From Tony Durkin
GOLF FUNDING: Winning Headland’s annual Future Fund Day – generously sponsored by Drew and Jocelyn Walker – was a boon for Gary Jamieson, who returned 41 points, the best individual score of the day. Gary, who teamed with regular Saturday morning partner Geoff Montgomery to score 75 points in Saturday’s Medley Fourball Aggregate Stableford, had $80 added to his House Account, as did Geoff. But while the victory – and the winning stakes – was a boon for Gary, his back nine of 40, for 24 points, was his undoubted highlight of the day. “I played really well,” said the Head of Maintenance at Matthew Flinders College, who birdied the sometimes-treacherous par-four 17th for the second successive time. On the back nine he also penned five three-pointers on his card, while Geoff chipped in with 20 points on a finishing nine which garnered the duo 44 of their winning points. Gary (handicap 19) and Geoff (26) combined superbly, with their only blemish a miserly one-point at the fourth hole – which Gary wiped – and their best a seven-pointer at the 17th. An impressive field of 248 supported Future Fund Day.
DIANE’S BEST: She took up golf in 2017 through Headland’s innovative SWING program to ‘fill in time’ after retiring, and on Thursday Diane Molineux shot 92 for her very first victory in A Grade. Playing off 22 – a far cry from the ‘high 30s’ handicap on which she started her golfing career – Diane returned plus three in the Single Par event, with the 92 her lowest-ever gross score. “When I retired from my job as a Business Administrator seven years ago I wanted to stay active, and golf appealed to me,” said the Scotland-born former Kiwi resident, who moved to the Sunshine Coast in 1988. And although enjoying her new activity, Diane restricts herself to just Thursday competitions, with a couple of social rounds each week. Her GA handicap after Thursday’s win is 20.8. Colleen Sarquis (also +3) won B Grade and Cathy Haimes (+1) was first in C Grade.
THANKS COBRA: Retirement, a new driver and playing twice a week has helped Glen Grimish to his first win in more than two years. And ironically, it was a win almost thwarted by rain. Following a heavy downpour on Wednesday, Glen and his group missed their original tee time but later decided to brave the elements, and he scored an impressive 81 from his 14 handicap, for 41 points and a win in B Grade. The recently-retired 58-year-old former commercial real estate Sales Director matched eight bogeys with eight pars, plus a birdie and a double bogey, for his best score since a four-over 76 in the Club Championships of 2008. And while playing twice a week since retiring in mid-February has helped revitalise his game, Glen says a new Cobra driver, plus a three-wood and five-wood bought from Head Pro Adam Norlander, has given him much-needed confidence. Jamie Hill (39 points) shot one-over 73 to win A Grade, David Bone (38) topped C Grade, and the associated Fourball was won by medicos Peter Nash and Quentin Mungomery, with 47 points.
ALNON AGAIN: Pizza chef Alnon Paggabao may have collected the financial spoils on Sunday following his win in the Medley Individual Stableford, but it was two former Club Champions who stole the limelight. Five-time Champion Dave Rattray reproduced some of his very best form to shoot two-under par 70 on a brilliant card that revealed 16 pars and two birdies, while 2016 Champion Adam Rydwanski shot 71 for 37 points, with three birdies on an unblemished back nine. Both former Champions played off handicaps of plus one. And despite having two wipes on his card, Alnon – who only started playing competitive golf this year – won his fifth event, with 38 points. He scored 22 of those points on the back nine, and penned six three-pointers to continue his impressive conversion to ‘serious’ golf, which already includes successive Monthly Medals in February and March.
PARTY TIME: A post-round celebration on Thursday, including a singalong in the clubhouse, accompanied the first win in ‘four or five years’ by Kevin George. A former Newtown rugby league player and actor who joined Headland eight years ago after moving from Sydney, Kevin says any wins on the golf course have been so rare of late that he feels he must enjoy them. “I’ve often been close to a win, but until Thursday I couldn’t seem to get over the line,” the former Restless Years actor explained. Kevin returned 39 points in the Men’s Single Stableford, with 20 – including five three-pointers – coming on the front nine despite a wipe at the second.
VALE ANDREW FERGUSON: Headland lost one of its true golf traditionalists with the recent passing of long-time member Andrew Ferguson, aged 92. Born and raised in Scotland, Andrew and his family moved to the Sunshine Coast in 1978 and bought Buderim Mountain Inn and restaurant, and he almost immediately joined Headland. He had earlier spent a decade in Australia as GM of an engineering company. According to David Feez, one of his regular golfing partners in the latter stages of his four-decade membership, Andrew was ‘a stickler for the rules of golf, a great character and entertaining raconteur’. “He was terrific company,” David said. And his daughter, Fiona, explained that her dad had continued to play the game he loved ‘until physically, he could no longer play’. As a young man, current Headland Patron Simon Whittle remembers Andrew as a regular sponsor of club events, and recalls that Headland members would often call in to the family restaurant on their way home from golf. Andrew is survived by his 87-year-old wife, Margaretha, and four children – Fiona, Annemieke, Robert and Margaretha.
WEEKLY RESULTS:
Tuesday, Medley Fourball Best Ball Stableford, (121 players) – Paul Hughes and Rodney Hutchinson (42 points), Sergio Nogarotto and Stewart Douglas (42), Mark Garcia and Trevor Simpson (42).
Wednesday, Medley Single Stableford (160 players) – sponsor, Josh Myers, RM Developments (Qld) Pty Ltd – A Grade, Jamie Hill (39 points), Clarrie Burns (38), Ian Michel (38); B Grade, Glen Grimish (41), Paul Anderson (39), Ty Picher (37); C Grade, David Bone (38), Graham Pitt (38), Ashleigh Matheson (35). Medley Fourball Best Ball Stableford – Peter Nash and Quentin Mungomery (47 points).
Thursday, Women, Single Par (107 players) – A Grade, Diane Molineux (plus 3), Robyn Muir (+1), Jodie McDonnel (-1); B Grade, Colleen Sarquis (+3), Tracey O’Connor (+3), Lynn Harman (+1); C Grade, Cathy Haimes (+1), Bec Francis (square), Shirley Eggleton (-1).
Men, Single Stableford (94 players) – Kevin George (39 points), Kyle Schutt (38), Warren Gee (38).
Saturday, Future Fund Day, Medley Fourball Aggregate Stableford – sponsor, Drew and Jocelyn Walker – (248 players) – Gary Jamieson and Geoff Montgomery (75 points), Dan Diachkoff and Geoff Bland (74), Kirk Hardy and Mike Hardy (74), Adam Richards and Mark Gersbach (72), Ian Moore and Alan Brooker (72).
Juniors – Parent- Child 9-hole Ambrose Stroke – Max and Leon Faulkner (34 nett), Benjamin and Stephen Cox (36), Liam and Aaron Kerley (37), Billy and Gary Halliday (38), Chase and Matt Duggan (38).
Sunday, Medley Single Stableford (59 players) – Alnon Paggabao (38 points), Shay Mayes (37), Dave Rattray (37).
