From Tony Durkin
BIG MAT LEADS: Big hitting Mat Walkenhorst, one of the trumps in Headland’s winning A Grade Pennant team and the lowest handicapper in the club on plus two, is the one-shot leader at the halfway mark of the 2018 Club Championships. Walkenhorst shot 70-71 over the weekend to be three under the card and leading defending champion Dave Rattray (71-71/142), from two other former club champions, Ryley Martin (72-79/151) and Adam Richards (78-74/152). Walkenhorst has had eight birdies interspersed with a double bogey and three bogeys in his first two rounds, and came home with a spectacular four-under par 32 on Sunday, while the consistent Rattray has scored six birdies and four bogeys. Dennis Mikolic (162) leads B Grade from Nick Randall (168) while Chris Klazema (180) is in front in C Grade by three shots from the quartet of Jon Welch, Fred Muller, David O’Mahoney and Ross Carvell. The championships will be finalised on Saturday and Sunday.
STEADY JOSIE: After what she described as ‘just a steady round’, defending champion Josie Ryan leads the 2018 Headland Ladies’ Championship which kicked off on Saturday. Josie’s 80 is three strokes clear of last year’s runner-up, university student Dominique Paice, with Sharon Thomas (89), Sue Jones (93) and Christina Claxton (95) seemingly the only others in the race for the title. Josie, who has won 15 club championships since 1997, is well aware of the threat posed by 19-year-old Dominique because the last time she was beaten for the prestigious title was by another teenager, Jennifer Ray, in 2011. The second round of the Ladies’ Championship will be played on Thursday, followed by 18 holes next Saturday and the following Thursday.
PAIR OF ACES: Judy Farmer and Catherine Peterson both clearly exemplified the ecstasy – and the after effects – of scoring a hole in one when they achieved the rare feat at Headland this past week. Judy scored hers on the 14th in Tuesday’s Single Stableford event and then wiped two of the next four holes, while Catherine aced the 18th on Thursday – her ninth hole – in the Single Par event and wiped seven of her next nine. Both conceded a state of euphoria was more than likely responsible for their less-than-impressive finish. For Judy it was her second hole in one at Headland, with her previous scored on the 18th hole. But for Catherine, a graduate of Headland’s very first SWING program in 2012, it was the first ace for the Masters rower who won two gold medals, a silver and a bronze at the Queensland titles last month.
FAB FORTIES: Scotsman Colin Williamson was something of a spoiler on Tuesday when he scored 42 points to win the Men’s Single Stableford event, yet had no qualms about the role he played. Following Colin home was the quartet of David O’Mahoney, Andrew Beck, Tony Kelleher and Phil Kornmann, on 40 points, while three ladies – Joy Bullock, Ruth Broderick and Donna Rose – also scored 40 points. But Colin, whose handicap has blown out to 27 of late, was just happy to record a good score and was delighted get a return from his new three wood which helped him be pin high on the 15th hole for the first time in his 5½ years as a member. Joy Bullock’s round was also included a first – her first 18-hole stableford round without a wipe. Yet another SWING graduate, she won the Sunday Mixed Medley a month ago with 39 points and last year also scored 40 points to win.
COP THAT: His playing partners have declared that no investigation will be launched into the round of Detective Senior Constable Chris Duhig on Wednesday – a round that reaped 46 stableford points and blitzed the big field of 211 by seven points. Playing off 21, the Headland newcomer who joined the club last August after not having played since a youngster at Horton Park in the 80s, started on the back nine and ripped it apart with 26 points from 39 shots, including the pro pin on 12 which resulted in his only birdie. A member of the CIB at Gympie, Chris commutes from his new home in Buderim, has every Wednesday off and says there is an immediate release from the pressures of work the moment he drives into the Headland car park. When his re-ignited golfing career kicked off in August, his handicap was 24 – after Wednesday it is down to 17. Ironically, one of his playing partners on Wednesday was Tony Pattinson who shot 61 nett two weeks ago – equivalent to 47 stableford points.
THREE PINS: Mooloolaba plumber Kevin George has earned money in the past as a professional rugby league player with the Newton Jets in Sydney and as an actor, but if Thursday’s round at Headland is a yardstick he may try his hand at golf if he needs extra cash in the future. He had a big day out, collecting $55 for finishing second in the Single Stableford event (36 points) with a further $30 jumping in his account from three nearest the pin shots – on the 8th, 14th and 18th. Although 83 players started, rain played havoc with the field and only 38 finished, which left Kevin feeling somewhat embarrassed. But he was delighted his ‘busted’ form of late had finally turned the corner. A member since November 2016, Kevin decided to join Headland after he and his wife Helen had thoroughly enjoyed a wedding at the club six years earlier.
WHOOPS: No hole at Headland is considered a ‘gimmie’ as a target for an eagle, but the 340-metre par four 12th is certainly one that has reaped more than its share in recent years. However, the eagle ‘scored’ by Justin Nicholson during round one of the club championships on Saturday resulted in a two-shot penalty, rather than a two-shot hole. Justin blocked his second on the hole and it struck a large bird’s nest in an over-hanging gum, showering debris onto the fairway below. When the ball could not be found, Justin and his playing partners conceded it had remained in the nest and, following his two-stroke penalty, he recoded a double bogey on the hole. And that bogey scarred a good round, with his 76 placing Justin fifth after day one of the champs. NOTE: Headland’s renowned bird watcher, Barrie Whelan, believes the nest is home to a Whistling Kite. And while not strictly an eagle, it is a member of the hawk family.
WEEKLY WINNERS:
Tuesday, Single Stableford, Ladies (54 players) – Joy Bullock (40 points), Ruth Broderick (40), Donna Rose (40); Men (72 players) – Colin Williamson (42), David Mahoney (40), Andrew Beck (40).
Wednesday, Men, Single Stableford (211 players) – A Grade, James Kidd (39 points), Ciaran Fenton (39), Adam Richards (39); B Grade, Chris Duhig (45), Harvey Nichol (38), Terry Lawler (37); C Grade, Alan Dellar (38), Ray Moody (38), Syd Shilling (38).
Thursday, Ladies, Single Par (89 players) – A grade, Helen Venter (square), Monica Knowles (square), Sinama Lolkes De Beer (-1), Robyn Boreham (-1); B grade, Libby Hall (+1), Jodie McDonell (+1), Maureen Cartledge (square), Vicki Maynard (square); C grade, Joy Logan (+4), Ruth Broderick (+1), Cheryl Kitson (square), Odette Day (-1). Men, Single Stableford (83 players) – Neville Kenzler (38 points), Kevin George (36), Stephen Woolcott (35).
Saturday, Men’s Championship, round 1 (155 players) – A Grade, gross, Mat Walkenhorst (70), David Rattray (71); nett, Chris De Bruyn (68), James Brownsworth (70); B Grade, gross, Dennis Mikolic (79), Brad Downs (82); nett, Mark Henricks (72), Aaron Duff (72); C Grade, gross, David O’Mahoney (89), Tony Vickers (90); nett, Richard Ryan (71), David Cekulis (72).
Ladies’ Championship, round 1 (49 players) – A Grade, gross, Josie Ryan (80), Dominique Paice (83); nett, Dominique Paice (76); B Grade, gross, Wil Sprake (100); nett, Carmel Visser (73); C Grade, gross, Lyn Forbes (111); nett, Vicki Houlahan (75). Mixed Overflow, Single Stableford (45 players) – Matt Douglas (38 points), Lawrence Hireme (38), Geoff Opray (37).
Sunday – Men’s Championship, round 2 (151 players) – A Grade, gross, Mat Walkenhorst (71), David Rattray (71); nett, Daniel Diachkoff (68), Bill Oster (70); B Grade, gross, Justin Walsh (81), Matt Hetherington (82); nett, Jaydon McDowell (71), Warren Selvage (71); C Grade, gross, Graham Cartledge (85), Ross Carvell (88); nett, Bruce Fielding (72), Chris Klazema (72).
