From Tony Durkin
FIRST DOUBLE: Adam Richards has scored his first Headland Club Championship/Match Play Championship double with a 4&3 victory over teenager Ben Duncombe in Saturday’s 36-hole Match Play final. Despite winning four Club Championships, dating back to 1994, and four Match Play titles (his first in 2003), Adam had never put the two together before Saturday, and he fittingly played some of his best golf in adding this title to his Club Championships a month ago. Despite being two-down to the Year 12 Mountain Creek student after the first two holes, Adam turned three up after 18 holes before losing the 19th, winning the 20th and then eagling the par-four third, the 21st hole of the final, when he holed a nine iron from 132 metres. Ben, however, hit back and had his own slice of final glory when he eagled the par-four 12th, again with a nine iron. But the experience of Adam prevailed, and when the match finished at the 15th – the 33rd hole of the final – Adam was three under the card for the day. All three Match Play finals on Saturday finished at the 15th hole – Ian Farrington beat Druce Fielding 4&3 in B Grade and Nick Reed, with a PB of 81 on the first 18, beat Josh Vickers 5&3. For both Ian and Nick, it was their first Headland Championship victory. The 2021 Match Play Championships were sponsored by club member Ash Reck, of Definitive Finance.
PENNY’S THOUGHTS: ‘The Reluctant Premier’ is the name of the recently-released biography of former Queensland Premier and Headland member, Russell Cooper. But there was no reluctance, just celebration, when his wife Penny won C Grade on Thursday with a day-high 41 Stableford points, her highest score in just on 20 years as a Headland member. And Penny thinks it may have been a break from golf, while she focused on the book release and launch, that helped her relax more and thoroughly enjoy Thursday’s round which included six three-point holes and a four-point par at the eighth. Following her first season of Pennant golf, in which she represented runners-up Headland in Division Three, the septuagenarian said that although she had a fun time, taking a breather from her regular two-day-a-week golfing commitment had refreshed her enthusiasm. Marg Smith also scored 41 points to win A Grade, while Jenny Campbell (40) won B Grade.
CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Despite conceding the company was well above his class, Headland Men’s Director of Golf, Tony Kelleher, has fired his lowest-ever score on his home course to win Saturday’s B Grade Monthly Medal. Playing from the blue tees, but in the same group as A Grade Match Play finalists Adam Richards and Ben Duncombe, the retired teacher known affectionately as ‘TK’ scored 80 from his 16 handicap and his nett 64 was the best score of the day. Feeling ‘in the zone’ because of the exceptional golf by both Adam and Ben, Tony said the fact some vital putts fell was a huge contributing factor to his scorecard which revealed eight pars, nine bogeys and a birdie. Ex-police offer Col Pledge (68) won A Grade while Henry Ptak (65) saluted in C Grade. And Headland Pennant sponsor, Jeff Lovell of Stegbar, gave his team a boost with a best-ever nett score of 70, to finish third in C Grade.
JUNIORS STAR: Pennant team members Sam Fichera and Charlotte Ridley gave junior golf at Headland another boost with outstanding performances in Sunday’s Medley/Junior Medal. Eleven-year-old Sam (72 nett) beat 12-year-old Charlotte (74) by two shots for the Junior Medal, but Charlotte took the gross honours – 101 to 104. But, more significantly, both juniors played alongside their dads and finished ahead of them on the leaderboard. Mick Prince (70 nett) won the Medley Medal, from Michael Hinds and Chris Risby, both with 71 nett.
THE END IS NIGH: So poorly has Garry Clotz been playing for the past 12 months that he has decided to not renew his Headland membership. Confessing he has lost some of his enjoyment for the game he has played competitively since he joined the club in 1990, the former Queensland and Northern Territory AFL rep player says that while he enjoys playing socially, as soon as a scorecard appears he becomes a different person. And while some may think Garry might change his mind following a win in Monday’s Vets’ Single Stableford – with 42 points from his 16 handicap – he simply regarded that round as another reason to quit. “From where did that form suddenly appear, and why does it just as quickly vanish?” was his query. Garry’s A Grade Monday scorecard revealed a round of 82 – his best in nine months – with a consistent 10 bogeys and eight pars. Ray Moody (40 points) won B Grade, Barry Euston (also 40) won C Grade and Vicki Maynard had her best round ‘in a few years’ to win the women’s event with 37 points.
HAYDAY TUESDAY: Lynn Hayman and Bob Hayward combined to make Tuesday’s Single Par event a Headland ‘Hayday’, winning their respective women’s and men’s competitions with identical scores of plus four. For Lynn the win had special significance – it was her first victory with a new set of Callaway clubs sourced from Head Pro Adam Norlander just four weeks earlier. And for Bob, the win came just two days after he and wife Anne had returned from a golfing trip on which they played half a dozen different courses from Sydney north. Apart from his hole-in-one at the 14th in November, Bob guesses it has been at least two years since he had any golf results to celebrate, while Lynn’s last victory came back in October when she scored a career-best 43 points, just a few days after receiving a lesson from – you guessed it, Adam Norlander.
PERFECT PAIR: Clint Adams and Doug Morgan have played alongside each other a few times since Clint joined the club from Indooroopilly late last year, but they have never been as ‘close’ as their scores in Wednesday’s Medley Fourball Aggregate Stableford. Clint and Doug partnered to return 78 points to win the event, each adding 39 points – 18/21 (Doug) and 19/20 (Clint) respectively. The only major difference was that Doug (handicap 31) scored three points on seven holes, with Clint adding five three-pointers to the winning card. While Clint was an established golfer playing off 13 when he arrived at Headland, Doug had never previously played competition golf when he joined in September of 2019. The best individual round on Wednesday was 44 points, fired by Aircraft Engineered Fred Muller.
DEAN’S BEST: When playing partners Dean Smareglia and Trevor Simpson putted out on the 18th green in Thursday’s Single Stableford event, they reckoned their identical scores of 41 points could well be challenging for the winner’s purse. But they were gazumped by Pest Exterminator Garth Seymour, whose 42 points garnered from a round of 85 was his most fruitful result in at least 12 months. For Dean, who was down to a career-low 4.9 handicap five weeks ago, his five birdies were the most in a competition round, and 41 points equal to his highest-ever Stableford score.
WOMEN’S MATCH PLAY: Robyn Boreham is Headland’s 2021 B Grade Match Play Champion after beating Cathy Roberts 6&5 in Sunday’s 18-hole final. Robyn is the first Headland woman since 1990 to win a Match Play title under the newly-introduced conditions of playing off scratch, not handicaps. The A Grade semi-final between Josie Ryan and Kate Wilkie has been delayed until Wednesday because of an illness to Josie, with the winner to play Jenny Ingham in the final. And C and D Grade finals will be played this week, with Di Stark to meet Ruth Broderick and Ellen Bloxsome playing Rhonda Parry.
MEN’S PENNANT: On a gloomy day for Headland golf, the Men’s A Grade Pennant team was whipped 7-nil by defending champion Noosa, at Noosa, in the second round of the 2021 Sunshine Coast Men’s Golf Zone Pennant competition. And, to exacerbate that result, the B Grade team was also beaten and the Masters team halved their match. Although four members of the A Grade team took their match to the 17th hole, all four – Jamie Hill, Ben Duncombe, Josh Holbrook and Dave Rattray – were beaten 2&1. Adam Richards, fresh from a Headland Club Championship/Match Play double, was beaten 4&3, Sean McGill lost 3&2 and Scott Walker went down 2&1. A second successive halved result was not what the Masters team wanted, but it keeps them in the hunt for the Pennant. Captain Warren Selvage was disappointed in himself when he allowed a 4-up score to finish at 2-down, but debutant Graham Newlove (5&3), Brett Stephenson (5&4) and Peter Perrett (4&2) were strong winners against Twin Waters at Noosa Springs. Scott Bromfield scrambled for a halved result after winning the 18th while 2021 Headland Seniors Champion, Warren Sorby, was surprisingly beaten, 3&2. And after a winning start last week, Headland’s B Grade team went down 4-3 to Twin Waters, also at Noosa Springs, in what skipper Matt Hetherington described as the most disappointing loss has with which he has been associated in his six years representing Headland. Brendan Duncan (5&4), Blake Thomas (2&1) and Matt Macaulay (1-up) each scored back-to-back wins, but Will Millroy (5&3), Aaron Duff (2&1), Rhett Charlton (3&1) and Matt Hetherington (4&3), were beaten.
BUFFALO’S BRIEFS: In the best retail month we have had in ages, much of our floor stock disappeared last week in our EOFY sale. But, as the best sales people say, there is more. And until Saturday (July 3) everything on the floor is discounted, with 10% off gloves, balls and repairs, and a 20% saving on clothing, shoes and bags. But, the discounts are only on floorstock, and only until Saturday.
WHOOPS: Women’s Director of Golf, Jane Boaler, thought some ‘time out’ and a trip to Adelaide, via an overnight stay in Manly where she had some travel credits, was a good idea following a month of fairly intense Headland golf operations. But, like some of us on the golf course, Jane’s timing was well astray. The upshot was she was caught in the Covid maelstrom of Sydney, could not escape in time to either Adelaide or home, and has consequently been ‘sentenced’ to 14 days quarantine in Brisbane’s Marriott Hotel.
WHOOPS 2: Despite finishing at the tail of the field in Tuesday’s Single Par event, schoolteacher Jamie Duffy says his round of 81 – for minus 8 – was not as bad as it may appear. As well as an eagle at 13 and a rare birdie at 15, Jamie says he had several lip-out putts and, from a one handicap on the day, had to make his birdie putts to record a decent score. Two other birdies were scored the following day – by Peter Stocker at the fourth and veteran Dave Butcher at the par-five seventh.
WEEKLY WINNERS:
Monday, Vets, Single Stableford, Women (26 players) – Vicki Maynard (37 points), Dianne Kean (36), Deborah Thomas (36); Men (105 players) – A Grade, Garry Clotz (42 points), Ian Scobie (40), Col Thomas (37); B Grade, Ray Moody (40), Paul Santamaria (39), Ed Hoey (38); C Grade, Barry Euston (40), David Rennie (37), Bob Keogh (37).
Tuesday, Single Par, Women (36 players) – Lynn Hayman (plus 4), Sue Wake (+3), Susanne Harris (+2); Men (68 players) – Bob Hayward (+4), John Christmas (+3), Attilio Bertinato +3).
Wednesday, Medley Fourball Aggregate Stableford – sponsored by Australian Leak Detection – (201 players) – Clint Adams and Doug Morgan (78 points), Justin Scartini and Chinta Demasson (76), Fred Muller and Peter Ellsworth (75), Sean Fitzpatrick and Mark Postles (74), Mal Bradshaw and Ian Moore (74).
Thursday, Women, Single Stableford – sponsored by Deborah Thomas, Trudi Russell, Kay Campbell, Ann Dykstra and Diane Molineux – (115 players) – A Grade, Marg Smith (41 points), Lisa Ramen (39), Catherine Janisewski (37); B Grade, Jenny Campbell (40), Marina Mace (39), Helen Mulholland (37); C Grade, Penny Cooper (41), Pam Andrews (39), Raewyn Bissett (38). Men, Single Stableford (85 players) – Garth Seymour (42), Dean Smareglia (41), Trevor Simpson (41).
Saturday, Women, Single Stroke (11 players) – Sue Jones (71 nett), Will Sprake (74), Leeanne Ptak (74). Men, Monthly Medal (144 players) – A Grade, Col Pledge (68 nett), Bob Trevor (69), Peter Gablonski (70), gross – Wayne West (76); B Grade, Tony Kelleher (64), Bruce Heseltine (69), Steve Rose (71), gross – Tony Kelleher (80); C Grade, Henryk Ptak (65), Graham Miller (67), Jeff Lovell (70), gross – Graham Miller (89).
Men’s Match Play Championship – sponsored by Definitive Finance – finals, A Grade, Adam Richards beat Ben Duncombe (4&3); B Grade, Ian Farrington beat Druce Fielding (4&3); C Grade, Nick Reed beat Josh Vickers (5&3).
Sunday, Medley Sunday Medal (58 players) – Mick Prince (70 nett), Michael Hinds (71), Chris Risby (71). Junior Medal – Sam Fichera (72).
