From Tony Durkin
DROUGHT OVER: A nine-year Monthly Medal drought for Construction Surveyor, Brian Callaghan, is over, but only just. The father of four had to survive two countbacks to win Saturday’s Monthly Medal in A Grade, and was lucky his calamitous finish was at hole nine, and not 18. “I started on the tenth, as I have with the same group of mates for the past 10-plus years, and was cruising at two-under the card with three holes to play,” he revealed. But disaster struck with a double/bogey/double finish at seven, eight and nine. “The family and I returned on Friday night from a week in Perth, and by the time we put the kids to bed it was well after midnight, and with the early tee time, I was starting to run out of petrol at the end of the round,” he said. But three-over 75 for 68 nett from his seven handicap was good enough to beat both Jamie Duffy and Terry Ward on a countback, pick up his first Medal since 2015, collect $70 for winning and another $70 for the Pro Pin at 12. Proud of the fact he has been able to maintain a handicap ‘between five and seven’ for the past decade despite working 50 hours a week and never practising, Brian says golf these days is about camaraderie and enjoyment. “And I really did enjoy this win,” he quipped. Paul Morton (also 68 nett), won the B Grade Medal, Gary Martin (69) saluted in C Grade and, for the second time in three days, Club Champion Ben Duncombe (69) shot the lowest round.
HAPPY HARRIS: Annabel Harris, the second-lowest handicapped women’s member at Headland, says she and two mates joined the club six years ago primarily for the fellowship. “We didn’t feel overly welcome where we were, and had heard what a great club spirit, and course, Headland had,” she has disclosed. And Annabel, plus six others, corroborated those Headland qualities on Saturday when they backed up from Friday’s Annual Presentation night/party to be the prizewinners in the December Monthly Medal. For Annabel, the victory – with 69 nett from her daily handicap of 11 – was her third Medal for 2024, and the culmination of a ‘fairly satisfying’ year. She finished third in the Women’s Championships, was runner-up in the nett, beaten finalist in the Women’s Matchplay and won the nine-hole gross (with Josie Ryan) in the Women’s Foursomes. She was also awarded the Rene Hedges Perpetual Trophy for the best nett score over the final 36 holes of the Championships, which was presented to her on Friday night. “I love the club, the course and the people,” she said after carding a birdie – at the tough 17th – 10 pars, six bogeys and a double in her round of 80, which was also the best gross score of the day.
SIMPLE GOLF: ‘I did what I always do – just stand over the ball, and hit it’ was how December Mid-Week Medal winner Terry Lawlor described playing seven under his handicap on Wednesday, to take the C Grade Medal for December. The 80-year-old former cab driver who is now a Lollipop man, fired 86 from the back tees for his 65 nett, and just his second golf win in eight years. “I scored 41 points about a month ago, but my previous win was with plus eight in a Par event and, as my mates keep reminding me, that was eight years ago,” he confessed. “But I’m still above the ground, and happy playing and enjoying my golf, irrespective of the result.” Turning 81 in January, Terry had six pars, 11 bogeys and a triple on his card, and suggested that had his putter been working, he might have shot somewhere near his age. Terry Ward (67 nett) won the A Grade Medal, and Justin Scattini (66) won B Grade.
PRICE IS RIGHT: Justin Walsh thinks it is possibly ‘pure coincidence’ that his golf improves each time Pro golfer Terry Price is on the Sunshine Coast. Price is Justin’s elder cousin, and a childhood hero of the popular member known as Juddy. And with Price currently playing the Sunshine Coast swing of the PGA Legends Tour, Justin shot his best round in 12 months to win Wednesday’s Medley Single Stableford. His 77, for 44 points, was, ironically, his best round since he partnered his cousin in the Headland leg of the Legends ProAms last year. “Terry shot 61 to beat his age, but was beaten in a play-off. And I won the amateur section,” Justin revealed. “Maybe I do play better when he’s around, but I reckon it is just one of those things.” Turning from the back nine on Wednesday with 21 points, Justin was on fire from his 13 handicap from the white tees and sitting on par for the front when he doubled the ninth, his final hole. “It was my first three-putt on the day,” he bemoaned. Justin won A Grade, Wayne Chugg (39) won B Grade and Phil Maron (41) saluted in C Grade. NOTE: Justin, whose company Walsh Consulting Engineers has been a long-time hole sponsor, will again partner Terry in Wednesday’s Legends ProAm at Headland.
WHITE DECISION: Kath Barford is experimenting – and enjoying – the recent decision by Headland powerbrokers to introduce rainbow tees. And the additional strokes she gained on her daily handicap, playing from the white tees in Thursday’s Single Stableford for Women, resulted in her best score in two years. “I hit a reasonably long ball, so being a little further back from the tee doesn’t worry me all that much,” she explained after her 38 points won Division Three, on a countback. “But I need those extra shots around the green, and that helped today.” Kath’s GA handicap of 27.3 was extended to 33 on the day, and she credited the crucial additional shots with aiding her win. “I have tried the blue tees as well, but they are a little too far back for me. But I am quite enjoying playing from the whites,” she enthused. A member since 2019 when she and husband Biff moved from Gordonvale in North Queensland, Kath said she needed some SWING experience when she first arrived. “Coming from a club with 12 women members to a big club like Headland was a little scary, and SWING helped me settle in and get to know some people,” she revealed. In her first win of the year, Kath penned two four-pointers and four three-pointers, with a four-point par at the tough 15th hole a highlight. Leeanne Ptak (also 38 points) win Division One and Sue Harris (41) won Division two.
BIRDIES WARNED: He will accept them – and the $110 prizemoney to which they contributed – but Graeme Warne described his two birdies on Tuesday as ‘very fluky’. The former ‘dunny-hire’ business owner won Tuesday’s Single Stableford for Men with 40 points, to end an 18-month drought. And while the two birdies – at difficult holes seven and 16 – were the highlights, Graeme said luck was certainly on his side. “At seven, my second shot was heading well right, hit the cart path, rebounded down the slope and finished about 100 metres out,” he relayed. “My wedge then hit the green, rolled over the mound on the right and off the green but, miraculously, the curling putt coming back dropped in.” The birdie at 16 was less dramatic, but still fortuitous. “I hit a good drive, then thinned a four-rescue that barely got two foot off the ground, yet it finished so close to the hole it was just a tap-in putt,” he said. Alongside his two birdies – and a wipe at the sixth – the 27-year member had six pars and nine bogeys in his best round since winning a Monthly Medal back in May last year. Fiona Munro (37 points) continued her good recent form to win the Women’s event. A week earlier she was a member of the Headland Bandits team that won the Kookaburra Karnival, and back in October she returned both the best gross (76) and nett (64) in the Monthly Medal.
RECORD DAY: Craig Firns celebrated his fourth anniversary as a Headland member on Thursday with a bunch of personal bests. “It was my lowest round, my best score and my biggest pay day,” quipped the former No.1 ranked junior tennis player in Western Australia. Absolutely ecstatic after his PB of 78 for 43 Stableford points from his 13 handicap, Craig summed up his round as ‘almost perfect’, with just the two poor holes. “My second shot at the par-four 15th was a shocker, and cost me a double,” he said following a three-putt. “Then, I wiped the first with a triple after I hit it over the back of the green and struggled to get back up.” But he conceded he felt he had been building to something special. “And, for the first time today, I put it all together,” he said. A Medical Sales rep, Craig pocketed $115 for his win and his GA handicap, which had ballooned out to 17 a few months ago, is now at 12.9, his lowest ever. He started on the back nine with successive birdies at holes 10 and 11, then parred six of the next seven holes to turn at even par. “In my last two rounds I have had 37 and 38 points, with a few wipes on my card, so I was feeling something good was about to happen,” he said.
EAGLE ROCK: Former Men’s Director of Golf, Peter O’Brien, warmed up for Wednesday’s Legends ProAm at Headland with an eagle at the par-four first on Saturday. Peter and his group have been drawn to play alongside Professional Guy Wall, a former Club Captain at Pymble Golf Club in Sydney where Peter was a member. “I hope I didn’t expend all my luck on Saturday,” he said, after holing a pitching wedge from 115 metres with his second shot of the day. “I hit a good drive down the left, just past the new bunkers, and when I hit my wedge I knew it was pure. The ball bounced once on the green, and dropped in.” The eagle was Peter’s fifth – he has had three holes-in-one and three years ago eagled the tough fourth hole here at Headland. Guy, a financial planning expert, turned Professional when he turned 50, enabling him to play on the Legends Tour. Another to score an eagle on Saturday was Simon Lowing, who aced the Par-three 14th.
WEEKLY RESULTS:
Monday, Vets, Closing Day, Four-Person Ambrose (128 players) – Lyn Mansfield, Kaye Simmons, Stewart Clover and David Simmons (59.25 nett), Geoff Walker, Brian Hermeston, Graham Olsson and Graham Pitt (59.375), Narelle Hollowood, Kirsten Kaergaard, Rebecca Masters and Dave Sims (60), Valerie O’Brien, Peter O’Brien, Bob Lane and Bob Keogh (60.125), Marg Smith, David W Smith, Andrew Hempsall and Roly Hoy (60.375), Jenny Pirini, Maria Hireme, Haenga Pirini and Lawrence Hireme (60.875).
Tuesday, Single Stableford, Women (35 players) – Fiona Munro (37 points), Joy Logan (36), Raewyn Anderson (36).
Men (82 players) – Graeme Warne (40), Marty Dix (39), Jonny Clarke (39).
Wednesday, Medley Single Stroke and Men’s Mid-Week Medal – sponsor, Ryan Tomlinson, Century 21 on Duporth – (137 players) – A Grade, Terry Ward (67 nett), Jack Pyke (68), Gavin Rooney (69); B Grade, Justin Scattini (66), Michael Phillips (69), Ian Scobie (69); C Grade, Terry Lawler (65), John Halbert (68), Richard Thurgood (69). Best gross, Ben Duncombe (72).
Medley Single Stableford (81 players) – A Grade, Justin Walsh (44 points), Mark Bown (39), Brad Williams (34); Wayne Chugg (39), David W Smith (39), Dominic Manning (39); C Grade, Phil Maron (42), Bob Lane (40), Skip Antony (38).
Thursday, Single Stableford, Women (94 players) – Division One, Leeanne Ptak (38 points), Althea McLean (38), Liz Dunford (36); Division Two, Sue Harris (41), Mary Dowling (36), Valerie O’Brien (36); Division Three, Kath Barford (38), Sue Wake (38), Marion Dennis (37).
Men (86 players) – Craig Firns (43 points), Andy Whitmore (41), Nigel Morrison (40).
Saturday, Monthly Medal – Women (20 players) – Annabel Harris (69 nett), Vicky Sheridan (71), Kathy Atkins (71).
Men (159 players) – sponsor, Ryan Tomlinson, Century 21 on Duporth – A Grade, Brian Callaghan (68 nett), Jamie Duffy (68), Terry Ward (68); B Grade, Paul Morton (68), Scott Lindsay (69), Ken Wedmaeir (69); C Grade, Gary Martin (69), Michael Rutledge (71), Richard Ryan (71).
Best gross – sponsor, Brian Kesby – Ben Duncombe (69).
Single Stableford (49 players) – Steve Rose (38 points), Barry Mapes (38), Stephen Van Der Linde (37).
Sunday, Medley Single Stroke (43 players) – Graham Cartledge (71 nett), Ryan Tomlinson (71), Charlotte Ridley (74).
