From Tony Durkin
JOSIE, AGAIN: Headland Patron, Simon Whittle, has described Josie Ryan’s 2024 Headland Women’s Championship victory as one of the bravest he can recall as a 65-year-club member. And, he added that her final nine holes in Thursday’s fourth round were ‘truly championship worthy’. Josie, who continues to receive chemo treatment for her 16th-month battle with Multiple Myeloma cancer, fired 79 in the final round of the Championship to beat leader Lisa Ramen by a single shot, and claim her 20th singles title, and register her 41st Headland Honour Board victory. She started the final round on Thursday two shots behind Lisa, and had slipped four shots back by the turn, with two doubles and a bogey in her first five holes. But her back nine was superb – a two over 37, with five successive pars to finish. And it was not until the 71st hole of the Championship that she led for the first time. “I am surprised by the win, but very proud of my effort,” said Headland’s most-decorated golfer as she headed for a five-hour chemo session the morning after her victory. “I must admit that golf, the game I love so much, gives me just another reason to keep fighting.” But despite her obvious delight, Josie said she was disappointed for Lisa, who four-putted the par-four 17th (16 on the original course) from long range, which enabled Josie to draw ahead of Lisa for the first time in the Championship. Lisa, a two-time former Champion, was contesting the Championships for the first time since 2015, and had led the field from the second round. Simon Whittle followed Josie and Lisa for the final nine holes on Thursday, and said he had never seen septuagenarian Josie play better. “She hit half a dozen shots of which any professional golfer would have been proud,” he said. “Her bravery, to even play the Championships under her personal circumstances and obvious physical stress, should never be under estimated. Her championship qualities, which we have seen for such a long time, never deserted her.” Josie was also declared Senior Champion, while Kate Wilkie won the 72-hole A Grade nett and Annabel Harris the 36-hole Senior Champion award. B Grade Champion is Robyn Boreham, while Ree Condon won C Grade, with Jilly Nixey (B Grade) and Ellen Bloxsome (C Grade) the respective nett winners. NOTE: Josie credited her caddie on the final day, Colleen Berger, for keeping her focused. “She helped my concentration over the final 18 holes,’ she said.
MEDAL DOUBLE: For the past year Chris Goundrey has been judiciously working on a plan with former schoolmate and Pro golfer, Atomu Watanabe, to become a scratch golfer. And, after joining a rare group at Headland on Saturday to win the A Grade Monthly Medal (67 nett) and return the best gross score, Chris thinks his goal might just be in sight. The owner of Act Right Electrical, young dad Chris said he became distraught about his game when his handicap blew out to eight 12 months ago. “I wasn’t enjoying my golf, so I started working on a plan with Atomu, firstly to shoot a par round at Headland and then to get down to scratch,” he revealed. And he went close to both those goals on Saturday – he shot one-over 70 with two birdies, three bogeys and 13 pars, and reduced his handicap to 2.1. A Headland junior for 10 years, Chris took a break before rejoining in 2016 when he won the A Grade nett in the Club Championships. “I’m still to shoot par, although I went close two weeks ago when I was two under teeing off 18, then doubled the par three,” he lamented. Warren Selvage (66 nett) won the B Grade Medal and Bruce Prince 67) won C Grade.
CORRECT HOLES: While others have been praising Headland’s ground staff for the excellent condition of the course considering the deluge it has received this year, Jim Aspinwall has acknowledged them for their astute pin placements on Wednesday. Winner of the April B Grade Monthly Medal with the best score of the day, Jim joked after his round that ‘for the first time in at least two years, they have managed to put the pins in the right place’. Owner of hinterland wedding venue Maleny Orchard, Jim shot 74 from his 13 handicap for nett 61, revealing he ‘played solid, and putted well’. And although he did not exactly ‘smoke’ his new driver – a Callaway Smoke from head Pro Adam Norlander – he said he also hit it well during the round for a return of a birdie, 11 pars and six bogeys. “That may well be my first round at Headland without a double bogey,” declared the decade-long member who arrived on the Sunshine Coast from England in 2000 to play cricket with Maroochydore. He then returned twice more, finally settling in 2006 and joining Headland on a handicap of 27 a decade later. Matthew Duggan (65) won the A Grade Medal, John Logan (65) won in C Grade and Pelican Waters visitor Blaike Perkins, playing off plus four, shot one-over 70 to return the best gross.
NUMBERS GAME: Had the threat of rain not turned away several players, Kirsten Kaergaard may well have won two Monthly Medals in the space of nine days. Kirsten, who is ‘loving’ her time on long service leave, scored 69 nett to win Saturday’s listed April Monthly Medal, which was cancelled because only 17 players competed. “Originally there were 22 entered, but five withdrew and because of the rain, only 11 finished. It was a slow, and wet day,” she said after being awarded the Single Stroke event. Kirsten had won the Thursday B Grade Medal 10 days earlier with nett 70, her first Medal since 2019, and was looking forward to the challenge of going back-to-back after playing some good recent golf. Although not overly enamoured by her card – a mixture of pars, bogeys and doubles – Kirsten was thrilled with her finish, a birdie at the par-three 18th in her round of 91.
GREEN BRAD: A month after ‘jagging’ a win when he thought his golf days may be over, Brad Reddan has snared one of Headland’s prized trophies – the Masters Monday’s green jacket. “I had been playing poorly, and thought maybe I might be forced to take up croquet or something similarly passive,” Brad said after scoring 40 points to win on a Thursday back in March. And he reproduced similar form in Headland’s annual Masters Monday, an event played on the final day of the US Masters, with a green jacket as the symbol of supremacy. Teeing off on the par three 15th hole (the original 14th), Brad started with a par and maintained a good rhythm throughout, despite a wipe at the par-three eighth (original ninth). With Championship tees in play, he scored a birdie (at the first), nine pars, five bogeys and two doubles for 39 points from his 13 handicap. “I knew the course was going to play difficult, so the plan was to aim for two points a hole,” he revealed. But he confided that some Dutch courage, courtesy of a few drinks over breakfast while watching the Masters telecast, had helped him relax. “I presume that now I have won the green jacket, I will receive an exemption for the next five years,” Brad jested. Nelson Valderrama (37 points) was declared the winner of A Grade and Mark Nolan (38) B Grade winner, while the team of Michael Thomas (36), Spencer Ives (33) and US Masters runner-up, Ludvig Åberg, won the teams event. Each nominated team drew a US Masters final round qualifier, and Åberg’s three-under 69 gifted his team 39 points. NOTE: For the ninth successive year, James Kidd of EKO Financial has sponsored Masters Monday. He kicked off the event when he was Club Captain in 2005, and also donated the green jacket. Ironically, James was the first winner of the jacket, and won it again last year.
GOLD MINER: Cody Petrie is a FIFO gold miner in the Tamani Desert, and when he is home, he likes to mine the Headland fairways for dollars. And this past week the 23-year-old rookie golfer, who joined Headland on a handicap of 28 in mid-2022, has collected $190 in booty. He won $50 when he finished fifth in B Grade with 34 points on Masters Monday, and a further $40 for the Pro Pin at the par-four sixth. And then on Tuesday he scored 38 points to win Tuesday’s Single Stableford for Men, adding a further $100 to his House Account. But while he was ecstatic with just his second win as a member, the 14 handicapper was disappointed he wiped two holes each day. “My game has been up and down, as has my handicap, but I have found some better form this time home,” explained Cody, who works two weeks on, and two weeks off, and endeavours to play at least six competition rounds when home. But winning at golf is not his only competition. He and his dad Todd are fighting a ferocious battle for lowest handicap rights. “The lowest we have both been is 13.1, but he has me currently – he is on 14.1 and I’m on 14.2.
MONICA’S GOAL: While Josie Ryan continues to grab the women’s headlines at Headland, Monica Knowles is determined to usurp the reigning Champion in one area – the oldest A grade woman in the club. “I’m 80, and my goal is to get back in to A Grade, and feel proud to be the oldest up there,” she declared after scoring 38 points to win Tuesday’s Single Stableford for Women. “I was in A Grade three months ago, but suddenly my swing went missing. But I have slowed things down to about 75 per cent, and back it came.” A Headland member for 44 years, Monica said she ‘practised like hell’ and reduced her handicap to 10 back in the 80s to play in for the World Masters Games in Brisbane, but that did not last long. “I’m playing off 21 at the moment, so I’ll need a few more rounds like Tuesdays to get me down to 18, for A Grade,” she said. Monica had a four-point birdie at the par-four 13th (12th on the original course), plus six three-pointers on her winning card, but was disappointed with her two wipes. “I hit the green in two, something I had not done for ages,” she revealed about her birdie hole.
RELAXED PHIL: Phil Kornmann admits to being ‘an ordinary golfer’, but he plays for the exercise, enjoyment and camaraderie. So, when a victory like his on Thursday comes, he gets a genuine kick along – especially when the prizemoney is $100. “It was a nice day out. I felt really relaxed and hit some good shots,” said the retired Architect after his 41 points won the Single Stableford for Men. And while pleased he only had the one wipe on a card that also revealed a four-point birdie and six three-point holes, Phil was particularly enamoured by his back nine which reaped a bountiful 24 points. “That could be the best nine-hole score I have ever had,” quipped 27-marker Phil, who says his lowest handicap was 17 at Townsville Golf Club many years ago, but only lasted a week. A rising 81-year-old, Phil shares a cart with Gary Rugless but says he intends walking the course again when the cooler winter months arrive. A member since 2007, Phil’s 41 points equals his best-ever score at Headland.
THREES PLEASE: When Odette Day turned from the 18th tee to the first green in Thursday’s Overflow Single Stableford for Women with a meagre 15 points on her card, she begged herself to score some three-pointers on the front nine. And although she penned only three on her card, she also scored a four-pointer and had five two-point holes for 23 points, and the equal most fruitful nines since she graduated from SWING in 2016. Her 38 points won the event, her first victory Odette scored an astonishing 42 points in a three-club plus putter event in February last year. The Pathology Courier Supervisor conceded she had not been playing well of late, hence the reason she decided not to contest the Club Championships. “I had some lessons recently with Mitch (Jacobson, former Assistant Pro) and that has helped, particularly with my driver which kept me out on trouble on Thursday,” she said. “I suppose you could say I stormed home, which was very pleasing.”
PENNANTS: Both Junior Pennant matches involving Headland, at Headland, on Sunday, were abandoned, as was the Women’s Diamond ICMP (Inter Club Match Play) against Noosa-Cooroy, also at Headland. And while the Women’s Emeralds ICMP match against Bribie Island at Maroochy River started – and then re-started after 25-minute suspension because of rain – the clash was eventually also abandoned, with some greens under water. The match was declared a draw, as was the match between Pearls and Bribie Island, scheduled for Headland on Monday, with further rain causing yet another abandonment. All abandoned matches have been declared a draw. Amethyst had the bye this round.
WEEKLY RESULTS:
Monday, Masters Monday – sponsor James Kidd, EKO Financial – (136 players) – Green Jacket, Brad Reddan (39 points); A Grade, Nelson Valderrama (37), Ian Farrington (37), Wayne West (36), James Kidd (36), Michael Thomas (36); B Grade, Mark Dolan (38), Scott Ingham (38), Ian Scobie (35), Gavin Rooney (35), Cody Petrie (34). Teams – Michael Thomas, Spencer Ives and Ludvig Åberg (108 points).
Tuesday, Single Stableford – Women (32 players) – Monica Knowles (38 points), Colleen Berger (36), Annabel Harris (35).
Men (72 players) – Cody Petrie (38 points), Rod Hamilton (38), Bob Trevor (37).
Wednesday, Medley Single Stroke, and Men’s Mid-Week Medal – sponsor, Ryan Tomlinson, Century 21 on Duporth – (205 players) – A Grade, Matthew Duggan (65 nett), Richard Franklin (67), Dean Smareglia (67); B Grade, Jim Aspinwall (61), Glen Grimish (64), Justin Walsh (66); C Grade, John Logan (65), John Jones (68), Brian Hermeston (69). Gross – Blaike Perkins (70).
Thursday, Women, Single Stroke and Final Round 2024 Club Championship – sponsor, Jodie McDonell, Century 21 on Duporth – (43 players) – A Grade, Sue Jones (69 nett), Annabel Harris (74); gross, Josie Ryan (79), Lisa Ramen (82); B grade, Jill Nixey (72), Kerry Longworth (73); gross, Robyn Boreham (93), Cathy Roberts (94); C Grade, Wendy Burnie (80), Ree Condon (81); gross, Joy Murray (103), Ellen Bloxsome (109).
2024 Women’s Championship results – A Grade, gross – Josie Ryan (87,84,83,79 – 333), Lisa Ramen (87,82,83,82 – 334), Kate Wilkie (85,85,83,89 – 342); nett – Kate Wilkie (286), Annabel Harris (296); B Grade, gross – Robyn Boreham (97,94, 95, 93 – 379), Cathy Roberts (101, 92, 102, 94 – 389), Jill Nixey (100,97,98,941 – 389); nett – Jill Nixey (301), Helen Fraser (307); C Grade, gross – Ree Condon (115,105,104,112 – 405), Wendy Burnie (112,112,113,112 – 449), Ellen Bloxsome (113,113,117,109 – 452); nett – Ellen Bloxsome (324), Penny Cooper (353) ; Senior Champion – Josie Ryan; Senior 36-hole Champion – Annabel Harris.
Women’s Overflow, Single Stableford (38 players) – Odette Day (38 points), Dianne Schultz (37), Vicky Maynard (35).
Men, Single Stableford (72 players) – Phil Kornmann (41 points), Tom Withers (40), Neil Oxley (38).
Saturday, Women, Single Stroke – sponsor, Jodie McDonell, Century 21 on Duporth – (17 players) – Kirsten Kaergaard (69 nett), Helen Fraser (71), Kate Wilkie (74).
Men – sponsor, Ryan Tomlinson, Century 21 on Duporth – (155 players) – A Grade, Chris Goundrey (67 nett), Brett Hardner (67), Rob Van Delft (68); B Grade, Warren Selvage (66), Ross Roberts (66), Mike Hardy (68); C Grade, Bruce Prince (67), Joe Stotschek (68), Bernie Duncan (68). Gross – sponsored by Brian Kesby – Chris Goundrey (70).
Sunday, Medley Single Stroke (competition abandoned because of rain)
