his team, Tulla Thunder, won the Sunny Coast 20/20 winter cricket competition. But after a poor end to 2019, when his handicap had blown out to nine, Glenn took a two-month break during Covid-19 which he believed has helped his golf. Apart from his four three-putt greens on Saturday, Glenn described his round as near faultless and said his eagle on the 16th was a ‘rare bird’. His drive finished 115 metres from the pin, but was behind a tree on the left, and his wedge struck the tree in his follow through. However, the ball never deviated from its line and the eagle gave him a one-under par back nine to add to his two-over 38 on the front.
PRO STROKE SCORE: Under the World Handicap System introduced to golf on January 30 this year, a new scoring format – Pro Stroke – has been centralised for Medley Stroke events such as the two Medal events played at Headland during the past week. Rather than players having a nett score recorded in Medley rounds, the new score will be either a plus, even or minus, calculated by the score relating to par. In layman’s terms, the new scoring terminology is along the same lines as the system used in major golf competitions throughout the world, with stroke scores registered against par according to a player’s handicap. As an example, the best score returned in Wednesday’s Mid-Week Medley Medal came from Richard Ryan, who scored 86 from his 20 handicap, giving him a score of six better than his handicap, or minus six (-6) under the new scoring system. The major reason for the introduction of this format is to simplify the conduct of mixed gender or multi-tee competitions, enabling clubs to provide members with a more diverse range of playing options. This scoring format also eases compliance with gender-equality law.
PROMISE LANDED: When Brad Reed received a late call up for Wednesday’s Monthly Medal, he told his dad Ken – who is also his boss – ‘I’ll win this for you’. And that, he duly did. Ken was a last-minute scratching from the group which included Brad’s two uncles, Alan Reed and Steve Norbury, and he made Brad aware that he had to make the most of his rare opportunity to play mid-week competition golf. Brad responded superbly, winning the A Grade Medal with a score of minus five (nett 67), which included three birdies and just 31 putts. Not only was it a rare mid-week game for the ex-Sunshine Coast Falcons centre, but Brad had previously played a mere five competition rounds in the two years since returning from a 12-month overseas sojourn. Richard Ryan (-6) won B Grade with the best score of the day, while 81-year-old Dave Butcher led in the C Grade field with minus four. Josh Holbrook (A Grade, 72), Paul Garth (B Grade, 81) and Dave Butcher (C Grade, 92) returned the lowest gross scores.
RELAXED RAMEN: Lisa Ramen described her ‘double’ victory in Thursday’s Monthly Medal as ‘an added bonus’. The two-time Headland Ladies Champion with a Ladies and Mixed Foursomes title also to her name, won the A Grade nett (73) and gross (81) in what was her first competition round in ‘yonks’. Lisa (handicap 8) works part-time and although she will ‘never say never’ to again taking up golf seriously to recapture the form of her once three-handicap, says these days she plays simply for the enjoyment. Rather than Pennant play and Club Championships, she prefers a nine-hole social game and the odd competition event. Apart from a double bogey on 12 where she blocked her drive and had to play her second shot backwards from the trees on the right, Lisa had 11 pars and six bogeys on her impressive card. Bev Kelly (73 nett) won B Grade, Maureen Cartledge (71) C Grade and Jill Nixey saluted in D Grade, while Jenny Ingham (95) returned the best gross in B Grade, Lesley Pinn (103) in C Grade and Jill Nixey (113) scored the double in D Grade.
JACK’S DOUBLE: Schoolboy Jack Fisher has made the most of his term-two break by quinellaing the Medley Monthly Medal with the Junior Medal at Headland on Sunday. The 14-year-old Sienna Catholic College student broke through the 100-barrier for the first time and his 99 off the stick – from a handicap of 31 – gave him a nett score of 68, or minus four under the new Pro Stroke scoring format. A member of Headland’s Junior Pennant team for the past two years, Jack had to withstand a strong finish from A Grade Pennant player Sean McGill (handicap one), who reeled off five birdies in his impressive round of two-under 70, for a nett score of minus three. But just as satisfying for Jack as his first competition win was that the fact he absolutely hammered his dad, former Professional Matt Fisher, beating him – on handicap – by 13 strokes.
DRIVES BOMBED: Essendon AFL supporter Steve Blampied credits his new Callaway Mavrik driver for his distance and control from the tee in Tuesday’s Single Par event, which he won on a countback with a score of plus three. A Headland member for just six weeks, 21-marker Steve had not played competitive golf for three decades and, as a relative-new resident of the Sunshine Coast, intends playing more and hopes to reduce his handicap nearer to 14, from which he played as a junior. But Headland’s membership came at a cost for the business owner. When Steve’s wife Meg recently gave birth to their daughter Ella, Steve bought her a new car, and the Headland membership for the ex-Victorian was his celebratory ‘gift’ to himself. Steve Browne and Josh Poole, both also with plus three, were unlucky runners-up on a countback.
OARSOME WIN: Champion rower Catherine Peterson plays golf for fun and the social pleasure, but is still chuffed when the competitive juices flow – as they did in Tuesday’s Single Par event. Although she had two wipes on the back nine, the 2012 SWING graduate managed three plusses to finish plus one coming home for an overall score of plus four following a near-perfect front nine of plus three. A Masters rower who won two gold medals, a silver and a bronze at the Queensland titles in 2018 and a month later scored her first hole in one – on the 18th – doesn’t take the game too seriously because it is not life changing. And although her handicap has crept out to 19.1 from 14.6 when she won an A Grade Monthly Medal two years ago, Catherine will continue to play simply for the great enjoyment the game gives her.
RIP BRUCE POLLOCK: The once-famed ‘lefties’ group at Headland has diminished to one full-timer and a part-timer following the recent passing of Bruce Pollock. For five years Bruce, a member for 13 years, and fellow left-handers Denis Brumby, Reg Mathieson and Stan Meers, regularly played as a group on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Two years ago Reg, who is 90, moved to Newcastle to be nearer his family, and 95-year-old Stan now plays only spasmodically, which leaves Denis as the only remaining regular. A mechanic who moved north from Victoria in retirement, Bruce was an accomplished sportsman having being a single-figure golfer, an A Grade VFL footballer for Collingwood and a first-grade cricketer, also with Collingwood, who regularly opened the batting with former Test batsman Keith Stackpole. His greatest claim to fame though came in a season playing for Victorian country team Lexton in 1985 when he scored six successive centuries in a season where his batting average was 96.25. His funeral service will be held tomorrow (Tuesday) 1pm at Gregson and Weight Chapel, 159 Wises Road Buderim.
WEEKLY WINNERS:
Tuesday, Single Par, Ladies (46 players) – Catherine Peterson (plus 4), Jackie Walkington (+4), Leeanne Ptak (+2); Men (79 players) – Steve Blampied (+3), Steve Browne (+3), Josh Poole (+3).
Wednesday, Medley Mid-Week Medal (235 players) – A Grade, Brad Reed (minus 5), Peter Gablonksi (-5), Scott Masters (-3), Josh Holbrook (-3), gross – Josh Holbrook (72) ; B Grade, Richard Ryan (-6), Paul; Garth (-5), Tony Durkin (-3), Jeff Jones (-2), gross – Paul Garth (82); C Grade, Dave Butcher (-4), Ian Llewellin (-3), Paul Stephens (-1), Thomas Adcock (even), gross – Dave Butcher (92).
Thursday, Ladies, Monthly Medal (106 players) – A Grade, Lisa Ramen (73 nett), Sue Jones (74), Christina Claxton (74), gross – Lisa Ramen (81); B Grade, Bev Kelly (73), Helen Fraser (75), Liz Dunford (75), gross – Jenny Ingham (95); C Grade, Maureen Cartledge (71), Lesley Pinn (73), Glenda Bates (74), gross – Lesley Pinn (103); D Grade, Jill Nixey (77), Sue Hadenham (77), Julie Lewis (78), gross – Jill Nixey (113). Men, Single Stableford (96 players) – Steve Walters (40 points), Bob Hunter (39), Graham Myers (36), Kevin George (36).
Saturday, Monthly Medal, Ladies (29 players) – Naomi Doyle (74 nett), Robyn Boreham (74), Gwen Nancarrow (75); Men (223 players) – A Grade, Glenn Kelly (64 nett), Reily Moffat (69), Matt Macaulay (69), Andrew Nairne (69), gross – Glenn Kelly (73); B Grade, Mike Hardy (70), Col Pledge (70), Don Harris (71), Michael Phillips (71), gross – Col Pledge (84); C Grade, Tom Hewitt (66), Kevin Howe (70), Hans Raaschou (70), Ken Maynard (72), gross – Kevin Howe (90).
Sunday, Medley Monthly Medal (87 players) – Jack Fisher (-4), Sean McGill (-3), Susan Briffa (-2), Dane Partridge (-2), Del Whittaker (-1), Mal Bradshaw (-1); Junior Medal, Jack Fisher (-4).
