From Tony Durkin
CHAMPIONS REMAIN: Defending Headland Champions Josie Ryan and Adam Richards remain in the quest for the respective Women’s and Men’s Match Play titles for 2022, albeit by different paths. Josie is in to Saturday’s semi-final via a first-round bye while Adam scored an impressive 5&4 victory at the weekend over former Club Champion Justin Nicholson. Josie meets Kate Wilkie (who won 6&4 over Vickey Sheridan) in the first semi-final on Saturday, while Sue Jones (2&1 over Julie Halliday) and Sharon Thomas (1-up against Carol Dwyer) battle for the other spot in the final, to be played the following weekend. While Adam’s victory was impressive, it was 2020 Club Champion Scott Walker who caught the eye when he thrashed Dan Diachkoff 7&6, and he and Adam meet in one semi-final on Saturday. Beaten in a play-off last weekend for the Club Championship, Adam Rydwanski struck back with a vengeance, beating Dave Rattray 5&4, and will play Brad Butler in the remaining semi-final on Saturday after he downed Junior Champion Ben Duncombe 3&2.
FATHER’S DAY: It may have been Mother’s Day on Sunday, but Ciaran Fenton celebrated ‘dad’s day’ 12 hours earlier when he won his first event since the birth of his son, Oscar, 18 months ago. A new job for the former business owner combined with dad duties has limited the left hander to ‘two-to-three games a month’, and Saturday’s winning round came ‘totally out of the blue’. Ciaran started from the tenth, had two birdies and a bogey in his back nine of one-under 35 before his first major blemish of the day, a three-putt double bogey six at the first hole. But he kept it together, with six successive pars before finishing bogey-par, for three-over 39, a gross of 74 and 41 Stableford points from his seven handicap. Once a two-marker and having previously parred the course several times since joining Headland in 2015, Ciaran says that while he still enjoys his golf, spending time with Oscar has become his first and most enjoyable priority. Fred Muller (37) won B Grade and Matt Potter (41) led in the C Grade field, while Gail Young (35) won the Women’s event.
CONSISTENCY WINS: Dropping five shots in her final three holes may have soiled Gay David’s otherwise impressive card on Thursday, but it was still good enough to win her the B Grade Monthly Medal for May and – on a countback – the best score in the field of 96. Gay started on the tenth and finished double bogey, par, triple bogey on holes seven, eight and nine, yet was still one under her handicap with a nett 71 from her gross score of 92, her best-ever round at Headland from the Championship tees. A Headland member for 17 years, Gay conceded her recent form had been her ‘best for a while’, and she puts that down to being more consistent. But she also credits 19-time Club Champion Josie Ryan for being a big help. “Josie is wonderful to play with. She is so supportive and is always willing to give advice when we ask,” said Gay, who played alongside the prolific winner on Thursday who also scored 71 nett, and won the A Grade Medal for her first victory of 2022. The win gave Gay her third Medal, to go alongside the Women’s Match Play title she won in 2018.
IMPERFECT TEN: The number 10 had no particular connotation to Police Officer Joel Cooney until Wednesday, when he beat 2022 Club Champion Adam Richards on a countback to win the A Grade Mid-Week Medal. But while his nett 68 – four shots better than his 10 handicap – was good enough to win, the round started disastrously. Teeing off from the first, Joel went double bogey, bogey, bogey, double bogey, and although he then managed to get things back on track, he finished the first nine with 44, eight over the card. Then, miraculously, his game ran hot. He shaved 10 shots off his front nine score with two birdies and seven pars, enabling him to surpass the Club Champion on a countback. But the front-nine start still troubled him because it was an almost-identical replica of the final round of the Championship three days earlier. In third position and playing in the final group of seeded B Graders, he started double bogey, par, bogey, bogey, double bogey to ruin any chance he had of claiming victory, with his 88 – again, ironically – 10 shots worse than Wednesday, and relegating him to sixth. But Wednesday’s magnificent back nine blew away any negative thoughts for the 19-year member. His 34 is not just the first time he has broken par on any nine at Headland, but his best-ever nine anywhere. And his Medal win is another first.
ADAM CASHES IN: As has been his practise for as number of years, Headland’s four-time Men’s Champion, Adam Richards, took leave to prepare for the 2022 Championship, and it paid off handsomely. Not only did the 48-year-old go back-to-back for the first time in his 35 years as a member, but he collected some handy financial rewards along the way. And there was no Championship hangover either, with Adam breaking par from the Championship tees for the second time within four days in Wednesday’s Mid-Week Medal, with his three under 69 the best gross score of the day. Although beaten for the A Grade Medal by Joel Cooney on countback, Adam collected $75 for the best gross score thanks to sponsor Roger Van Ginkel, of Thomassen Australasia. That took his total cash winnings from the Championship/Medal rounds to $570 – not exactly a windfall but a handy addition to his House Account. Adam’s Wednesday round started with a bogey on the par-five tenth when his drive found the tress on the left, and he was forced to chip out. But from there on it was plain sailing, with four birdies and 13 pars for his second under-par round in 10 days.
STRUGGLE OVER: Despite winning back-to-back B Grade Championships – her latest just a month ago – Helen Fraser has described her form over the past 18 months as ‘floundering’. But that certainly changed on Tuesday when she won the Women’s Single Stableford event with 41 points from a ‘long-time best’ of 85 off the bat. “I had been struggling to put 18 good holes together,” said 32-year member Helen who defines Headland as ‘beautiful, but different every time I play it’. And what was different on Tuesday was that all parts of her game started to work, with the only blemish on her card a double bogey at the par-four 16th – otherwise she penned seven pars and 10 bogeys. “I was waiting for the bubble to burst, but everything just flowed,” she explained. Helen started 2021 on an AGU handicap of 12.8, her lowest ever, but despite her first Championship win that mark had ballooned to 18.7 by the start of this year. She played off 17 on Tuesday, but her AGU now is 15.6 and, she hopes, on the way back down. NOTE: Helen was beaten on a countback by Josie Ryan on Wednesday, for the A Grade Monthly Medal, and on Saturday won her first-round match in the B Grade Match Play Championship.
ANNUAL ALAN: He admits his wins are rare, and Alan Stratford reckons his victory on Tuesday came right on time – 12 months after his last. “Winning for me is about luck, not particularly about good play,” said the retired Engineer who joined Headland in 2011 after 18 years playing at Horton Park. And while his previous win was in a Fourball with his wife Susan in May last year, his last individual victory was 12 months earlier than that. Starting on the back nine – as the entire Tuesday field does – Alan scrambled 19 points despite three double bogeys, but was delighted with his consistency on the front, with eight bogeys and a par giving him 20 points from his 21 handicap. Stoked there were no wipes on his card, Alan said his ‘normal’ score during his two regular rounds each week is around the 30-31mark, with 36 points a rarity. “So, 39 was very pleasing indeed,” he said, pointing out that a couple of long putts had certainly helped.
LESSONS LEARNT: Assistant Pro Mitch Jacobson may have had five birdies in his par round on Thursday, but finished the Single Stableford event five places behind his star student, Stewart Douglas. A fruitful December-January period in which Stewart won two events, was followed by two months of inconsistent golf and the Canny Scott decided he needed lessons. Stints in the Golf Simulator and on the range over a three-week period concentrating primarily on his set-up, alignment and swing path worked wonders, with 88 strokes for 41 points in Thursday’s event from the 21 marker the best in the field of 85 players. With his ‘sliced drives’ a distant memory and his tee shots flying straighter and further, 18-month member Stewart carded a consistent six three-point holes, 11 two-pointers and one single. And, he declared, the swing is still a work in progress. The par round by Mitch was bettered by Club Champion Adam Richards who shot one-under 71, and both scored 36 points. NOTE: Stewart’s improvement started on Tuesday, when his front nine of 21 points followed a miserable 13 on the back nine.
VICKY’S REVENGE: Putting the disappointment of being beaten by the wizardry of Kate Wilkie’s putter the previous day, Vicky Sheridan combined with the ever-improving Narelle Hollowood to win Sunday’s Medley Four Ball Best Ball Stableford. The female duo beat allcomers to score an impressive 48 points, four points better than runners-up, father-and-son pairing Anthony and Sam Fichera. Narelle was the star, scoring 33 of the winning total points, including a five-point birdie at the par-five second. The pair added 11 three-point holes, yet still romped in despite two one-pointers. Vicky, Headland’s 36-hole Senior Champion for 2022, came unstuck in the A Grade Match Play quarter finals the previous day, going down 6&4 to Kate Wilkie. But she collected a Sunday bonus – the NTP at the par-three 18th.
WEEKLY RESULTS:
Tuesday, Single Stableford, Women (53 players) – Helen Fraser (41 points), Gwen Nancarrow (37), Marion Dennis (37). Men (69 players) – Alan Stratford (39), Stuart Dykstra (39), Ray Morrison (38).
Wednesday, Men, Mid-Week Medal – sponsor Ryan Tomlinson, Century 21 – (188 players) – A Grade, Joel Cooney (68 nett), Adam Richards (68), Peter Gablonski (70). B Grade, Peter McNeven (68), Michael Fenton (68), Graham Clarke (70). C Grade, Hans Raaschou (79), Steve Phillips (71), Peter Andrews (71). Overall gross – sponsor Roger Van Ginkel, Thomassen Australasia – Adam Richards (69).
Thursday, Women, Monthly Medal– sponsors B BY HALCYON BUDERIM and Ken and Vicki Maynard – (96 players) – A Grade, Josie Ryan (71 nett), Helen Fraser (71), Karen Verney (73); gross – Josie Ryan (81). B Grade, Gay David (71), Robyn Boreham (73), Althea McLean (73); gross – Robyn Boreham (92). C Grade, Janette Ritchie (72), Di Stark (73), Carol Sinclair (74); gross – Di Stark (103). D Grade, Barb Marrington (79), Sue Bolton (79), Margot Easton (80); gross – Barb Marrington (11). Men, Single Stableford (85 players) – Stewart Douglas (41 points), Don Caldwell (39), Mick Kinnear (38).
Saturday, Match Play Championship, Women – A Grade, Kate Wilkie beat Vicky Sheridan (6&4), Sharon Thomas beat Carol Dwyer (1-up), Sue Jones beat Julie Halliday (2&1), Josie Ryan (bye). B Grade, Helen Fraser beat Di Stark (7&5), Anne Callanan beat Kerry Longworth (1-up), Narelle Hollowood beat Sandy Whittle (w/o), Kirsten Kaergaard beat Monica Antony (6&5). C Grade, Sue Harris beat Chrissy Eggins (2&1), Susie Meade beat Wendy Burnie (6&5), Sue Haddenham beat Ellen Bloxsome (w/o), Jane Boaler beat Joy Logan ((1-up).
Men – sponsored by Ash Reck, Definitive Finance – A Grade, Adam Richards beat Justin Nicholson (5&4), Scott Walker beat Dan Diachkoff (7&6), Adam Rydwanski beat Dave Rattray (5&4), Brad Butler beat Ben Duncombe (3&2). B Grade, Ian Farrington beat Grant Martyn (w/o), Joel Cooney beat Garry Marr (1-up), Geoff Bland beat Jai Straney (w/o), James Daniel beat Dennis Mikolic (19th). C Grade, Deon Breytenbach beat Lachie Moffat (19th), Anthony Larchin beat Stephen Blampied (5&4), Nick Reed beat Tony McDonagh (1-u), John Cleary beat Nick Donovan (1-up).
Single Stableford, Women (13 players) – Gail Young (35 points), Julie Lewis (35), Monica Knowles (34). Men (172 players) A Grade, Ciaran Fenton (41), Jack Nicholas (41), Brendan Duncan (40). B Grade, Fred Muller (37), Don Follent (36), Ted Banaszczyk (36). C Grade, Matt Potter (41), Phil Maron (40), Bob Lane (40).
Sunday, Medley Fourball Best Ball Stableford (34 players) – Narelle Hollowood and Vicky Sheridan (48 points), Sam and Anthony Fichera (44), Chris McArdle and Chris Swan (44).
