From Tony Durkin
MISSED MEDAL: Despite starting Saturday’s Monthly Medal round – from the tenth tee – with four successive birdies and finishing the back nine four under the card, five-time Club Champion Adam Richards failed to finish top three in A Grade. And again – as was the case in November last year – his major adversary was six-marker Darren Macleod. Playing off scratch, Adam finished three-under par 69 for the best round of the day, with six birdies, nine pars and three bogeys on his card, yet was beaten on a countback for third place. But for Darren, Deputy Principal of Sunshine Coast Grammar School, his first par round from the black tees for ‘a long, long time’ gave him his second Medal in three months. He won the November Medal with 75 for 68 nett, with Adam again returning the best gross (69) that day. “I have been hitting it well recently, putted nicely on Saturday and didn’t find a bunker,” explained Darren, whose best round at Headland was five-under 67 ‘about 15 years ago’ when he was playing off a three handicap. Darren penned four birdies, 10 pars and four bogeys on his Saturday card, with a bogey-five at his final hole, the ninth, costing him a rare under-par round.
NEW LOW MARK: Apart from winning Saturday’s January Monthly Medal by three strokes and returning the best gross, Fiona Munro’s Saturday round of 79 has resulted in her all-time low handicap. After scoring a nett 70 from her handicap on the day of nine from the women’s championship tees, Fiona discovered her GA mark was down to 7.2, and the second lowest among Headland’s women members. “Yes, that was an un expected bonus,” jested Fiona, who has been playing golf for just on three decades. After bogeying her first hole on Saturday, Fiona parred the next eight to finish the front nine at one over the card, but found water – and trouble – on the back. “I went in the water on the tenth and twelfth, which ruined a really good card,” she said. However, she chipped in for birdie at the 18th, and her 79 was three shots more than her winning score in November’s Monthly Medal. But still fresh in Fiona’s golfing mind was a four-over 76 at Arabella Country Estate course near Cape Town, shot during a golf tour at the end of last year. The fabled 18-hole Championship course has consistently been ranked among the top 10 courses in South Africa, and Fiona’s superb round included a hole-in-one, her third ace.
THANKS ADAM: Headland newcomer Stewart Smith says he is indebted to Head Pro Adam Norlander for a slashing win in Saturday’s Monthly Medal for Men. Stewart, a Civil Engineer who moved from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast three years ago, played nine better than his 25 handicap to win the C Grade Medal, with 64 nett. “I have been having lessons from Adam, so I must thank him. My driving had been terrible, but thankfully I found most fairways on Saturday,” he said. A member since May 2022, Stewart was sidelined for six months with a broken ankle suffered while learning to surf, and Saturday’s win was his first. But he does have a golfing background, playing off single figures as a junior at Box Hill Golf Club. “Until I joined Headland, I had not played for two decades, and Adam has changed my swing which, obviously, has helped,” he said. And Stewart is hoping – and expects – to reduce his handicap, especially when his new set of TaylorMade Qi-10 irons, ordered through Adam, arrive. “My new handicap goal is around 14 to 16,” he forecast. Clint Adams won the B Grade Medal with 68 nett, while relative newcomer Sam Fisher had a day out, winning both Pro Pins for a healthy bonus of $158.
SWEET SWINGER: ‘Swing the club, don’t’ hit the ball’ is the golfing mantra Tove Larsen sometimes practises – when she remembers. Invoking that process to near-perfection on the front nine on Tuesday, Tove scored 24 points – including two four-point holes and a three-pointer for her three pars – to return her best-ever nine-hole score in the 13 years she has been a Headland member. “I started on the tenth and managed only 15 points, which was disappointing. But then I remembered my ‘don’t hit it, swing it’ mindset, and things changed immediately,” quipped the 30-handicapper. After missing a host of golf in the past two years because of an annoying Covid-related cough, Tove has returned with a vengeance, winning her first event as a member with 40 points in November. “I just have to remember to relax, and not try to swing the club too hard,” she mused, after winning the Women’s Single Stableford event with her 37 points. Playing off 20, Charlie Worthy won the Men’s Stableford, also with 37 points. Charlie penned a four-point birdie at the 12th, plus four three-point holes, but scarred his card with two wipes.
DAN’S THE MAN: Because his schoolteacher wife no longer works on Wednesdays, Dan Diachkoff is now ‘free’ to play mid-week golf. And he took full advantage of his first Wednesday round for ages when he won the opening Mid-Week Medal of 2025, returning both the best nett and gross scores. A plasterer and painter by trade, Dan works to the theory ‘win the morning, win the day’, which roughly translates to ‘early to start, early to finish’. “Hopefully I can play plenty of Wednesdays now,” he beamed following his round of one-over 73 from his five handicap, for a nett 68. It was just his third Monthly Medal in his nine years as a member, his last coming in February 2024. But his winning round did not start well – he was two over after five holes with bogeys at the 11th and 14th holes, on an otherwise clean back nine. Dan then hit the ‘go’ button, birdieing four of the first six holes on the front nine, before finishing bogey, bogey, par. “It was by no means perfect golf, but I was pretty pleased with the way I played, and the result,” he said after having $206.50 added to his House Account for the win, the best gross and the Pro Pin at the sixth. Playing from the white tees Kevin George, with 38 points, won the associated Medley Single Stableford.
‘HOT’ FORM: When Vicky Sheridan says her form was ‘hot’ on Thursday, she was only referring to her first nine holes. But the 2024 Women’s Order of Merit (Saturday) winner was also referencing the weather conditions, which she described as some of the most oppressive she has experienced on a golf course. “It was hot, it was humid and it was very, very slow out there today,” said Vicky after her rather paltry 35 points won Division One in the Single Stableford event, and was two points more than any other player in the field of 86. “The heat reflecting from the longer grass just off the fairway was like I have never felt before.” With a birdie, five pars and three bogeys on the front nine, 13-handicapper Vicky penned 22 points and was well on the way to matching her first outing of 2024, when she was beaten on a countback for the February Monthly Medal, returning the best gross score. But the tough conditions, combined with some poor decisions, restricted her back-nine card to a meagre 13 points – three wipes and a double bogey along with a bogey and four pars. Raewyn Anderson, with 32 points, won Division Two, and Jenny Hartwig (33) topped the Division Three table.
DUAL SHOCK: Now back playing golf three times a week, Mark Garcia received two pleasant surprises from Thursday’s Single Stableford for Men. When asked by HH if he was shocked his 37 points won the event, Mark replied ‘I sure was’. “But I was even more stunned when I learned the winning bonus was $110,” he said. On a day when the weather conditions created ‘a stinker’ for golf, Mark was uncertain whether he would play following a day on the tools on Wednesday, carrying out some home plumbing work. “I was stiff, and sore, but I actually think that helped. I was cautious not to overdo my swing and, as a result, drove the ball really well. It was tough out there today, but I was pleased with how I handled the conditions,” he said. Mark’s card revealed nine pars and eight bogeys, with his lone slip a double at the difficult par-four 15th. A six handicapper three decades ago, the sexagenarian, who played off 11 on Thursday, maintains a goal to return to single figures.
CHRIS FIRES: Playing more golf and learning the intricacies of the game has resulted in Chris Byrnes being on fire to start 2025. Chris has had successive weeks in the winner’s list with scores of 44 and 43 Stableford points respectively, as well as a PB 88 off the stick on Saturday. “I played at least three social rounds a week across the coast while Headland competitions were in recess over the Christmas-New Year break, and enjoyed the challenge of playing other courses,” he revealed. “But viewing educational videos on YouTube, and playing more with lower handicapped players, has also really helped.” Two weeks ago Chris won the opening competition of the year with 44 points in the Vets’ competition, and backed up on Saturday with 43 points to win the Men’s Single Stableford with a best-ever round, seven better than his 23 handicap. “My golf has certainly improved,” he acknowledged after his round of six pars, eight bogeys and four doubles. Playing in the alternative competition to Saturday’s Monthly Medal, Chris beat the field of 45 by six points.
WHAT A SCORE: A visitor, Michael Brooks, has made mincemeat of the difficult Headland layout, scoring 47 points from the white tees to win Sunday’s Medley Single Stableford. A brother of member Daniel Brooks, Michael – playing off an SGA (Social Golf Australia) handicap of 20 – started with a bogey at the first before blitzing the front nine with three birdies (at holes three, eight and nine), four pars and a bogey, to return par 36 and pen 28 points. His homeward nine was less impressive – a par, double and seven bogeys – but he still managed 19 points. His gross score of 81 meant Michael played to a handicap of nine. His brother, Daniel, scored 35 points from his 21 handicap, and finished fourth in the field of 42 players. Michael confirmed his round was the best he had ever played.
WEEKLY RESULTS:
Tuesday, Single Stableford, Women (42 players) – Tove Larsen (37 points), Sharon Thomas (36), Anne Callanan (36).
Men (76 players) – Charlie Worthy (37 points), Bruce Horton (36), Tim Nunan (36).
Wednesday, Men’s Monthly Medal – sponsor, Ryan Tomlinson, Century 21 on Duporth – (149 players) – A Grade, Dan Diachkoff (68 nett), Alan Brooker (70), Bryan Haggarty (70); B Grade, Greg Wareham (69), Mick Rose (69), Brett Stephenson (69); C Grade, Barrie Whelan (69), Ian Lewellin (70), Ian Harper (70). Best gross – Dan Diachkoff (73).
Medley Single Stableford (77 players) – Kevin George (38 points), David Parker (38), Terry Lawlor (37).
Thursday, Single Stableford, Women – sponsors Trudi Russell, Deb Thomas, Kay Campbell and Anita Boyle – (86 players) – Division One, Vicky Sheridan (35 points), Kirsten Kaergaard (32), Helen Fraser (32); Division Two, Raewyn Bissett (33), Jan Langdon (32), Tove Larsen (32); Division Three, Jenny Hartwig (33), Di Stark (33), Carol Sinclair (29).
Men (80 players) – Mark Garcia (37 points), Bevan Horsnell (37), Mick Kinnear (37).
Saturday, Monthly Medal – sponsor, Ryan Tomlinson, Century 21 on Duporth – Women (21 players) – Fiona Munro (70 nett), Kate Wilkie (73), Kirsten Kaergaard (74). Best Gross, Fiona Munro (79).
Men (187 players) – A Grade, Darren Macleod (66 nett), Andrew Hay (67), Brett Adamson (68); B Grade, Clint Adams (68), Gary Clarke (68), Brett Stephenson (68); C Grade, Stewart Smith (64), Sam Fisher (67), Dave Wickham (68). Best gross – Adam Richards (69).
Medley Single Stableford (45 players) – Chris Byrnes (43 points), Ian Russell (37), Mark Priest (37).
Sunday, Medley Single Stableford (42 players) – Michael Brooks (47 points), Chris Schultz (37), Josie Ryan 35).
