From Tony Durkin
OMA CONQUERED: Fueled by Cyclone Oma, conditions for Saturday’s Single Stableford event were at times extremely difficult – particularly in the afternoon. But a number of players in the field of 250 took their revenge on the strong and gusty winds, plus the debris on the course, with some outstanding scores returned. Two players – Peter Raymond and Bernie Green – played eight shots better than their respective handicaps to score 44 points, while Julie Walsh won the ladies event in a canter with a 2019-high score of 43 points, the same as recorded by C Grade men’s winner Geoff Montgomery. In fact, 60 golfers – almost a quarter of the field – played to their handicap or better in the extremely challenging conditions. And to add to what was a remarkable day of good scores, three players – Darren McLeod, Dan Diachkoff and Darryl Kong – scored eagles, while former club champion Adam Richards drove the par-four sixth hole.
BIRTHDAY BOY: Gary Rugless turned 69 on Friday but decided to celebrate his birthday a day earlier with the ‘round of his life’ in Thursday’s Fourball Best Ball Stableford. Although he appeared on the scorecard 12 times for a 36-point contribution to the winning fourball total of 51 with partner Phil Kornmann, Gary actually scored a phenomenal 46 points in his round. And it was his best-ever round on what he described as a magical day, playing just 76 shots and breaking 80 for the very first time. As well, he scored his first hole in one on the fifth, adding to the thrill of birdies at 10 and 13. Never a serious golfer until he joined Headland six years ago, Gary had three four-point holes and seven three-pointers on his card, while Phil was happy to contribute with a four-point birdie on eight, plus two three-pointers for their third fourball win together in the past 12 months.
NUMBERS CRUNCHED: About the same time on Wednesday that Headland Golf Club dispatched an email to members announcing Sergio Nogarotto as the club’s new Finance Director, the 26-marker walked into the clubhouse with 42 points from that day’s Single Stableford event. And while it was not good enough to win C Grade – that honour went to Allan Warby with an outstanding card of 45 points – Sergio suddenly became notable on two fronts. A member of Headland for just 12 months, the certified CPA moved north from Sydney to retire following the past 12 years as Financial Controller of a US company. He said he was surprised that no-one had initially nominated for the recently-vacated position of Finance Director and his liking for his new lifestyle – which includes golf three days a week – and an appetite for volunteer work, prompted him to take on the role. NOTE: His 42 points is not Sergio’s best round at Headland. Six months ago, he scored a memorable 44.
CENTURY BREAKER: Until Saturday’s score of 43 Stableford points – stunning, considering the prevailing conditions – Julie Welsh had never broken 100. But she smashed through the barrier, with the recently-retired admin worker absolutely ecstatic with her 93 strokes. Julie was introduced to golf by her husband-to-be Michael when she was 18, but played only socially until the couple moved to Fiji 20 years ago. But after another hiatus Julie became serious about the game again in 2015 and is now keen to lower her current AGU handicap of 23. A Headland member for two years, Julie had one five-point return on Saturday – a birdie on the par five 15th – a four-point hole with a par on the fourth, and six three-pointers. But while she is relishing her golf at the moment, Julie says the friendship offered by her fellow Headland members is what makes the game so enjoyable.
MATCHSTICK TREE: It begs the question why golfers would be turning their eyes almost 180 degrees from the ladies’ tee on the fourth hole at Headland, but once the eyes are there, the view is certainly an interesting one. Back about 50 metres from the tee – to the right – stands a monument to the Nasutitermes Walkeri termite. A species of the Arboreal Termite and most commonly known as the tree termite, the Nasutitermes Walkeri is found predominately in eastern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland and usually build their nest on the main trunk of trees, or on a large branch. But at Headland they have elected to go right to the top of a thin, tall tree, and the result is our very own matchstick tree.
ONE BETTER: Last year Bernadette Cassidy scored a mention in Headland Headlines because her superb score of 42 Stableford points at the time was identical to the handicap of the 2016 SWING graduate. But on Tuesday she went one better – Bernadette has 40 points from her new handicap of 39 and cleared away with the Ladies Single Stableford event by three points. But again, as she did when she won last year, she rued missed opportunities on the greens. With her husband Patrick, Bernadette formerly owned the Big Mower at Beerwah, and says she obviously needs to work harder on the part of the game of golf that is played on the very short grass. In her excellent front nine that reaped her 24 points, from the second hole to eighth Bernadette had six three-point scores.
MODIFIED STABLEFORD: Another new event will be introduced to the Headland calendar this coming week, with a Modified Single Stableford to be played by the men on Wednesday. The ‘modified’ component of the event is the scoring system, which is designed to better reward players who score eagles and birdies. For instance, when a player scores an eagle on a hole where he has a shot, the player will score six Stableford points, rather than the four points under the traditional Stableford scoring system. Other applicable scores are – nett birdie, four points; nett par, two points and nett bogey, one point. However, under the Modified Stableford scoring system, players are penalised a point when they wipe a hole. Players need to simply record their gross score on each hole – the electronic scoring system will do the rest. The expected result is lower scores.
WHOOPS: Relative new member Greg Kuhn has been enjoying the challenges of playing Headland, but had an experience during Wednesday’s Single Stableford that he didn’t relish. From his drive on the sixth, Greg found himself in the tree line between the sixth and seventh fairways, well back from the green. He elected to hit a low, hooking four iron, with a disastrous result. Not only did his ball strike a tree and rebound, the head of his four iron snapped, and finished 50 metres in front of his ball. The former Middle Ridge (Toowoomba) member wiped that hole, but continued without his four iron to score a respectable 34 points – and still win the side bet.
PENNANTS: Headland’s A Grade Pennant team starts the defence of its 2018 Sunshine Coast Golf Zone Pennant title on Sunday (March 3) against Mt Coolum at Caloundra. For club members who want to physically support the team, the first players will tee off at 7.45am. The team for Sunday is Sean McGill, Adam Rydwanski, Scott Walker, David Rattray, Ben Duncombe, Glenn Kelly, Scott Bromfield, Jamie Hill, James Kidd, Brad Butler and Jake Crowther. In Sunday’s matches, the B Grade team drew 3½-3½ with Caloundra at Peregian Springs while the Juniors were beaten 2-1 by Caloundra at Nambour. B Grade winners were Dan Diachkoff (4&3,) Matt Price (2up) and Will Millroy (3&1), with Matt Hetherington squaring his match. Simon Mitchell was beaten 4&2, Dean Jones went down 3&1 and Matt Macaulay lost on the 18th. Junior skipper Keita Griffin-Klazema continued his unbeaten run this season with a 4&3 result, while James Daniel (5&3) and Campbell Gibney (5&4) were beaten. Headland’s Masters team had a bye.
WEEKLY WINNERS:
Tuesday, Single Stableford, Ladies (50 players) – Bernadette Cassidy (40 points), Kym Mason (37), Carmel Visser (37); Men (72 players) – Josh Poole (42), Rod Hamilton (42), Martin Luck (41).
Wednesday, Men, Single Stableford (208 players) – A Grade, Ian Farrington (43 points), John Harris (42), Michael Thomas (40); B Grade, Mark Fisher (44), Paul Clarke (41), Peter Raymond (40); C Grade, Allan Warby (45), Sergio Nogarotto (42), Peter Corney (40).
Thursday, Ladies, Fourball Scrambled Ambrose (128 players) – Diane Molineux, Fiona Sullivan, Ann Dykstra and Diane Gilmour (61 nett), Wendy Derrick, Coralie Walsh, Julie Welsh and Katrina Watts (62.25), Lynn Hayman, Odette Day, Kerrie Tibbits and Sue Hadenham (62.875); Men, Fourball Best Ball Stableford (89 players) – Phil Kornmann and Gary Rugless (51 points), Ross Wedmaier and Greg Wareham (48), Frank Coleborn and Kevin Howe (48).
Saturday, Single Stableford, Ladies (28 players) – Julie Welsh (43 points), Sharon Purnell (39), Naomi Doyle (36).; Men (222 players) – A Grade, Ross Kelly (42), Russell Harris (41), Adam Richards (39); B Grade, Peter Raymond (44), Bernie Green (44), Will Millroy (41); C Grade, Geoff Montgomery (43), Haenga Pirini (42), David Wickham (41).
Sunday, Medley Single Stableford (25 players) – Brian Callaghan (40 points), Lance Liebenberg (38), Gavin Terry (38).
