From Tony Durkin

 ADAM AGAIN: He is 48 years of age and has won the Headland Club Championship four times previously, yet Adam Richards has never been prouder than when he walked off the 18th green on Sunday as the 2022 Men’s Champion. The defending Champion beat 2016 title holder Adam Rydwanksi for the gong – his 17th Honour Board event – when he parred the first play-off hole after the pair had finished equal on 296 after 72 holes. Playing together in the final group on Sunday, Adam Rydwanski had shaved two shots off the overnight lead of the defending Champion, despite his second successive double bogey at the par-four ninth. He then followed a birdie at 16 – which had given him the lead for the first time – with a bogey at 17, while Adam Richards steadied after bogeys at 12 and 14 to come home with four pars and force the play-off. The pair played the par-three 18th again, the Champion prevailing with a par after Rydwanski missed for bogey. Last year Adam Richards become the first Headland male to win the Championship over a four-decade period, winning his first in 1994 as a 20-year-old. But the anxious overnight leader by four shots started the final round poorly with a double bogey six at the par-four first when his drive almost found out of bounds on the right. “I was very nervous. Even though I’d won the title four times previously, I knew this was a big chance for my first back-to-back titles,” he said. His four-stroke lead, which proved to be just enough, followed a superb four-under 68 on Saturday, a round he declared ‘up there with his best-ever’ playing in the Headland Club Championships. While justly chuffed at again beating home a very strong and talented field of Headland members, Adam said he was particularly proud to have his father Brian on his bag during the final round. “As he has always been for me, dad was a calming influence,” he said. The 2022 Championships were again generously sponsored by Tim Reed of Stilhaus.

DOM CONVERTS: Medical Sales rep Dom Geeves says his first round 79, the lowest he has shot in his three years playing the Headland Club Championships, set him up for his breakthrough win in the 2022 B Grade title. The father of three who entered the Championships with ‘pretty low’ expectations following a mediocre month of golf, shot rounds of 79,84,86 and 89 to win by a shot from Ian Farrington, with Matt Hetherington a further stroke back. The victory followed his win in the B Grade nett the previous year. While somewhat disappointed with his escalating scorecard over the four rounds, Dom said the three-shot lead he took into the final round had proved vital. The A Grade nett likewise went down to the wire, with Mark Henricks beating younger brother Paul, also by a single stroke, while surf lifesaver Nick Bolton won the B Grade nett. Lachie Moffat is C Grade Champion for 2022 with Gary Martin winning C Grade nett, while Darren Macleod was crowned the new Senior Champion, and Ben Duncombe Junior Champion.

 MONDAY SPECIAL: She may be a relative newcomer to golf, but Jan Langdon seems to have developed a penchant for bringing out her best on the big occasions. The 2020 SWING graduate won Monday’s Anzac Day event, which followed victory in Division Two of Masters Monday two weeks earlier, the same week she won her Monthly Medal for D Grade. Jan had three four-point holes and five three-pointers on her card on Monday, scored 41 points and won the Anzac Day event by a point from ex-New Zealand serviceman Neven Daniel. Two weeks earlier, playing from the Championship tees on Masters Monday, she had six three-point holes, but was disappointed with a wipe on her card in both events. “I have been concentrating on keeping the ball in play, which has certainly helped my scoring. But my short game needs work,” she said. But the sexagenarian says because she took up golf late in life, she is not seeking perfection. “My goal is to continue to enjoy the game, play better and reduce my handicap into the 20s,” she said. Jan’s current AGU handicap is 33, down from a recent high of 39.

 IF ONLY: Ian Farrington carries the nickname ‘IF’, and after Wednesday’s round in the Medley Single Stableford event he wished ‘if only I could keep that score for Saturday’s third round of the Club Championship’. The Project Manager (for generous Headland sponsor Walsh Consulting Engineers) was sitting second in B Grade after the first two rounds and reckoned his three-over 75 on Wednesday, for 42 points, would have been a very handy start to the final weekend of the 2022 Championship, in which he finished top-10 last year. Despite a double bogey at the par-five seventh hole when his three wood ‘was not friendly’, the nine handicapper was one under the card teeing off the 15th following a birdie at nine and an eagle at the 11th, but finished with four consecutive bogeys, which attracted some heckling from his regular early-morning playing partners. “Yes, it was suggested I may have been protecting my handicap,” he revealed. NOTE: Ian, the 2021 Headland B Grade Match Play Champion, was beaten by one stroke for the B Grade Championships after weekend rounds of 84 and 87.

LUCKY IN-LAW: SCU Security Supervisor Don Caldwell reckons he’s one of those lucky people to have ‘wonderful’ in laws. And it seems he is also lucky to have in laws who, like him, play golf. And he’s even luckier that his mother-in-law, Sylvia Wood, ‘carried’ him in Tuesday’s Medley Fourball Best Ball Stableford, all the way to the winner’s circle. Sylvia and Don scored 42 points, of which Sylvia contributed 25. Both scored four-point birdies – Don at the par-five 10th and Sylvia at the par-three 14th – on a card that had just the lone one-pointer alongside six threes and eight two-point holes. Don joined Headland when he moved from Sydney in 2018 and Sylvia and her husband Peter were so keen to also become members, they lodged their applications eight months before the retired couple also moved north, two years later. Despite playing together often, it is the first time Sylvia and Don have won as a team, although Don and Peter have previously shared the spoils when the trio were members of Sydney’s Muirfield Golf Club. The victory is also the first for both Sylvia and Don as Headland members.

 JOYOUS GOLF: Few golfers are happy to score 100, but not Joy Bullock. For the 2016 SWING graduate her century of shots on Thursday, which reaped 39 Stableford points, was a breakthrough moment for the former business owner who has called the Sunshine Coast home after arriving from South Australia more than three decades ago. “When I first started golf, my goal was to score 100. I have been close, with 102 and 103 previously, but that is my first golfing goal achieved,” she said. Joy says it has taken her five years to play ‘reasonably consistently’, something exemplified by the fact her AGU handicap – which was 44 when she started – is now down to 28.7. Her card on Thursday, which won the B Grade competition, revealed seven three-point holes and eight two pointers. Joy, who tries to play two competition rounds each week, has previously had wins with scores of 42 and 40 points respectively. Her new goal is to break through the 100 barrier. Sharon Thomas won A Grade with an excellent round of 78, for 40 points.

FRUITFUL WEEK: Les Hanslo has been a Headland member for more than two decades, but until recently averaged little more than ‘a few’ competition rounds a year. With his PVC factory based in Melbourne, South African-born Les confessed business affairs mattered most, but because he admired the course and the culture of Headland so much, he maintained his membership and played whenever his busy schedule permitted. But now that he is semi-retired and his children are running the company, Les is playing more – and with some success. This past week he won Thursday’s Single Stableford with a superb 44 points, finished third in Monday’s Anzac Day event with 39 and on Tuesday scored 41 points in a Fourball event for his most fruitful week of golf. Playing from a 21 handicap on Thursday, Les had 85 off the bat and tallied his 44 points from nine three-point holes, eight two-pointers and a lone single. He last won at Headland five years ago, which was his first-ever golfing victory.

 WEEKEND COLOURS: He is well known for his at-times outlandish golf garb, and Tony Briffa did not disappoint in that area when he won Saturday’s Medley Single Stableford with 41 points. And while his dress sense was at its vivid best, the scorecard of the Asset Systems Manager was also colourful – two birdies, four pars, seven bogeys, three doubles and two wipes. “I either hit the ball well, or poorly – there is no in between. I’m happy thought that these days I’m generally hitting a higher percentage of good shots,” said the former Mt Isa nine-marker who played from a handicap of 22 on Saturday. But while his golf dress may have been garish, the following day he was all in black on one of his many charity rides with 55 other members of the HOGs (Harley Owners Group) – a 350km round trip from the Sunshine Coast, via Mount Glorious.

 DIGGERS DAY: Kathy Atkins and Neven Daniel will have their names inscribed on the prestigious Headland Servicemen’s Shield following Monday’s successful Anzac Day event, which attracted 86 players despite the rain. The Servicemen’s Shield was gifted to the club in 1959 by foundation members Bert and Dorothy Edwards and has been contested each Anzac Day since. Neven (40 points) and Kathy (37) were the best performed male and female ex-service players on the day, while Service Division winners were Ross Kelly (Air Force, 33 points), Alan Deller (Army, 33) and Alan Jones (Navy, 34).

 WEEKLY RESULTS:     

Monday, Anzac Diggers Trophy, Single Stableford (86 players) – Jan Langdon (41 points), Neven Daniel (40), Les Hanslo (39); Service trophy, Men – Neven Daniel (40), Women- Kathy Atkins (37); Army – Allen Deller (33); Air Force – Ross Kelly (33); Navy – Alan Jones (34).

Tuesday, Medley Fourball Best Ball Stableford (54 players) – Sylvia Wood and Don Caldwell (42 points), Steve Walters and Martyn Dix (41), Jenny Stokes and Steve McPherson (41).

Wednesday, Medley Single Stableford – sponsor Erik Larsen, Cirlock (208 players) – A Grade, Ian Farrington (42), Scott Lindsay (39), Richard Franklin (38); B Grade, John Atkins (37), Jim Saunderson (36), Ty Pilcher (35); C Grade, Peter McMillan (35), Dion Southey (35), Gordon Peak (34).

Thursday, Single Stableford, Women – sponsors Leanne Ptak, Valerie O’Brien, Pik Chong and Christine Parkinson – (105 players) – A Grade, Sharon Thomas (40 points), Catherine Peterson (37), Marg Smith (37); B Grade, Joy Bullock (39), Sue Briffa (37), Jenny Pirini (36); C Grade, Jenny Stokes (33), Wendy Burnie (33), Janette Mason (32). Men (74 players) – Les Hanslo (44 points), Malcolm Woods (40), Mark Garcia (39).

Saturday, Men’s Club Championships, Round Three – sponsor Tim Reed, Stilhaus (134 players) – A Grade, gross, Adam Richards (68), Dave Rattray (72), Scott Bromfield (74); nett, Andrew Stirling (66), Adam Richards (67), Dave Rattray (69). B Grade, gross, Jai Straney (79), Jay Gourlay (81), Andy Whitmore (83); nett, Jai Straney (68), Jay Gourlay (68), Karl Aldrich (70). C Grade, gross, Tom Hewitt (87), Sam Fichera (91), Michael Gregora (91); nett, Tom Hewitt (68), Sam Fichera (71), Michael Gregora (71). Overflow, Medley Single Stableford (56 players) – Tony Briffa (44 points), Lawrence Hireme (38), Geoff Sawyer (35).

Sunday, Men’s Club Championships, Final Round – sponsor Tim Reed, Stilhaus (115 players)

– A Grade, gross, Brad Butler (70), Scott Walker (71), Adam Rydwanski (73); nett, Brad Butler (68), Scott Walker (68), Paul Henricks (70). B Grade, gross, Nick Bolton (83), Peter Gablonski (83), Alex Dwyer (84); nett, Nick Bolton (67), Peter Gablonski (69), Mark Swift (73). C Grade, gross, Nick Reed (87), Barry Potter (91), Ross Itzstein (92); nett, Nick Reed (70), Barry Potter (70), Trevor Gourlay (72). Overflow, Medley Single Stableford (25 players) – Brett Stephenson (35 points), Josie Ryan, (35), Don Caldwell (34).

2022 Men’s Championship – A Grade, gross, Champion Adam Richards (76,75,68,77 – 296), Adam Rydwanski (71,75,77,73 – 296), Brad Butler (304); nett, Mark Henricks (71,73,73,72 – 289), Paul Henricks (76,72,72,70 – 290). B Grade, gross, Dom Geeves (338), Ian Farrington (339), Matt Hetherington (340); nett, Nick Bolton (75,77,73,67 – 292); Tony Coad (69,78,73,75 – 295). C Grade, gross, Lachie Moffat (365), Ivan Fortmann (367), Tony McDonough (367); nett, Gary Martin (72,68,73,71 – 284); Nick Donovan (70,71,76,71 – 288). Senior Champion, Darren Macleod (85,79,81,79 – 324); Junior Champion, Ben Duncombe (75,79,78,75 – 307).