From Tony Durkin
MAGICAL NINE: Schoolboy David Groom scored his second win at Headland in open company on Saturday, accumulating an awesome 26 points on the back nine for a total of 41. A Headland member since midway through last year, 14-year-old David birdied the tough par-four 16th for five points, adding to his three three-pointers (at 10, 12 and 14), then scored a four-pointer with par at the equally-difficult 17th. A student at Sunshine Coast Grammar, where his dad and fellow member Simon (handicap five) is a teacher, David scored 40 points the previous Sunday for third place in the Medley Stableford, and two months earlier recorded his first Headland victory (42 points), playing in a Thursday competition while on school holidays. A talented sportsman, David played Junior Pennant for Headland this year and has heeded his dad’s mantra that practice makes perfect. When he won back in June his GA handicap was 31 – after Saturday’s victory he is down to 25. Stewart Clover (37 points) won A Grade and Braden Anderson (also 37) won B Grade, while David beat Peter Andrews (40) to head the C Grade leaderboard.
GIRL POWER: Two Women’s team have progressed to next Sunday’s semi-finals of Headland’s 2024 Fourball Best Ball Matchplay Championship, an Honour Board event sponsored by Michael Thomas of Zenfind Accounting. Leeanne Ptak and Vicky Sheridan took No.1 seeds Mick Prince and Bruce Prince to the 19th hole on Sunday before clinching victory, and Cathy Roberts and Robyn Muir hung on to beat Ben Pearson and Rob Van Delft 1-up after the scores were locked after the 17th. The other female in the quarter-finals, Coralie Walsh, with her dad Don Follent, lost 3&2 to Barry Newton and Gary Martin, while Bob Lane and Terry Grogan beat Brendan Duncan and Bernie Duncan (1-up) in the third cliffhanger of the day.
PROFESSOR’S BEST: Former Professor, Michael Christie, until recently rarely played competition golf. The Emeritus Professor of Stockholm University in Sweden usually prefers to play socially, early in the morning, to enjoy the natural beauty of the course, when he believes it is in its most pristine condition, but lately has become a regular Wednesday competition player. And maybe competition golf has helped improve his game because Michael pulled out his best-ever round on Wednesday, scoring 44 points in the Medley Single Stableford event – the highest score in the big field of 230 – and won C Grade by three points. “For me, it was an extraordinary day,” said an exuberant Michael, whose lowest handicap has been 16, in 2010 when he was in Sweden. “I am usually a terribly inconsistent golfer, but today I was absolutely at my best.” His round of 91 from his handicap of 27 was eight shots better than his handicap, and his impressive card revealed a four-point par at the par-five 13th, and eight three pointers. Although Michael describes himself as ‘a very, very average golfer’, his good form did not come as a complete surprise – he finished second in C Grade in early July, with 38 points, and was beaten on a countback with 37 a month earlier. Alan Brooker (39 points) won A Grade and Lawrence Hiremi (41) won B Grade. NOTE: Michael first came to notice as a Headland member – he joined in 2012 – back in 2020 when he penned a poem about the beauty of Headland, which was published in Headland Headlines on June 26 that year.
MIGRAINE MAZE: Despite losing her focus, both mentally and vision, Vicky Sheridan was able to recover from a migraine and win Saturday’s Single Stableford for Women, albeit on a three-way countback. “I bogeyed the first and halfway up the second the migraine, which affects my sight, hit me,” she revealed. “But I took a couple of Panadol, and even though I parred the third, the front nine was not good, with two unmentionables on my card.” By the turn, the Panadol had done its job and Vicky scored 21 of her winning 35 points, with six pars. The victory was her fifth in the past eight months, which included the Monthly Medal in March. “Under the conditions – the oppressive heat and the migraine – I was happy with the win, if not the score,” she added. Robyn Muir and Janelle Heaney, on the same score, finished second and third respectively, while Fiona Munro won three of the four Pin shots on offer.
MOORE GOLF: He has played only 12 rounds of golf since returning from a 12-month hiatus from the game, and Michael Moore concedes he needs to hone quite a few of his former skills. But a win in Tuesday’s Single Stableford – his first since November 2022 – is a sign things are starting to turn around. “I missed just on a year because of an Achilles issue, and it has taken me a while to find some form,” he commented after scoring 42 points to win Division One on Tuesday. “And the new course layout, and the bunkers, have also presented another challenge.” But Michael, who started the front nine with Stableford scores in order of the holes – 1,2,3,4 points respectively – described the ‘new’ course as ‘really good’. After his indifferent start to the front nine, Michael – who first joined Headland in 1992 but took a 16-year break after twins arrived in 1998 – scored 23 points to add to his 19 on the back, with two four-point holes and six threes. Will Goldfinch (41 points), won Division Two.
RUNNING BEV: Although she appreciates the fact Headland golf course looks much better when good rain produces a lush green covering of grass, Bev Barnes prefers a dry course. “I get more run when it’s dry and the further my ball goes, the better I usually score,” quipped Bev after winning Tuesday’s Single Stableford for Women. She scored 38 points to win Division One by three points, returning the best score of the day in the field of 47. And while her handicap has slipped out to 26 during the wetter winter months, Bev enjoys having those few additional shots. “It’s nice to have a win every now and again,” she said, reflecting on her consistent card of five three-pointers, 10 twos and three ones. Her last win before Tuesday was the B Grade Monthly Medal earlier in August. Joy Murray (36 points) won Division Two.
MATT’S BACK: He was playing from a handicap of four back in 2020 when he was ‘serious about his golf, and practising regularly’, so when Matt Hetherington teed off in Sunday’s Medley Single Stableford he was not expecting too much. “I called my dad for Father’s Day, and told him I’d be happy with 30 points,” revealed Matt, who won the event with 40 points. “And it could have been even better – I three-putted three greens.” Having not played for a month because of soccer coaching commitments with his son Max, Matt had three birdies – each for four points – plus another five three-point holes from his ‘generous’ handicap of nine, and was well satisfied with the effort. “My last win was a Tuesday comp about six months ago, but it has been an age since I won on Wednesday or Saturday,” said Matt, who likes the new-look course, but in future rounds will be careful to avoid the face of the new bunkers.
WEEKLY RESULTS:
Tuesday, Single Stableford, Women (47 players) – Division One, Bev Barnes (38 points), Lisa Ramen (36), Jenny Stokes (34); Division Two, Joy Murray (36), Roz Brandt (36), Kym Mason (34).
Men (73 players) – Division One, Michael Moore (42), Tony Briffa (39), Tony Kelleher (39); Division Two, Will Goldfinch (41), Stu Dykstra (31), Gordon O’Neill (30).
Wednesday, Medley Single Stableford (230 players) – A Grade, Alan Brooker (39 points), Matt Folker (39), Jay Gourlay (39); B Grade, Lawrence Hiremi (41), Ross Kelly (41), David Richards (41); C Grade, Michael Christie (44), Peter Andrews (41), Lib Bonel (41).
Thursday, Fourball Best Ball Stableford, Women (120 players) – sponsors, Coralie Snowball, Marg Smith, Margot Easton, Lesley O’Leary, Linda Hunter, Rhonda Biggs – Anita Boyle and Pam Andrews (46 points), Helen Sedgman and Valerie O’Brien (45), Denise Lawson and Judy Farmer (45), Lynn Hayman and Suzanne Pledge (45).
Men (88 players) – Warren Gee and Stewart Clover (47), John Christmas and Jock McLaughlin (47), Marty Dix and Mark Garcia (46).
Saturday, Single Stableford – sponsor, Graeme and Jack Nicholas, Hometree – Women (25 players) – Vicky Sheridan (35 points), Robyn Muir (35), Janelle Heaney (35).
Men (221 players) – A Grade, Stewart Clover (37), Warren Sorby (36), Geoff Sawyer (35); B Grade, Braden Anderson (37), Stephen Woolcott (37), Dennis Roberts (37); C Grade, David Groom (41), Peter Andrews (40), Michael McFarlane (39).
Juniors, Parent and Child nine-hole Stroke – Max and Leon Faulkner (33), Dominic and Amber Manning (35), Matthew and Clinton Bothma (35), Charlotte and Adam Rydwanski (36), Finn and Chris Darlison (37), Blake and Emily Rydwanski (40), Keaton and Jason Fox (43).
Sunday, Medley Single Stableford (46 players) – Matt Hetherington (40 points), Lindsay Blair (38), Charlotte Ridley (37).
Fourball Best Ball Matchplay Championship, quarter finals – sponsored by Michael Thomas, Zenfind Accounting – Barry Newton and Gary Martin beat Coralie Walsh and Don Follent (3&2), Leeanne Ptak and Vicky Sheridan beat Mick Prince and Bruce Prince (19th hole), Cathy Roberts and Robyn Muir beat Ben Pearson and Rob Van Delft (1-up), Bob Lane and Terry Grogan beat Brendan Duncan and Bernie Duncan (1-up).
