From Tony Durkin 

HOT MATCHPLAY: Saturday’s semi-final wins have resulted in two mouth-watering finals for Headland’s 2023 A Grade Matchplay Championships this coming weekend. Five-time Club Champion Adam Richards will meet youngster Ben Duncombe in the Men’s A Grade showdown on Saturday, while Sharon Thomas can make it a cleansweep of all Women’s Honour Board events if she can take down giantkiller Fiona Munro. Adam Richards avenged his rare poor form in the Club Championships to take down 2023 Champion Adam Rydwanski 3&1 to win one Saturday semi-final, while Ben (4&2) ousted Matt Prince in the other to set up the highly-anticipated clash between two top performers of Headland’s 2023 A Grade Pennant team. Similar results were carded by the A Grade Women – Sharon Thomas beating Sue Jones 2-up, and the in-form Fiona Munro convincingly accounting for the evergreen Josie Ryan, 4&3, whose name is on the Honour Board a phenomenal 38 times. In Women’s B Grade, Gwen Nancarrow will meet Monica Antony in the final, with Brenda Smith-Gittings and Ree Condon to clash in C Grade, while Michael Thomas, husband of Sharon, has won through to the final of Men’s B Grade against Denis Mikolic, and C Grade Champion Ross Itzstien will be hot favourite to continue his recent run of success when he opposes Bruce Heseltine in the C Grade decider.

WINNING SPARK: Electrician Lindsay Blair celebrated his first Saturday win as a Headland member with what he described as ‘a massive PB’. The expat Victorian scored 42 points from his handicap of 20 to win C Grade, the equal best score of the day alongside B Grade victor Chris Klazema, and was still buzzing with excitement when HH spoke to him following an early-morning Sunday surf. “My previous best score was 20 over par – this was 14 over,” he revealed. Despite starting both nines with a double bogey, the Nambour TAFE teacher quickly made amends with his goal of ‘no mistakes’, reaping eight three pointers and a four-point par at the tough fifth (original fourth) hole. When he joined Headland back in January – his first golf club membership – Lindsay was handed a very generous handicap of 36; within eight months he has almost halved that mark (now 18.8). Shane Muller (37) won A Grade, Chris Klazema (42) took B Grade and Sandee Brimblecombe (36) won the Women’s event. 

MIRACLE GOLF: Bruce Horton has described his win in Tuesday’s Single Stableford for Men as a miracle – and not just because it is his first victory in ‘possibly four years’. “It was actually a day of miracles,” beamed Bruce, a retired University Lecturer from Bathurst who joined Headland in 2000. “I sank four or five putts that typically, with my putting prowess, would each have taken three or four. So instead of my average 30 points, I scored 38.” Bruce started brilliantly, parring the first four holes on the second nine and the first three on the front in a round where he scored more pars than he could remember. But beside his nine pars, there was also a tinge of reality – three wipes and a one-pointer. Sue Briffa (36 points) won Women’s A Grade, and Roz Brandt (35) won B Grade. 

GOLFING JOY: Playing less competition golf of late, Joy Bullock said she ‘needed’ Monday’s winning round in the Vets competition. “I think we all need a good round every now and again to make us feel better,” she explained following her 38 points to win the A Grade Single Stableford for Women. A SWING graduate from 2016, Joy was also happy that no wipes appeared on a card that revealed one four-point hole, three three-pointers, 11 twos and three ones. “To score 36 points is always nice, but 38 just seems that much better,” she said. Like many Headland members, Joy is enjoying the ‘new’ course. “At times it actually feels as though I am playing a different course altogether,” she revealed. Pam Andrews, also with 38 points, won B Grade. 

BEST-EVER GOLF: Warren Selvage always considered shooting his age a virtual impossibility, but on Monday he came within two shots of achieving that very rare golfing feat. “If I ever thought it remotely possible, I reckoned I would need to be a very, very active 90 year-old,” he joked after his 72 in Monday’s Vets Stableford garnered the 70-year-old 43 points. “It’s the best round of golf I have ever played.” And it came after three successive Stableford scores of 29, 30 and 26 following something of a purple patch a few months earlier. His two birdies, 11 pars and five bogeys were the result of ‘slowing everything down, and swinging sweetly’. Warren won A Grade, Colin Williamson (37) won B Grade and Barry Euston (41) continued his excellent recent form to win C Grade. 

HAPPY CHAPPY: When asked if he was still enjoying his golf following a 2½-month break because of illness, Darryl Chapman replied ‘I did today’. The retired teacher, who first joined Headland in the late 70s, tabled 41 points to return the best score of the day and win C Grade in what he said was a round that came ‘out of the blue’. “I have been struggling of late and am embarrassed at my generous handicap of 25. But I’m determined to bring that down,” he said. Despite a four-point par and eight three-pointers, his winning round was not without its issues. Darryl wiped the first hole and also had three one-pointers on his card. With 38 points, Gary Marr won A Grade and David Richards (40) led in the B Grade field. 

MATES RATE: Allan Warby and John Siddons have known each other for just on six decades, but until Wednesday had never won a golf event in partnership. But the retired graziers – Allan from Glenmorgan and John from nearby St George – corrected that anomaly when they combined to win the mid-week Fourball Best Ball Stableford with a superb score of 51 points. And while there were four four-point holes on their card and seven three-pointers, the winning edge no doubt came from the fact their lowest score was a two, of which they had seven. “Yes, we both played well and combined splendidly,” said Allan, a two-decade member. Allan (38 individual points) and John (37) both play regularly on Wednesdays with the Old Goats (Order of Late Developing Golfers Optimistically Approaching Terminal Senility) group.

FOURBALL MATCHPLAY: Entries have opened for the Headland’s final Honour Board event of 2023, the Fourball Best Ball Matchplay Championship, sponsored again by Michael Thomas of Zenfind Accounting. The event will be staged over four rounds, with the best 16 scores from the qualifying round on Saturday week, October 7, progressing to the final series on successive on Sundays. The quarter finals will be played on November 5, the semis on November 12 and the final on November 19. As well as his generous support of the event, which was won last year by John Marrington and Sergio Nogarotto, sponsor Michael Thomas has also provided a $75 per player prize for the best gross score in the qualifying round on October 7.  Entries close this Thursday (September 28) and all entrants will be placed in the draw before the timesheet is opened.

WEEKLY RESULTS:

Monday, Vets, Single Stableford – Sponsor – Living Choice, Women (40 players) – A Grade, Joy Bullock (38 points), Lisa Ramen (35), Ree Condon (35); B Grade, Pam Andrews (38), Kay Campbell (38), Leigh Derigo (34).

Men (57 players) – A Grade, Warren Selvage (43), Steve Rose (41), David W Smith (38); B Grade, Colin Williamson (37), Bruce Heseltine (37), Ross Itzstein (35); C Grade, Barry Euston (41), Clive Glover (39), Bob Hunter (37). 

Tuesday, Single Stableford, Women (35 players) – A Grade, Sue Briffa (36 points), Catherine Peterson (35), Jill Nixey (35); B Grade, Roz Brandt (35), Coralie Snowball (34), Anne Hayward (33).

Men (68 players) – Bruce Horton (38), Charlie Worthy (38), Andy Whitmore (37).

Wednesday, Medley Single Stableford (214 players) – A Grade, Gary Marr (38 points), Ian Farrington (38), Col Thomas (38); B Grade, David Richards (40), Brett Stephenson (40), Todd Petrie (39); C Grade, Darryl Chapman (41), Anthony Duncan (39), Errol Grainger (39).  

Medley Fourball Best Ball Stableford, Allan Warby and John Siddins (51 points).

Thursday, American Foursomes, Women (104 players) – sponsors, K. Walker, S. Eggleton, L. Hall, J. Welsh, G. Thomas – Leeanne Ptak and Carolyn Schwarz (67.5 nett), Joy Bullock and Dianne Kean (67.5), Jenny Ingham and Julie Halliday (67.625), Julie Welsh and Gillian Thomas (69).

Men (88 players) – Rod Hamilton and Tim Rees (64.5), Nigel Morrison and Josh Creedy (64.625), Scott Simpson and Lachlan Jacobson (64.75).

Saturday, Single Stableford, – sponsor, James Brownsworth, Innovative Planning – Women (21 players) – Sandee Brimblecombe (36 points), Annabel Harris (35), Leigh Derigo (34).

Men (197 players) – A Grade, Shane Muller (37), Scott Bromfield (37), Tony Dunford (37); B Grade, Chris Klazema (42), Brian Richards (39), Terry Grogan (39); C Grade, Lindsay Blair (42), Tim Gahan (37), Tony Briffa (37).

2023 Club Matchplay Championship, semi-finals, Women – A Grade, Sharon Thomas beat Sue Jones (2-up); Fiona Munro beat Josie Ryan (4&3); B Grade, Gwen Nancarrow beat Liz Dunford (1-up), Monica Antony beat Cathy Roberts (1-up); C Grade, Brenda Smith-Gittings beat Sue Haddenham (1-up), Ree Condon beat Sue Keays (4&3). 

Men – A Grade, Adam Richards beat Adam Rydwanski (3&1), Ben Duncombe beat Matt Prince (4&2); B Grade, Denis Mikolic beat Lachie Keenan (walkover), Michael Thomas beat Braden Anderson (1-up); C Grade, Ross Itzstein beat Michael Rutledge (6&5), Bruce Heseltine beat Zac Boland (1-up).

Sunday, Headland Scramble (76 players) – Daniel Harding, John Burnett, Gary Marr and Rohan Albury (50.5 nett), Harrison Darr, Andrew Darr, Chris Edwards and Andrew Stirling (53.87), Greg Stray, Matt Fisher, John Mannix and Gary Clarke (54).