From Tony Durkin
MANY WINNERS: Saturday’s return of the Wood Duck Challenge attracted the largest field of 2025, and produced the biggest list of competition winners. Jointly sponsored by Rapid Equipment Hire and Absolute Building Solutions, of the 246 in the Challenge field, 21 beat their handicap and shared in the $1800 on offer. Each winner scored $61, with several others sharing in a variety of generous bonus prizes offered by the sponsors. Best score of the day came from Energex linesman Lincoln Palmer, who scored minus five (67 nett) from his handicap of 33. It was just the second win by Lincoln, who scored his initial victory in January last year, in his first competition round at the club. The clincher for Lincoln was a birdie at the par-four fourth, a hole at which he had two shots and resulted in a minus three score added to his card. He finished the front nine with an impressive minus six, but stumbled on the back with plus one, yet still managing to return the best score of the day by a shot, from Chris Klazema. And while none of them were in the 21 who beat their handicap, Shane Muller (long drive at 13), Ben Brown (long drive at seven), Adam Richards (NTP at eight) and Andrew Hay (NTP at 18) each collected a $100 bonus, while Vicki Sheridan won $50 for the Women’s long drive.
PAINLESS MEDAL: On the verge of being forced to give up golf, and even his work as a builder, Andrew Bint has made a miraculous recovery to win a Mid-Week Monthly Medal. Suffering from an undiagnosed nerve complaint since 2015, Andrew finally underwent hip-replacement surgery in November last year. And, in just his third round back, he scored 83 on Wednesday from his 15 handicap, for 68 nett, snaring the B Grade Medal by two strokes, his first Medal since joining Headland in 2003. “My golf has been limited to a social round with mates every Friday, and the occasional Sunday competition,” he revealed following a round which included a birdie at the par-four 12th, seven pars, eight bogeys and doubles at 13 and 18. And while delighted with the win, he was also chuffed to be able to inform his partner, fellow member Lynn Deacon, who had often ‘reminded’ him that she had won two Medals. A Grade Medal winner, Neven Daniel (67) – who revealed he ‘sank some putts’ – returned the best score of the day, while Matt Potter (68) won C Grade and Ben Duncombe (two-under 71) shot the lowest gross score.
STARK REALITY: “This is a ridiculous game,” quipped Di Stark after she bettered the dreaded 100 to score nett 68 and win her third Monthly Medal as a 2015 SWING graduate. “I never know what is going to happen from one round to the next.” Thursday was one of those good days for Di, who said that although she had been generally playing poorly of late, because of those odd good rounds her GA handicap had been reduced from 30.7 last October to 27.5, although she played off 31 from the red ‘Medal’ tees. Di carded three pars, five bogeys, nine doubles and triple to stitch-up the best nett score of the day by one shot from B Grade winner Carol Quinn, but smashed the C Grade field by eight strokes. “Everything went so well today and even though it was hot, I walked the course for the first time this summer. Maybe the exercise helped,” jested Di who, after graduating from SWING, then became the program’s co-oridinator for three years. Julie Halliday (74 nett) won the A Grade Medal while Janette Ritchie, with 34 points, finished top of the field which contested the Single Stableford event.
MASSIVE TRIUMPH: Headland member Chris Massie has scored his maiden PGA Legends Tour victory, scoring a one-stroke win in the New Zealand PGA Seniors Pro-Am Championship at Hamner Springs Golf Club last week. In just his second year on the Seniors circuit, Massie opened with a six-under 62 on Monday to lead by two strokes. He followed on Tuesday with 64, giving him his winning total of 10-under 126. Chris, who joined Headland in 2020, beat fellow Queenslander Murray Lott (64-63), with Woombye’s Brad Burns (64-66) three shots further back in third. A Director of Ray White Commercial Caboolture and a current PGA Professional, Chris finished 13th at Tin Can Bay in November in his rookie season, for his previous best PGA Legends Tour finish.
JONES RETURNS: Bridget Jones is back on the big screen with her fourth movie in a series that debuted in 2001, and so may well be Headland’s 2014 Women’s Champion, Sue Jones. The former Women’s Director of Golf scored an impressive 40 points to win Division One in Monday’s Vets visit by Cooroy Golf Club, the best score among the field of 130 Women and Men. And while Sue concedes she is nowhere near the Champion of 11 years ago when she was playing from a handicap of seven, she says Monday’s win has helped her believe she can again be competitive. “I had 81 nett the previous Saturday, and was worried that I may slip into B Grade, where I have not played for more than three decades,” she said. Playing her best golf in ‘an age’, Sue penned seven pars, nine bogeys and two doubles for 86 off the bat, and described her round as ‘a big relief’. “I have suffered back issues for more than 12 months, and have not been enjoying the game I love so much,” she confessed. Di Stark, with 33 points, won Division Two. NOTE: The latest Bridget Jones’ movie, ‘Mad About the Boy’, opens at Event Cinemas on Wednesday.
SOCIAL GOLFER: Brett Beaumont describes himself as ‘just a social golfer’, but does concede he sometimes bucks the system. “I am not good at winning. My enjoyment on the golf course is the camaraderie, and the social aspect of the game,” he admitted after he returned the best score for Men in Monday’s Vets event. A Headland member for 15 years, the former business owner scored 39 points to win Division Two, with seven three-point holes and eight twos on his card. “Overall, I played okay today, although my putting was average. But things did fall into place, which sometimes happens,” he said. His last win, in July two years ago, remains his best Headland round. He scored 45 points in a big Saturday field to win B Grade, and returned his best-ever gross score of 79. Burgess Stephenson, with 37 points, won Division One, and Cooroy visitor James Bissett (34) won Division Three.
SPONSOR WINS: Mick Garske collected two separate amounts of cash from sponsors in the past week, some of it his own money. Mick and his business partner Greg Edgar (Rapid Equipment Hire), jointly sponsored Saturday’s return of the Wood Duck Challenge with Nelson Valderrama of Absolute Building Solutions, and while no member of the Absolute team threatened in the Single Stroke event, Mick shared in the $1800 on offer with a score of minus one. And earlier in the week he collected booty from another regular sponsor, Ryan Tomlinson of Century 21 on Duporth, when he won Wednesday’s Medley Single Stableford. Once a member at Redcliffe as a junior, Mick did not play golf for ‘20-odd years’ before joining Headland in 2021. He scored 40 points from his 20 handicap on Wednesday, with a rare four-point birdie at the par-four 17th the highlight of his round, beside seven three-point holes. And while only a spasmodic player during his four-year Headland membership, Mick is considering retirement since selling his business, and may now take up golf ‘seriously’. His Wednesday win was his first as a member.
TEE ISSUES: Soon to turn 84, John Marrington accepts, and acknowledges, the fact that he does not hit the ball anywhere near as far as he once did. And when he can’t get his tee shots away, he becomes increasingly frustrated. “I just haven’t been able to get off the tee box of late, and have regularly been scoring around the late 20s and early 30s. But then, suddenly, things turned around,” he grinned after his breakthrough win in Tuesday’s Single Stableford for Men. And although his 39 points was very much in the shadow of his last win – 45 points in October last year – he was still buoyed by the result. “It was a good, average round, playing from a 22 handicap which I feel confident I can handle,” he said. John says he likes starting from the tenth, and he proved that with 22 points from three pars, five bogeys and a double at 15, which still gave him a two-point return. While the win was satisfying, the $115 for finishing first in the field of 84 was the major bonus. Narelle Hollowood, with 34 points, won Women’s Division One, while Sue Wake (35) won Division Two.
‘BLUE’ GOLF: Retired teacher Ross Wedmaier described his winning round on Thursday as ‘one out of the blue’. “Actually, it was a bit of a shock that I played so well,” said the former single-figure marker who scored 41 points from his daily handicap of 19, to win the Men’s Single Stableford. Usually only playing on Saturdays with his ‘usual crew’, Ross decided to suit up for a Thursday round and beat 80 others to collect $110. His first victory in ‘many years’ resulted from nine pars – each of which gave him three-points – five bogeys and three doubles, with his only blowout a triple at the par-four 15th, which still earned him a point. “I generally putted well, and got a few good drives away, which has been unusual of late,” he said. Ross has been a Headland member since 1981 and is also a member of the Vollies group, and he hailed the course as great. “It gets better and better every year,” he praised.
PROUD DAD: Adam Rydwanksi has accomplished much in golf to make him proud, including two Club Championships and three Men’s Foursomes Championships at Headland. But the Kiwi native, who has also been runner-up in the ‘big one’ at Headland four times, was finding it difficult to hide his delight when his nine-year-old son Blake finished second in Sunday’s Medley Single Stableford. Blake (handicap 32) scored 37 points to finish behind groundsman Jay Gourlay (38) and pocket $50 for his effort. Playing from the yellow tees, he scored four pars and five bogeys, and beat his dad (handicap plus one) by seven points. Blake has been having lessons from Headland’s junior coach, Leon Faulkner, since he was six, and according to his dad has ‘a nice swing’. And Sunday’s effort was not the first time Blake has beaten Adam. In November last year Blake scored 39 points, while his dad – again playing off plus one – returned three-under 69, for 38 points. And another member of the Rydwanksi family has also taken the ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’ ticket. Adam’s wife Emily – Blake’s mum – is on the Headland waitlist, and scored 18 points to win Saturday’s nine-hole Medley Stableford.
SHORT HEADLINES: Because of a family commitment, an abbreviated edition of Headland Headlines will appear next week. It may be shorter than normal, but the great scores/results/stories will be included.
WEEKLY RESULTS:
Monday, Vets, Single Stableford, Women (45 players) – Division One, Sue Jones (40 points), Jan Langdon (37), Vicky Maynard (35); Division Two, Di Stark (33), Janine Wynwood (31), Margot Easton (31).
Men (85 players) – Division One, Burgess Stephenson (37), David W Smith (36), Bruce Reid (36); Division Two, Brett Beaumont (39), Mat McQueen (37), Chris Byrnes (36); Division Three – James Bissett (34), Denis McGrath (33), Steve Nash (33).
Tuesday, Single Stableford, Women (32 players) – Division One, Narelle Hollowood (34 points), Kathy Petrie (32), Gwen Nancarrow (31); Division Two, Sue Wake (34), Deb Prince (34), Trish Arden (30).
Men (84 players) – John Marrington (39), Bruce Livingstone (38), Dave Sims (38).
Wednesday, Mid-Week Medley Monthly Medal – sponsor, Ryan Tomlinson, Century 21 on Duporth – (146 players) – A Grade, Neven Daniel (67 nett), Col Thomas (68), Ben Pearson (68); B Grade, Andrew Bint (68), Eddie Pucella (70), Peter Blackford (70); C Grade, Matt Potter (68), Wayne Harriott (69), Chris Byrnes (70). Best gross – Ben Duncombe (71).
Medley Single Stableford (65 players) – Mick Garske (40), Graham Clarke (37), David Munns (36).
Thursday, Women, Monthly Medal sponsor, Jodie McDonnel, Century 21 on Duporth – (82 players) – A Grade, Julie Halliday (74 nett), Sally Stringer (74), Narelle Hollowood (75); B Grade, Carol Quinn (69), Toni Moran (75), Rebecca Masters (76); C Grade, Di Stark (68), Jenny Pirini (76), Raewyn Bissett (78).
Single Stableford (30 players) – Janette Ritchie (34 points), Shirley Eggleton (34), Debbie Proud (32).
Men, Single Stableford (81 players) – Ross Wedmaeir (41 points), John Marrington (39), Rick Bronson (39).
Saturday, Medley Single Stroke, Wood Duck Challenge – sponsors, Greg Edgar and Mick Garske, Rapid Equipment Hire, and Nelson Valderrama, Absolute Building Solutions – (246 players) – Lincoln Palmer (-5), Chris Klazema (-4), Paul Anderson (-3), Joshua Vickers (-3), Dennis Roberts (-2), David W Smith (-2), Wayne Hutcheson (-2), Burgess Stephenson (-2), John Harris (-2), Warren Sorby (-2), Mick Garske (-1), David O’Mahoney (-1), Wayne West (-1), Peter Gablonski (-1), Simon Groom (-1), Paul Morton (-1), Errol Greiner (-1), Kaden Thorne (-1), George Stoufis (-1), Andrew Fisher (-1), Brad Reddan (-1).
Juniors, Nine-hole Twoball Best Ball Stableford, Matthew Bothma and Finn Darlison (33), Max Faulkner and Keaton Fox (40), Jensen Bannister and Jez Barnes (43), Noah Sergeant and Jez Barnes (47), Jett Stevenson and Casper Eastcott (63).
Sunday, Medley Single Stableford (62 players) – Jay Gourlay (38 points), Blake Rydwanski (37), Lincoln Harris (37).
