From Tony Durkin
SKIPPER SHINES: Sean McGill, Headland Men’s A Grade Pennant captain, has warmed up for next month’s start of the 2019 Sunshine Coast Golf Zone Pennant competition with a sizzling five-under par 67 in the club’s monthly Wood Duck Challenge on Sunday. Sean was one of 14 players to break their handicap in the event, and share equally in the prizemoney of $500. But while Chris Klazema (handicap 15) and Nick Reed (handicap 25) also signed for the outstanding score of 64 nett, it was three-marker McGill who stole the show. He had seven birdies in his magnificent round, which was not without its touch of the spectacular. Snookered behind a tree on the left side of the 16th fairway, he elected to play a power fade towards the 17th tee. Alas, the ball did not slice, leaving him a 40-metre downhill wedge from behind the 17th tee. Incredibly, he holed the shot for birdie. But a further obstacle presented itself on the 17th when – six-under with two holes to play – his tee shot finished in the hazard on the right. But he recovered from the penalty, scored only his second bogey of the day and parred the 18th. Sean, whose best-ever round was 66 at Headland just after he joined the club a decade ago, says he has been working on some swing changes of late and credits Sunday’s red-hot round to plenty of practise and a new-found confidence in his game.
FAMILY RULES: In the process of respectively sponsoring, and representing Headland Golf Club, the Klazema family ruled two different golf courses on Sunday. Playing from his 15 handicap, dad Chris broke through the 80-barrier for the very first time, with his 79 giving him a nett 64 and – on a countback – the best score in Sunday’s first Wood Duck Challenge for 2019. A few hours earlier his son, 15-year-old Keita Griffin-Klazema, smashed his Gympie opponent 7&6 in Headland’s Junior Pennant clash at Noosa Springs. Playing off 27, Keita played the round of his life carding a five-over par 41 on the first nine. Chris, whose business MOD Bathrooms co-sponsors the Wood Duck Challenge each month with James Kidd’s EKO Financial, said that while he was happy to share in the spoils, he was more excited about the quality of golf played among his group. Playing partners Wayne West (66 nett), Ash Reck (68) and Darren McLeod (71) also took a $32 slice of the prizemoney for breaking their handicap.
SPLIT SIXES: Good mates John Ross and Ross Carvell have been regular playing partners at Headland for more than 20 years but have never combined better than in Saturday’s debut of the Split Sixes Stableford competition. The pair won the competition with 79 points, streaking away by a remarkable four points. And not only did they combine superbly under the scoring system foreign to most Headland members (see below), they both returned their best individual rounds in ages. John (handicap 21) scored 41 points while Ross (18) had 42. Over the split six-hole scoring system they registered 16, 30 and 33 points respectively. Their final six holes – with their individual scores multiplied – returned them scores of 9 points, 6, 4, 2, 9 and 3. A big field of 236 contested the event and Men’s Director of Golf, James Kidd, has confirmed the competition will return at some stage during the coming year. NOTE: Split Sixes scoring is: first six holes – the best score from an individual (as in a 4BBB Stableford); second six – an aggregate of the scores of both players; final six – a multiple of the two individual scores.
GREEN WITH ENVY: Bernie Green has been a Headland member for just four years and intends playing golf until he can no longer walk, but he seriously doubts whether he will have two better days than Friday and Saturday of last week. On Friday night at the weekly Jackpot draw, Bernie’s number was called and although he didn’t win the $6400 on offer, he was chuffed to have $100 credited to his House Account. Then on Saturday, charged with positive vibes from his success the previous night, Bernie had the round of his life, scoring 45 (20/25) Stableford points from his 18 handicap. An Englishman who has been in Australia for 18 years but playing golf ‘in earnest’ for only six, Bernie says he actually could not believe the shots he played on Saturday were emanating from his clubs. But Bernie wasn’t the only member on Saturday to have a blinder – Ian Moore (seven handicap) signed for a one-under 71 and scored 44 points; Tony Dunford (13) had 77, also for 44 points; and Ken Maynard (18) scored 83 off the bat, for 43 individual points.
ATKINS’ ACE: After acing the 18th in Monday’s return of the Headland Veteran’s competition for 2019, Kathy Atkins now has her sights set firmly on the eighth hole. It is the only par three on the course the 31-year member, who currently plays off 10, has not aced. Her hole-in-one on Monday was her fifth – three at Headland, one at Pelican Waters and one at Twin Waters – but is the only one where she didn’t see the ball disappear into the hole. But she confesses she knew she had struck her pitching wedge beautifully, and when she arrived at the green and could not see her ball, she suggested to one of her playing partners that is was in the hole. The ace finished one of her better rounds in ‘a long, long time’. As well as winning nearest-the-pin on 18 – naturally – Kathy won A Grade with 40 Stableford points and shot 80 off the stick.
EPIC RESULT: Barry Newton acknowledged he had a ‘day out’ at Headland on Wednesday – and the previous Saturday – and pays full credit to his new Callaway Epic Flash driver. On Wednesday, in the second Mid-Week Medal event for 2019, Barry returned a nett 69 to finish second in A Grade, beaten on a countback by Ian Farrington. He also had the best gross score – a three-over par 75 – and in the process scored an eagle two on the third hole. The previous Saturday he won A Grade with 40 points, despite wiping the seventh. In his mid-50s and seeking more distance from the tee, Barry recently sought advice from club professional Adam Norlander who loaned him the new Epic Flash driver, which he used in the Saturday round. Then, on Wednesday, his newly-purchased driver made its debut. But while the driver may be an epic, Barry sheepishly concedes the eagle was not. He blocked his nine iron to the green, the ball bounced off the side of the bunker, careered at right angles towards the pin and 10 metres later found its way into the hole.
LISA’S BACK: Once a three-marker and twice Headland Ladies Champion, Lisa Ramen is currently celebrating a return to form. At the end of 2014 Lisa lost her mum Geraldine, who had been her one and only golf coach, and concedes both her golf and personal life struggled for some time. But 12 months ago, with her handicap out of single figures for the first time since she was a youngster, Lisa made the decision to rekindle her love for the game and started working with Headland’s Club Pro, Adam Norlander. And the decision is starting to bear fruit, with Lisa winning two competitions, finishing second in another and third in two more in the month since competition golf kicked off at Headland for 2019. But Thursday was her big day – she won the A Grade Monthly Mug with 73 nett, best A Grade gross (80) and also collected nearest-the-pin on the 18th. With her AGU handicap now down to 5.9 – second-lowest among the Headland ladies – the 29-year member says she is enjoying the good form ‘while it lasts’.
WHOOPS: Glenn Kelly is a very talented golfer. He plays off a handicap of five and is a member of Headland’s A Grade Pennant team. But while his bogey on the par four 15th in Saturday’s Split Sixes did not – on the scorecard at least – compare with the three-point par from partner Morgan Winston (handicap 17), it was unquestionably more spectacular. Glenn hooked his drive to the middle of the 10th fairway, then again tugged his second, which struck a tree in the line between the 10th and ninth fairways, and careered further left, finishing near the 100-metre peg on the left-hand side of the ninth hole. He then hit eight iron, finished in the bunker but got up and down for a miraculous five. At 400 metres, Headland’s 15th hole is rated No.1 and is considered the hardest on the course, but on Saturday Glenn turned it into an even-tougher hole of at least 500 metres.
PENNANTS: Headland’s B Grade Men’s Pennant team has hit back from a first round loss to win their following two matches in the 2019 Sunshine Coast Golf Zone Pennant competition, the most recent a 4-3 victory over Noosa Springs at Noosa on Sunday. Winners were Dean Jones (5&4), Will Millroy (4&2), Matt Macaulay (4&3) and Simon Mitchell (1up), while Daniel Diachkoff (3&1), Blake Thomas (2&1) and Matt Prince (1 down) were beaten. The disappointment of losing last week’s match against Noosa on protest after such a magnificent effort was further felt when the Masters team allowed a 3-nil lead to slip to a 4-3 loss at the hands of Cooroy at Gympie on Sunday. The first three players to finish – Burgess Stephenson (5&4), Brett Stephenson (2&1) and Warren Selvage (1up) recorded wins, but the next four matches were lost. Peter Holt was beaten on the 18th, Simon Whittle lost 3&2, as did Peter Richardson and Neven Daniel. Headland’s Juniors also lost in a close tussle, going down 2-1 to Gympie at Noosa Springs. Playing on a course described as being in ‘spectacular’ condition by team manager Nate Smyth, Keita Griffin-Klazema thrashed his opponent 7&6, the same score by which Campbell Gibney lost, while team captain James Daniel took his match to the 18th before succumbing, two down.
WEEKLY WINNERS:
Monday, Vets, Single Stableford, Ladies (36 players) – A Grade, Kathy Atkins (40 points), Robyn Boreham (38), Helen Fraser (37); B Grade, Jill McAndrew (35), Sue Hadenham (34), Bernadette Cassidy (33). Men (90 players) – A Grade, Ross Kelly (42), Michael Logowski (40), Dale Whitney (40); B Grade, Frank Gava (40), Colin Williamson (40), Ross Carvell (40); C Grade, Henryk Ptak (43), Des McNee (342), John Bourke (39).
Tuesday, Single Stableford, Ladies (47 players) – Judy Norman (40 points), Rhonda Biggs (37), Ruth Simpson (34); Men (72 players) – Martin Luck (40), James Fleming (39), Raymond Norman (38).
Wednesday, Men, Mid-Week Medal (196 players) – A Grade, Ian Farrington (69 nett), Barry Newton (69), James Kidd (69), Gross – Barry Newton (75); B Grade, Ross Carvell (70), Brett Stephenson (70), Burgess Stephenson (7), Gross – Burgess Stephenson (85); C Grade, Bruce Heseltine (65), Russell Dowling (67), Rod Berger (68), Gross – Roscoe King (91).
Thursday, Ladies, Monthly Medal (100 players) – A Grade – Lisa Ramen (73 nett), Many Oster (77), Kristin Griffiths (78), Gross – Lisa Ramen (80); B Grade – Katrina Watts (73), Robyn Boreham (73), Jenny Pirini ((74), Gross – Robyn Boreham (92); C Grade – Chris Parkinson (73), Ellen Bloxsome (73), Lynn Hayman (73), Gross – Chris Parkinson (104). Men, Single Stableford (67 players) – Gary Rugless (40 points), Geoff Opray (40), Dick Gibberd (39).
Saturday, Medley Split Sixes Stableford (236 players) – John Ross and Ross Carvell (79 points), Brad Reddan and Graeme Warne (75), Tony Dunford and Wayne Harriott (75), Trevor Gourlay and Glen Grimish (73), Darren Walters and Darren McLeod (73).
Sunday, Medley Wood Duck Challenge (49 players) – Chris Klazema (64 nett), Nick Reed (64), Sean McGill (64), Wayne West (66), Tristan Scott (67), Andrew Ebb (67), Ash Reck (68), Geoff Bland (69), Ryan Tomlinson (69), Darryl Kong (69), Marg Smith (69), Darren McLeod (71), Scott Walker (71), Jamie Hill (71).
