From Tony Durkin
GREAT SCOTT: While returning the best nett score in Saturday’s Monthly Medal was an obvious thrill for Scott Lindsay, his eagle at the par-five tenth was the highlight. “My drive finished really close to the bunker, and I procrastinated about whether to lay up, or go for the green,” he confessed following his gross round of 78, for 66 nett. “I knew I had a good round going, and wasn’t keen to risk an errant shot. But eventually, I thought ‘why not?’”. Scott smashed a perfect three wood to a metre from the green, pin high, and sank the putt. He said that result was indicative of some luck during his best-ever Headland round, with a chip-in from the bunker on 14 resulting in one of his two birdies. A member since 2016 after Horton Park had closed, the IT Consultant did not have a blemish on Saturday’s card, and won B Grade with the best round of the day by two shots. He came home in par 36, with his round of 78 beating his previous best of 79, back in 2020. It was Scott’s first Medal since he won two during the same month in 2022. Richard Franklin (69 nett) won the A Grade Medal, Mick Prince (68) won C Grade and Adam Rydwanski (72) shot the lowest gross.
THRILLED HELEN: ‘It has been a long drought, and I am absolutely thrilled’ was Helen Fraser’s reaction to her first Monthly Medal win in 3½ years. In fact, so enthusiastic was the 35-year Headland member about the victory, she was armed with her recent history when HH called. “My last Medal win was on July 20, 2022,” she offered, with Saturday’s trophy her tenth. But despite not having a minus on her card – of 99, for nett 73 – she did not think her score was good enough to win. “I was happy with the way I played, but I wasn’t getting too excited,” she said of her prospect of claiming another Medal. “But we did win the side bet, and the chips always taste better when someone else buys them.” Helen rated her ‘recovery’ game as the mainstay of her round, emphasised by a square on her card despite a visit to the water at the tough 15th hole. On a difficult scoring day in oppressive conditions, Annabel Harris (87) returned the best gross.
THE UPSTAGER: On Medal days, retired tennis court builder Graeme Warne normally elects to play the alternate Stableford competition. “I am in my 28th year as a member, so the competitive juices don’t flow as strongly as they once did,” said Graeme, after returning the best score in Wednesday’s first Mid-Week Medal for the year. “But I was with three A Graders on Wednesday, and they wanted to play the Medal, so I gave in.” And not only did he surrender, and return the best score of the day by two strokes, he won the B Grade Medal for the second time in seven months and shamelessly upstaged two of the visiting A Graders, who scored 78 and 79 nett, respectively. Playing from a 17 handicap, Graeme shot 84, with six pars, nine bogeys, two doubles and a birdie at the par-three 18th. “I played okay, and mostly kept those dreaded doubles off the card,” he said, assessing his round. “And, I managed to stay out of the bunkers.” Quentin Poulsen (69 nett) won the A Grade Medal, Trevor Beall prescribed himself his best form to win C Grade (73), and Glenn Walker (75) returned the best gross.
WENDY’S FLUKE: Wendy Derrick proffered a casual ‘it was a fluke’ after amassing 45 points to blitz the field in Thursday’s Single Stableford for Women. “I hardly play competition golf, and this was my first comp round for this year,” said the 10-year SWING graduate and Headland member, who penned two four-point scores and eight threes on her Division Two winning card. Wendy became the second woman member to return the remarkable 45 points this year, with Barb Birks achieving the feat a week earlier. A former member at Dalby Golf Club, Wendy joined Headland after retiring to the Sunshine Coast and joining the SWING program in 2016, when her handicap was 22. Since then, it had drifted out to 32, but following Thursday’s super round – which included four pars and nine bogeys – her new GA mark is 27. Catherine Peterson (A Grade) and Helen Siddins (C Grade) both scored 38 points – seven less than Wendy – to win their respective divisions.
AMAYESING GOLF: Had 13 handicapper Dave Mayes been able to couple Wednesday’s front nine with last Saturday week’s back nine, the ‘gun’ shutters and blinds sales manager for U Blinds Australia would have shot three-over 75 – his best-ever Headland score. “I was two-over on the back nine on Saturday week, and one-over on the front on Wednesday,” he revealed after returning the best score in Wednesday’s Single Stableford, and winning A Grade with his 40 points. “But that old habit of starting to think too much about what’s happening kicked in, didn’t it.” After 12 holes on Wednesday Dave, who has only recently returned to golf following a 3½-month absence after knee-replacement surgery, was one over the card. But the ‘thinking too much’ episode resulted in seven-over on the next five holes, before he parred the 18th. “I’m gradually finding some of the old form,” said Dave, who successfully trialled a new TaylorMade Spider putter loaned to him by a mate. Graeme Stowell (38 points) won B Grade and Max Maundrell won C Grade, with 38 points.
FLYNN’S BACK: After taking a five-month break from golf, 15-year-old Flynn Lambalk has returned with a vengeance, scoring his third win as a three-year Headland member. The Grade 10 Matthew Flinders student was one of only 38 to contest Tuesday’s Single Stableford for Men, and reported ‘just a few drops of rain as we finished’. And apart from a triple bogey at the 17th, he finished in style, with four three-pointers in his final five holes. “It is the best I have played since my nett 64 in the Wood Duck competition in December,” he said, following his 41 points. “I played in a twosome with Bruce Livingstone and because there was hardly anyone else on the course, it was a really enjoyable round.” In fact, so enamoured is the youngster by his round – which included three four-point holes and four threes – he is considering buying a new set of Wilson clubs. Tuesday’s Women’s competition was abandoned because of insufficient players.
WHITE RESULT: Barry Newton, who lives adjacent to the 17th fairway, shot 35 on the back nine from the white tees on Thursday, to finish with a one-over 73. The five-marker – his day handicap from the white tees – carded four birdies, nine pars and five bogeys on his way to scoring 40 points and winning the Men’s Single Stableford event. He dropped three successive birdie putts from holes 12 to 14, then missed a 2½-metre chance at the tough 15th for his fourth on the trot. “I was resting on a bet which was not exactly in my favour, so that result actually wasn’t too disappointing,” he quipped. And while revealing Thursday’s Men’s field often played from the white tees, the semi-retired owner of Better Business Finance said that while the course was somewhat easier, the shot-making adjustment was not major. “In most cases, the black, blue and white tees are on the same tee block,” he said. “You still have to hit it straight, play well and get the ball in the hole.” For Barry, whose last win was in November with 42 points, his driver was the star.
HIP, HIP HOORAY: Mark Dolan won his first event on Saturday since hip replacement surgery last year, and is aiming at better things to come. “After being out of golf for so long, the muscle memory soon disappears,” he said after his 39 points easily won Division One in the alternate Saturday competition. “I have struggled with my swing, and my tempo, but things felt a lot more familiar today.” Mark, now a semi-retired wine distributor following a career in sales and marketing, penned 87 from his 18 handicap, with a birdie, six pars, six bogeys and five doubles on his card. Confessing it has taken him ‘a while’ to recapture his form, he is keen to reduce his handicap to 15, from where he was playing before his surgery. “Fifteen is where I feel comfortable. Anything less than that might be a bit of a stretch,” he said. Wyndham Tibbitts, with 35 points, won Division Two.
RIGHT LANE: Harrison Lane is undecided whether he wants to be a Golf Pro like his dad Josh, but he appears certain to soon achieve his more immediate golfing goal. The 14-year-old Chancellor Park State High student won Sunday’s Medley Single Stableford with 39 points, and in doing so carded his lowest-ever score. His two birdies, seven pars, eight bogeys and one double came from 80 shots, eight better than his previous low mark after he won back in October. Since then, he has won a Monthly Medal – in November – and slashed his handicap to 12.4. “My goal at the moment is to become an A Grade golfer,” Harrison revealed, with the cut-off mark at 11. But while stoked with Sunday’s round, and result, Harrison was disappointed he missed a ‘gettable’ putt for par at the 18th. “That would have given me 79,” he lamented. Harrison says spending part of the school holidays with his cousins in Sydney, playing golf, has helped his game. “One of my cousins plays off four, and it was really great playing with him at Mona Vale Golf Club,” he said. NOTE: With nett 72, Harrison finished third in Wednesday’s B Grade Monthly Medal round.
SIMPLY THE BEST: Reigning Headland Match Play Champion, Adam Rydwanski, has won our STB gong for the second competition week of the year with his par round in Saturday’s Monthly Medal. Adam, who has won two Headland Club Championships and three Match Play titles, matched three birdies with three bogeys in his round of 72, the best from Saturday’s Championship tees. He birdied holes six, 10 and 17, with bogeys at nine, 14 and 15. Playing from a handicap of one, Adam finished third in the A Grade Medal, and won $75 for returning the best gross. Each week in 2026, HH will name our ‘Simply the Best’ golfer – those who return the lowest round – in recognition of the club’s low-handicap golfers.
WEEKLY RESULTS:
Monday, Vets – Single Stableford, Women (20 players) – Jenny Stokes (36 points), Rhonda Biggs (36), Lee Heseltine (34).
Men (37 players) – Division One, Michael Phillips (33), Ron McMahon (33), Stewart Clover (32); Division Two, Brian Hermeston (31), Brian Garnett (30), David Parker (30).
Tuesday, Single Stableford, Men (38 players) – Flynn Lambalk (41 players), Scott Ingham (38), Thomas Hewitt (36).
Wednesday, Men’s Mid-Week Medal – sponsor, Ryan Tomlinson, Century 21 on Duporth – (123 players) – A Grade, Quentin Poulsen (69 nett), Glenn Walker (69), Peter Welsh (69); B Grade, Graeme Warne (67), Glenn Ahern (70), Harrison Lane (72); C Grade, Trevor Beall (73), Rob Ingham (75), Barrie Whelan (76); Best gross, Glenn Walker (75).
Medley Single Stableford (111 players) – A Grade, Dave Mayes (40 points), Tex Teixeira (38), Wayne Bridgeman (36); B Grade, Graeme Stowell (38), Ivan Fortmann (36), Joshua White (34); C Grade, Max Maundrell (38), Damien Said (37), Malcolm McColm (36).
Thursday, Single Stableford, Women – sponsors Sharon Thomas, Judy Farmer, Lisa Aherne and Vicki Maynard – (107 players) – Division One, Catherine Peterson (38 points), Deb Bennetts (35), Kirsten Kaergaard (35); Division Two, Wendy Derrick (45), Rebecca Masters (37), Odette Day (36); Division Three, Helen Siddins (38), Anne Hayward (37), Barb Birks (37).
Men (91 players) – Barry Newton (40 points), Jack Reed (38), Graeme Warne (37).
Saturday, Single Stroke, Monthly Medal – sponsor, Ryan Tomlinson, Century 21 on Duporth, Women (20 players) – Helen Fraser (73 nett), Robyn Boreham (75), Annabel Harris (75); Best gross, Annabel Harris (87).
Men (161 players) – A Grade, Richard Franklin (69 nett), James Daniel (69), Adam Rydwanski (71); B Grade, Scott Lindsay (66), Glen Grimish (69), Mark Wittholz (69); C Grade, Mick Prince (68), Lachlan Valderrama (69), Lindsay Olsson (72); Best gross, Adam Rydwanski (72).
Single Stableford (71 players) – Division One, Mark Dolan (39 points), Mal Bradshaw (35), Mike Hardy (34); Division Two, Wyndham Tibbitts (35), Graham Miller (34), John Miller (34).
Sunday, Medley Single Stableford (60 players) – Harrison Lane (39 points), Nicola Whitmore (38), Wayne Taylor (38).
