From Tony Durkin
PENNANT GLOOM: Play-off misery befell Headland in Sunday’s semi-finals of the 2025 Men’s Masters and B Grade Sunshine Coast/Glasshouse Pennant competition. Both teams finished equal at 3-all against their respective opponent – Twin Waters (Masters) and Mt Coolum (B Grade) – in the knockout matches at Tin Cay Bay, but were eventually beaten in play-off matches. Masters, who finished top of the ladder after winning four of their five matches, lost the chance to play the final next week when No.1 player, Peter Perrett, was beaten with a birdie on the second of his sudden-death play-off holes. Peter had earlier been beaten 3&1, joining Mark Henricks (4&2) and the fourball pairing of Peter Dunn and Wayne Cassidy (1-down). Headland victors were Rob Van Delft (4&1), Chris Pace (3&2) and the second fourball pair of Andy Whitmore and Col Pledge (8&6). Team captain Mark Henricks said the result was extremely disappointing considering the team had played so well during the season. “It was a gut-wrenching way to lose,” he lamented. In B Grade, a play-off was also needed to separate Headland and Mt Coolum in the semi-final, with Mt Coolum prevailing at the fourth extra hole. With the scores locked at 3-all after the six matches were played, the respective No. 1 players – Brendan Duncan (Headland) and Matt Green (Mt Coolum) – figured in the play-off with Green, who had a shot on Duncan, snaring victory by winning at the fourth extra hole. Green had earlier beaten Brendan at the 19th, but Damien Moelands (2&1) and Steve Bell (1-up), as well as fourball pairing Matt Hetherington and Sam Schefe (also 1-up) scored crucial wins, while Tony Mesic lost 1-down, and the other fourball pairing of Michael Thomas and Ryan Tomlinson, was beaten 2-down. “It is the most dramatic Pennant match in which I have been involved,” said team captain Steve Bell who revealed three matches, as well as the decider, went to a play-off. “My match, and our winning fourball match, also went to a play-off, with respective birdies from me and Matt Hetherington giving Headland the result.” Headland’s A Grade team, which had the bye on Sunday, sits atop the ladder and needs to beat Caboolture at Caloundra next Sunday, in the final round, to go straight through to the grand final. And, with the team expected to be at full strength, the match will be a memorable occasion for team captain Sean McGill, who will play his 100th A Grade Pennant match for Headland.
AU REVOIR: Gail Young has said goodbye to Headland in the best possible way – victory in Monday’s 2025Headland Women’s Open. A SWING graduate from 2013 – when she started on a handicap of 42 – Gail returned the best Stableford score in the field of 123, with 19 clubs represented in the annual event. Gail scored 37 points, a tally which also won her the best score by a Senior. “I was very, very thrilled,” said Gail, who confirmed she and husband Steve were, regrettably, returning to Bendigo for family reasons. “I have absolutely loved being a member at Headland, and will really miss the club, and the wonderful people,” said Gail, who earlier in the year won the Women’s B Grade nett in the Club Championships. After scoring just 16 points on the front nine on Monday, Gail stormed home with 21 points, enough to beat event sponsor Narelle Hollowood (Skirt Sports Australia) on a countback. However, Narelle won the Stableford in B Grade, while Trish Arden, also on 37 points, won C Grade. Jenny Huggard, from Nambour, won the Open stroke event, with 88, while Susan Morris of Noosa Springs (75) won the nett. Gail revealed that, like many women golfers at Headland, she has struggled to conquer the course since the new bunkering. “My handicap has gone from 19 to 27, but in the past few months my game has improved,” she said. “Hopefully I can take that form with me to Bendigo.”
PERFECT PARTNERS: “Peter had a blinder, and I played well,” was how Bob Trevor described Saturday’s Medley Fourball Best Ball Stableford victory alongside Peter Leggo, with a superb 50 points. The regular Saturday morning partners penned two four-point holes, 10 three-pointers and six twos on their card, with 25 points on each nine. Bob (handicap 10) contributed 26 points and Peter (16) added 24 points, with 38-year member Bob affirming neither had previously been involved in a fourball result of 50 points or better. “We had a real day out, and teamed especially well,” said Bob who, unofficially, shot his age during the round for the second time in a week. And, as well as collecting $115 from event sponsor Michael Thomas of Zenfind Accounting, he also pocketed $72 for the Pro Pin at the par-four 12th hole. “Maybe I can now retire,” he jested. For Peter, the ‘scariest’ aspect of the win was that between them, their age totals 150. “But we still had great fun,” he enthused. Rookie Carolyn Fisher teamed with the in-form Vicki Oxley for 48 points, to be crowned runners-up in the big field of 242. NOTE: His two special rounds during the past week now takes the number of times Bob has either equalled or beaten his age at Headland, to 82 (Saturday’s ‘unofficial’ fourball score is not credited in that tally).
MIRACLE MILKMAN: Following a career in the dairying industry, Paul Stephens says he ‘milks’ his handicaps these days for those elusive wins. “Playing off 27 gives me the chance to have a few bad holes, yet still score well enough to come close,” said the septuagenarian who won Tuesday’s Single Stableford for Men with 40 points. Paul did have a couple of bad holes – two wipes and a one-pointer on his card – but supplemented that with nine three-pointers and six twos. “It was a miracle. One of those rounds I seem to manage about once a year,” he quipped. “But I have discovered that we don’t get any better, or any more talented, as we get older.” Paul joined Headland in 2017 when he retired to the Sunshine Coast following a career which started in his home town of Ipswich and took him through various areas of North Queensland, and to Papua New Guinea. “I started playing golf in Lae in the late 80s when my choice for relaxation was either golfing, boating or drinking,” he revealed. “My lowest handicap has been 19, and although I try to get better, it doesn’t worry me too much if I don’t.” Vicky Oxley (35 points) maintained her recent run of great form with victory in the Women’s event.
GOLDEN TOUCH: The recent rich vein of form from Leeanne Ptak continued Thursday, when she won Division One in the Women’s Single Stableford event. Ten days earlier Leeanne scored her best victory as a nine-year Headland member when she beat allcomers to win the 2025 two-day Headland Senior Eclectic, two days after being eliminated in the semi-finals of the Women’s Matchplay Championships. But her 37-point round on Thursday to beat Kate Wilkie on a countback, almost did not make the first tee. “I played in the three-day South Pacific Ladies Classic at Surfers Paradise on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and played so badly that I actually scratched my name from the sheet for Thursday,” she revealed. “But I later reasoned that to get my confidence back, I should play Headland again as quickly as I can, so I re-nominated about two hours later.” But while everything did not go exactly as planned on Thursday – she penned two wipes – Leeanne was able to resurrect her confidence with six three-point holes and a steady nine twos. And all was not lost on the Gold Coast either. Her golf may have been ‘terrible’, but Leeanne struck gold in the raffle, collecting a $100 gift card. Wendy Derrick, also with 37 points, won Division Two on Thursday while Deb Prince scored 36 points to win Division Three.
NEXT MAN UP: After winning Thursday’s Single Stableford for Men, retired legal eagle John Robertson immediately passed the baton to new his ‘chum’, Bruce Horton. “Bruce, Des McNee and I are a recently-formed Thursday playing group, and Des managed third place last week,” he revealed. “Now that I have won, it seems Bruce is the next due for a win.” A Headland member for almost three decades, John started playing more regularly when he retired in 2018 and says a recent tip from Head Pro Adam Norlander to take his backswing ‘further, and slower’, has helped him with his distance. From his 26 handicap on Thursday, John scored 41 points with a very consistent eight three-point holes and seven twos on his card. But while John won the event, it was Club Champion Ben Duncombe who penned the most impressive round. Despite two bogeys and a double, Ben – playing off plus two handicap – shot two-under 70, with six birdies on his card.
STRESSLESS STEVE: A Tax Accountant for 30 years who changed employment three months ago credits a ‘stressless’ job for his first win as a Headland member. Steve Notley, who has lived adjacent to the seventh fairway since he joined the club two years ago, scored 39 points to win Sunday’s Medley Single Stableford, and said the enjoyment of his new position – as Head of Finance for Coolum-based Zone RV – is reflected in his golf. “I am relaxed, I am happy and I am stress free,” quipped Steve, who amassed 22 points on the back nine on Sunday despite wiping the par-three 14th. He penned three four-point holes on his card and cannot wait to further reduce his current GA handicap of 32.4. “I was a junior member at Headland with Andrew Bonhomme, but gave it away and have only just started playing again,” said Nambour-born Steve. Steve has also enticed his 17-year-old son Ryan to join the club, and although he concedes Ryan is a better golfer, he quipped ‘but I got him today’.
RARE-COMP CAM: He has been a Headland member for almost three decades, but Cam McCulloch rarely plays competition golf. “I still have two scores from 2008 to drop off my 20 ranking rounds,” Cam revealed after winning Wednesday’s A Grade Medley Single Stableford. The four-year retired former Pharmaceutical Manager says he usually plays socially, for fun, and often with his two adult sons, fellow members Charlie and Wills. “I once played regularly on Wednesdays with the Young Doctors group, and they have cajoled me back into playing, but after today it won’t be regular a thing,” he joked. “They fleeced me, again. I collected $115 for winning the comp, but I reckon it cost me that much in shouts because we lost the side bet.” Playing off 10, Cam scored 77 with two birdies, nine pars and seven bogeys for 41 points, and victory on a countback. “And I attribute this latest win to clean living,” he joked. Cam and his young family relocated from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast in 1995, and his lowest handicap as a Headland member has been six. And although he rarely plays competition golf, he loves the recent developments. “It is a very testing course,” he complimented. Nick Cox (41 points) won B Grade and Peter Birt (38) led in Wednesday’s C Grade field.
WEEKLY RESULTS:
Monday, Headland Women’s Open – sponsor, Narelle Hollowood, Skirt Sports Australia – (123 players), Overall gross, Jenny Huggard (88); Overall Stableford, Gail Young (37 points); A Grade nett, Susan Morris (75), Jenny Huggard (77); B Grade Stableford, Narelle Hollowood (37), Bettina Thomas (37); C Grade Stableford, Trish Arden (37), Beck Lykseth (36); Seniors Stableford, Gail Young (37).
Tuesday, Single Stableford – Women (21 players) – Vicky Oxley (35 points), Sue Wake (34), Lesley Wilson (33).
Men (82 players) – Paul Stephens (40 points), Josh Poole (39), Steve Nash (38).
Wednesday, Medley Single Stableford – sponsor, Nelson and Lachlan Valderrama, Absolute Building Solutions – (202 players) – A Grade, Cam McCulloch (41 points), Toby Zaremba (41), Warren Chapman (40); B Grade, Nick Cox (41), Simon Whittle (39), Graham Clarke (38); C Grade, Peter Birt (38), Ben Kennedy (37), Rob Whiting (37).
Thursday, Single Stableford, Women – sponsors, Headland Senior Women Golfers – (94 players) – Division One, Leanne Ptak (37 points), Kate Wilkie (37), Sandy Whittle (36); Division Two, Wendy Derrick (37), Kym Mason (37), Jenny Campbell (36); Division Three, Deb Prince (36), Christine Hall (36), Debbie Proud (36).
Men (88 players) – John Robertson (41 points), Grahame Denovan (39, Kevin Howe (38).
Saturday, Medley Fourball Best Ball Stableford, qualifying round of 4BBB Stableford Championship – sponsor, Michael Thomas, Zenfind Accounting – (242 players) – Bob Trevor and Peter Leggo (50 points), Carolyn Fisher and Vicki Oxley (48), Laura Mason-Baierl and Nicola Whitmore (47), Bernie Duncan and Michael Zeckomske (46), Rob Chaplin and Ian Russell (46).
Medley Fourball Best Ball Stableford Championship, qualifiers – 1: Laura Mason-Baierl and Nicola Whitmore; 2: Bernie Duncan and Michael Zeckomske; 3: Gary Martin and Fred Muller; 4: Marc Egan and Josh Vearing; 5: Patrick Walsh and Justin Walsh; 6: Roly Hoy and Andrew Hempsall; 7: Chris Byrnes and Terry Lawlor; 8: Matt Fisher and Greg Stray; 9: Emmet Walsh and Kade Johnstone; 10: Quentin Poulsen and Anthony Larchin; 11: Neven Daniel and James Daniel; 12: Darcy Brown and Andy Whitmore; 13: Wayne Cassidy and Graeme Nicholas; 14: Neil Playford and Simon Groom; 15: Barry Mapes and Steve Rose; 16: Dan Diachkoff and Chris Goundrey.
Juniors, Nine-hole Stroke, Finn Darlison (40), Matthew Bothma (41), Peter Hall (46), Blake Rydwanski (55), Noah Sergeant (58), Jasper Harding (68), Charlotte Rydwanski (71).
Sunday, Medley Single Stableford (68 players) – Steve Notley (39 points), Max Pasterfield (38), Darryl Kong (37).
