Headland Headlines 19.4.21     

From Tony Durkin 

GREEN JACKET: The closest Peter Raymond has come to attending the famed US Masters was four years ago when his planned trip to Augusta was cancelled after a number of fellow attendees withdrew. However, while that trip never eventuated and the window of opportunity has, for health reasons, now closed, at least Headland’s current Vice-President has a Masters memento – a green jacket. Playing off a generous handicap of 15, Peter annihilated Headland’s capacity Monday Masters field of 148, scoring 41 points to win the annual event, and the green jacket, by three points, with 41 his magical number on the day. His 82 – 41 on each nine – was far and away his best round since he was diagnosed with throat cancer in November last year, when his handicap was 10. And while his general game is on the improve, he credited his 10-par, six-bogey, two-doubles round to his ‘masterful’ putting on the brilliant Headland greens. Masters Monday is one of the best-patronised annual Headland events and has been very generously sponsored by James Kidd of EKO Financial since 2015. 

JOSH’S DUCK: Reigning Junior Champion and recent qualifier for the 2021 US Future Champions Tour series, Josh Holbrook, won his first Headland Wood Duck Challenge on Sunday, despite an out-of-character double bogey at the 15th. Josh (handicap two) parred the course from the Championship tees for his 70 nett, and was just one of three players to beat par and score $58.90 in prizemoney. The others were Neven Daniel and Dave Mansley, both with 71 nett, while 12-year-old Charlotte Ridley was the best of the women in the field with 73 nett from her lowest-ever round of 101. Josh had five birdies on his card, and was three under standing on the 15th tee. But a double there and a bogey at 17 thwarted what could have been his first under-par round from Headland’s Championship tees. The par round was the fifth for Josh at Headland, and just his second from the Championship tees.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Mt Coolum General Manager Sharon Purnell warned up for next weekend’s Two-Ball Ambrose Jug with 38 points at Headland on Saturday, but cursed her double-bogey start and finish. Sharon’s round of 88 was her best for some time and comprised a ‘very steady’ 11 bogeys and five pars alongside those doubles at 10 and nine, after starting on the back nine.  A member at both Mt Coolum and Headland where she was once Assistant Manager, Sharon enjoys her weekend golf at Headland as ‘it’s nice to play away from where I work’. And her ‘work’ on the course of late has been fruitful for Mt Coolum. Sharon is currently unbeaten playing Weekend Pennants for her home club. Sue Jones, also with 38 points, beat Sharon on a countback for the major prize on Saturday.

O FOR O’BRIEN: At 29 years of age, Peter O’Brien was one of the youngest-ever peace time Commanding Officers in the RAAF, and has since penned a book on leadership. But, since joining Headland just on two years ago, Peter has experienced some difficulties with leading the Saturday golf field – until last Saturday, that is. The 15-marker turned in his best round – 82 – and his best score – 41 points – to lead the Single Stableford field, and win B Grade. Starting on the 10th, Peter had three pars, a birdie at 15 and a steady five bogeys, for 21 points and, apart from a double at the par-three eighth, continued that steadiness coming home with 20 points on the front nine. Wayne Bridgeman (38 points) won A Grade and Graham Clarke (41), was the best in C Grade.

PIK’S BEST: Pik Chong could have walked off the course after her par at the 14th hole on Tuesday and still won the women’s Single Stableford event. As it was, she wiped the 16th, scored 43 points and won by a whopping nine points with her best score in 2½ years as a Headland member. Previously from Melbourne’s Eastwood Golf Club where she played off 13 for many years, Pik (handicap 17) says she taken a while to ‘get the hang of Headland’, but her two-over 38 on the front nine on Tuesday, for 25 points, is hopefully a sign of better things to come. Dave Sims maintained his recent good form to win the men’s event, shooting a one-over 73 for 39 points. Dave described the Headland greens as ‘absolutely beautiful’ following his round, his second 73 during his 20 months as a Headland member. Two weeks earlier he signed for a two-over 74, a round he repeated on Saturday.

HEADLAND SUCCESS: Headland members Andrew Hempsall and Neville Kenzler finished second in the district men’s Fourball Aggregate Stableford Championship at Maroochy River on Friday. And, to add to the lustre of that success, Neville finished second, on a countback, in the individual event played in association. The annual Championship attracted 134 golfers from clubs throughout the Sunshine Coast and Neville, an 11-handicapper, was a standout shooting one-over 37 on the front nine. Gympie pair Greg Gooding and Tim Coogan won the event with 79 Stableford points, while Neville scored 42 of the 77 by the Headland duo.

WOMEN’S PENNANT: Needing a clean-sweep victory with two tough matches still to be played, Headland’s Weekend Women’s Pennant team delivered, scoring a 5-nil win over Beerwah at Mt Coolum on Sunday. Three of the nail-biting matches went down to the 18th hole, with Monica Antony (1-up), Susie Fenton (1-up) and Vicki Sheridan (2-up) prevailing. Carol Quin (5&3) and Christina Claxton (4&3) had decisive wins, and the team now has a 4½ point lead at the top of the table. Meanwhile, the Division Two Headland team has had big wins on successive Mondays with a 5-1 result over Maroochy River and a 3½-1½ victory over Twin Waters. Against Maroochy River winners were Chris Parkinson (6&4), Gwen Nancarrow (3&2), Robyn Boreham (6&5) and Carol Dwyer (6&4), with Leanne Ptak beaten 6&4, while Mouna Humzy (7&5) beat her Twin Waters opponent comprehensively, Helen Fraser and Carol Dwyer won 7&5 and 5&3 respectively, Chris Parkinson went down 3&2 and Robyn Boreham fought hard for a squared result. The Division Two Headland team also sits atop its table, which contains eight teams. In Division Three, Headland has registered two successive drawn results – against Caboolture and Cooroy. Team Captain Di Stark has recorded two successive victories, as has Kym Mason, while Rhonda Parry and Penny Cooper have each recorded a square. The Division Three team has two matches remaining.

NEW IRONS: Michael Thomas is not gullible, but he reckons his decade-old Titleist irons may just have emotions, and could feel threatened by the imminent arrival of a new set of Mizunos. That’s the only reason Michael can give for Wednesday’s ‘out of the blue’ round which scored him 40 Stableford points and won him A Grade. The new irons have been on order from Headland Pro Shop for a number of weeks and Michael reckons his ‘old faithfuls’ have wind of the impending arrival and his wedges, in particular, performed above expectations in a very consistent round of 77 that included six bogeys, 11 pars and a birdie at 13. And while it has been a long time between drinks for Michael, whose family of four has the significance of all holding single-figure handicaps, he says he is not the trophy collector in the home. That was a reference to his wife Sharon, who won seven Monthly Medals in 2018.

DROUGHT ENDS: Such was the state of his House Account before a ‘double-barrel’ win on Thursday, Alf Gloster had commented to bar staff at Headland that he had to either start playing better, or drink less beer after golf. But Alf now has some breathing space – he added $75 to his account with a win in the Fourball Best Ball Stableford together with long-time mate Jim Snowball, and finished second in the Single Stableford played in conjunction. Alf and Jim, former Ansett pilots, scored 45 points in the Fourball with Alf registering on 14 holes with his score of 38. A member since 2014 when he moved north from Gisborne in Victoria, Alf only has one regret about Thursday – he can’t seem to break through the 38-point barrier, a score he has equalled on at least half a dozen occasions.

TWO-BALL AMBROSE: Inaugural winners of Headland’s Two-Ball Ambrose Jug, Mick Morris and Scott Bromfield are determined to win the event again this coming Saturday ‘to set the record straight’. Ironically, Mick and Scott are regular Saturday morning playing partners with Glen Grimish and Trevor Gourlay, who won the event last year. But because the afternoon field was rained out in 2020, Mick and Scott claim the victors will always have an asterisk beside their names. With Glen unavailable, Trevor will be partnered at the weekend by his son Jay, a member of Headland’s ground staff. The popular event, which has attracted a capacity field, is again co-sponsored by Hometree Property and Finance (Graeme and Jack Nicholas) and Grant Martyn Constructions (Grant Martyn).

VW SCRAMBLE: Headland’s VW Scramble regional final qualifiers may not have played their best at Pelican Waters on Sunday, but they would have had to be almost superhuman to win the event. A team from Brookwater with handicaps of 11, 21, 21 and 36 – which had qualified at Mt Coolum – shot a remarkable 15 under par for a nett 48.5 to mangle the field. Adam Norlander’s Headland team of Mick Kinnear, Gavin Terry, Rhett Charlton and John Bohringer finished seventh on 54 nett, while a Gold Coast team of Matthew Radcliffe, Ali Cross, Aaron Purdue and Michael Finlay, skippered by Headland professional Mitch Jacobson, scored 59.5 for 18th place.

NICKNAMES: With more than 1000 names on the list, Headland Golf Club members carry many and varied nicknames – some easily discernible, others not. One such nickname is that of our Head Professional, Adam Norlander, known widely as ‘Buffalo’. But where did the nickname originate, who coined it and what does it mean? Adam recalls a round in 1994 at Golf Coast Country Club – with ‘country’ the appropriate word – alongside Australian Pro golfer Zoran Zorkic, who once shot 59 on the US Nationwide Tour. Adam had found the ‘rough’ – very rough he recalls – and had no option but to chop his way out, literally. Three shots later, he made his way back to the fairway to be greeted by the grinning Zoran who quipped ‘you were thrashing away in there like a giant buffalo’. Almost three decades on, the name sticks like glue. Any Headland member keen to divulge the nickname of a fellow member, and its origin, should email atdurkin@bigpond.net.au

BUFFALO’S BRIEFS: Our 2020 Presentation Night may have been deferred from last year because of Covid, but Friday night’s delayed event was well worth the wait. A big crowd attended to acknowledge our 2020 Champions and MC Tony Durkin did a great job interviewing the winners and providing interesting background information. Once again, I was reminded of the diverse and fascinating member base we have, and the importance families play in fostering or great game. To see 11-year-old Sam Fichera on stage with his dad Anthony as the youngest-ever Honour Board member, was a significant moment in Headland’s history, as was the recognition of Junior Champion Josh Holbrook, who just two weeks earlier had won a start in two junior tournaments in the USA. The Thomas family, who have four club members all playing off single figures, was represented by Sharon who is a perpetual Foursomes winner, and our impressive new Club Champion, Scott Walker, became quite emotional when speaking of the support he receives from his family. Yes Headland, we are a very special club.

VALE JOHN ROSS: Long-term Headland members are mourning the loss of 30-year member John Ross, who passed away on Monday (April 12). John, an ex-Victorian and Collingwood AFL tragic, had been diagnosed with cancer seven months ago. A former café owner and business manager, John was well known as a ‘collector’ for the Saturday morning Punter’s Club which in the past conducted a competition for the Betty Powe Memorial Shield, named in honour of one the club’s former morning starters. For a $2 entry fee, the best score on a Saturday morning would win 75% of the booty, with 25% to the runner up. And the player with the most points at the end of the year had their name inscribed on the shield. John’s funeral service will be held at 10am on Wednesday (April 21) at White Lady Funerals, 33 National Park Road, Nambour. NOTE: John and his wife Celena, along with fellow Headland members and good mates Ross Carvell, Graham Sargent and their wives, flew through the same airspace a mere four minutes before the Malaysian Airlines ‘plane was shot down over the Ukraine in 2014.

WEEKLY WINNERS:

Monday, Masters Monday Medley Single Stableford – sponsored by James Kidd of EKO Financial (148 players) A Grade, John Harris (38 points), Ash Reck (37), James Kidd (37), Spencer Ives (37); B Grade, Peter Raymond (41), Michael Fortune (36), Bruno Ciott (35), Peter O’Brien (35), John Langdon (33); Masters Green Jacket – Peter Raymond.

Tuesday, Single Stableford, Women (54 players) – Pik Chong (43 points), Roz Brandt (34), Deborah Thomas (34); Men (68 players) – Dave Sims (39), Jacob Mimnaw (38), Des McNee (37).

Wednesday, Medley Single Stableford (207) – A Grade, Michael Thomas (40 points), Bruce Reid (40), Peter Ruscoe (39); B Grade, Stephen Blampied (40), Mark Fisher (39), Mal Bradshaw (39). C Grade, John Hammond (39), Mal Galletly (38), Ian Russell (38).

Thursday, Women, Single Stableford – sponsored by Maureen Cartledge, Sandra Murphy, Bev Barnes, Veronica Bassingthwaite (117 players) – A Grade, Carol Dwyer (35 points), Yvonne Henry (35), Gwen Nancarrow (33); B Grade, Kerrie Tibbits (38), Anne Callanan (36), Sue Wake (33); C Grade, Lesley Wilson (33), Bec Francis (33), Carolyn Richardson (31).

Men, Fourball Best Ball Stableford (87 players) – Jim Snowball and Alf Gloster (45 points), Frank Coleborn and Kevin Howe (44), Rod Hamilton and Ray Dempsey (44); Single Stableford – Chris Byrnes (39), Alf Gloster (38), Steve Nash (38).

Saturday, Single Stableford, women (32 players) – Sue Jones (38 points), Sharon Purnell (38), Kathy Atkins (37). Men (218 players) – A Grade, Wayne Bridgeman (39), Andrew Fisher (38), Warren Sorby (38); B Grade, Peter O’Brien (41), Ted Banaszczyk (40), Tony Vickers (39); C Grade, Graham Clarke (41), Joe Stotscheck (38), Chris Byrnes (38).

Sunday, Medley Wood Duck Challenge (62 players) – Josh Holbrook (70 nett), Neven Daniel (71), Dave Mansley (71).