ROUND OF THE WEEK: Seven stableford points for 18 holes in hardly something to write home about, but the effort by 20-year Headland member Tony Roxburgh on Saturday warmed the hearts of every single person who knows him. In July last year Tony was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given two months to live. In the interim he has endured chemotherapy, a couple of stints in hospital and has seen his handicap balloon out to 20, but he has also enjoyed a skiing holiday in New Zealand to celebrate his 60th birthday and endeavoured to play golf with his mates each Saturday as well as attend the Joker Jackpot draw each Friday night. Obviously frustrated because he can’t hit the ball as far as he once could, Tony said he was ‘on fire’ on Saturday with five points after his first five holes, but faded somewhat to score just two more in the following 13 holes. But he will back again to challenge the course on Saturday, teeing off at 7.08am from the tenth, in the company of good mates Vince O’Neill, Graham Miller and Ross Wedmaier, with his simple goal to better seven points.
IN THE RED: Despite hitting his tee shot out of bounds on the first and taking double bogey, Jamie Holbrook has finally broken through for his first-ever ‘red’ round of golf. His 71 in Saturday’s Single Stableford event for 42 points may not have been good enough to win A Grade, but the former junior champion who twice in three years beat Adam Scott for the Junior Championship at Twin Waters, was ecstatic that he had finally broken through the magical par 72 mark. It has been an eventual past month for Jamie who has twice matched par at Headland, as well as at Twin Waters and Maroochy River, and also notched two eagles at Maroochy River on Wednesday. But the cream eventually rose right to the top on Saturday in a somewhat mixed round with an eagle and four birdies accompanying his double bogey, three bogeys and nine pars. And, to add more lustre to the special round, Jamie was nearest the pin – 90cms – at the 14th hole.
AMANDA’S ADVICE: Jenny Ingham has been waiting almost 18 months to get her golf game back in order and finally, on Thursday, she did, thanks somewhat to guidance from her daughter Amanda. The 23-year Headland member and former Division One Pennant player has not been playing as regularly as she once did, but discovered much of her missing form in Thursday’s Single Stableford with a round of 86, 42 Stableford points and a clear win in A Grade by five points. And while she concedes a few slices of luck and a number of good putts helped, a social round with daughter Amanda recently may have been the catalyst for her change in fortune. A past junior member who plays only spasmodically these days, Amanda spotted something not quite right in her mum’s swing and the tweaking has helped, particularly from the tee. Jenny also credited playing with husband Rob in the recent Mixed Foursomes for helping arrest her handicap slide, which has been from 13 out to 20 on 18 months.
THE ACTRESS: No, it is not the Academy Award-nominated actress Mini Driver who inspired former one-marker Steve Norbury to his best round of golf in more than two decades, but a golf club of the same name. Steve, who was an A Grade Pennant player for Horton Park when in his late teens, had been having issues with his driver when he stumbled across the TaylorMade SLDR Mini Driver in a bargain barrel. And the 12-degree club, looking more like a three wood, has done the trick with Steve shooting his lowest-round – 75 – in his five years as a Headland member. He scored 43 points in Wednesday’s Single Stableford event, the best score of the day and a win in A Grade by a clear four points. It was just the second game of the year for the qualified greenkeeper who works 20-30 hours a week at Twin Waters, and his second game using ‘Mini’. And while Steve says both rounds have been comparable, the difference was him ‘scoring’ better on Wednesday than the previous week when he returned 73 nett in the Monthly Medal. Steve ‘retired’ his golf clubs when in his early 20s to concentrate on family matters, but when the family moved into their new home house behind the 13th green a decade ago he decided to join Headland and says it is one of the best decisions he has made.
SWING SUCCESS: When former University Professor Jackie Walkington moved to the Sunshine Coast at the end of 2016 to retire, an acquaintance told her Headland’s SWING program was not only an affordable and positive way to learn golf, but also a means to forming new friendships. Jackie took heed and after she and fellow 2017 graduate Trudi Russell combined superbly to win Tuesday’s Medley Fourball Best Ball Stableford, Jackie is thrilled she joined the program. The pair, who have become good mates since they graduated, often play in the same group and Jackie conceded their 47 points (24 and 23) on Tuesday was the result of ‘being in the zone, and just clicking on the day’. And even though Jackie dominated the scoring with 30 points from 12 holes, Trudi more than played her part throughout with a special contribution of four three-point holes in succession, from three to six, and a four pointer on the 18th. Both ladies, who are as keen on practicing as they are on playing, are – needless to say – hooked on golf. NOTE: Jackie and Trudi are believed to be the first combination of two ladies to win a Medley Fourball at Headland in a number of years – maybe as long as a decade.
EQUAL BEST: Popular Headland Pro Shop assistant Dominique Paice lamented two three-putt greens, yet was still happy to equal her best round at Headland after two years as a member. Dom had five bogeys on an otherwise clean scorecard in Saturday’s Single Stableford for a five-over 78, which matched the same round in last year’s Anzac Day event. Her 39 points won the Ladies event but missed short putts on the second and 17th greens irked her somewhat. Dom’s lowest-ever score has been 75 at her home course of Mackay in the final round of the Club Championships in 2016, just before she moved to the Sunshine Coast to attend the Sunshine Coast, and study Occupational Therapy.
HAPPY FAMILY: In days gone by 77-year-old Headland member Ray Morrison was a regular single-figure marker, so playing off 17 and winning a competition isn’t as thrilling as it once might have been. But because Ray shared Thursday’s Fourball Best Ball Aggregate win with his son Nigel, he was quite chuffed about the long-awaited visit to the victory dais. Ray cannot recall the last time he won an event, or the last time he shot in the 80s, but his 84 for 41 points accrued with Nigel’s 35 points for an aggregate score of 76, and a family victory. And the father-and-son team combined superbly, with Nigel (handicap 9) scoring 22 points on the front nine and Ray replicating that score on the back. But what gave Ray the most pride was the manner in which his son fought back from an inauspicious start on the second nine to help get the team over the line. Both have been long-time Headland members and are often seen, carry bags slung over their shoulders, playing a few holes late in the afternoon.
WOOD DUCK: Trish Howe was one of the seven players who shared in the prizemoney offered by her partner James Kidd in Sunday’s first Wood Duck Challenge for 2019. EKO Financial (James Kidd) and MOD Bathrooms (Chris Klazema) co-sponsor the event in which any player who breaks their handicap shares in the $350 prize purse. Despite playing through consistent rain for most of the first nine holes, Trish scored an impressive 67 nett – one less than Chris McArdle’s best of the day – from her handicap of 17, and also won two nearest the pin shots. Others to break their handicap were Tom Burnett, Fred Muller, Gary Martin, Darren Walters and Ciaran Fenton.
WHOOPS: Like most golfers, Stu Ennever cannot come to terms with why one day on the course is so different to another, or one nine seems impossible one week and relatively-easy the next. On Wednesday, playing in the Single Stableford event, Stu won C Grade with a very respectable score of 40 points. But it could well have been 50. Stu started on the front and reeled off 27 points, which included two four-point holes and five three-pointers. After accumulating eight points on the first four holes on the back nine, Stu started to ‘wobble’ – his words – and scored just five points on the final five, for a grand total of 13. And just to add to the torrent of confusion spinning around in Stu’s mind, the previous Saturday he scored a miserable eight points on the front nine. As the former oil and gas surveyor says, go figure.
PENNANTS: Headland had another mixed day in men’s Sunshine Coast Golf Zone Pennants on Sunday, winning just one of three divisions. B Grade scored a close 4-3 win over Nambour at Twin Waters with Dan Diachkoff (4&3), Matt Price (3&2) and Matt Macaulay (2&1) winning their matches, Blake Thomas and Will Millroy squaring theirs and Michael Thomas (4&3) and Matt Hetherington (2&1) on the losing side of the score sheet. A Grade continued its up-and-down season with a 4-3 loss to Noosa at Mt Coolum. Winners were Jake Crowther (4&3), Dave Rattray (1up) and Jamie Hill (2&1), while Brad Butler (2&1), Sean McGill (4&3), Adam Rydwanksi (2 down) and Scott Walker (2 down) were beaten. Masters also went down 4-3, to Peregian at Noosa. Winners were Neil Oxley (1 up) and Burgess Stephenson (1up), while Brett Stephenson and Neven Daniel halved their matches. Ian Moore (4&3), Peter Holt (2&1) and Warren Selvage (4&3) were beaten. Junior team captain James Daniel beat his Noosa (1) opponent 3&1 at Caloundra, but Keita Griffin Klazema (2&1) and Campbell Gibney (8&7) were beaten in the 2-1 defeat.
LADIES PENNANTS: Headland’s Weekend Ladies Pennant team had its first win of the season against Bribie Island on Sunday despite conceding a total of 32 shots over the five matches. The 3-2 win lifted the team off the bottom of the ladder and with six more matches to play still a chance to grab the pennant. Wil Sprake won 4&3, Christina Claxton was victorious 2&1 and stand-in captain Josie Ryan won on the 18th, while Monica Anthony (3&2) and Kristin Griffiths (4&3) were beaten.Division Two had a win on Monday, beating Maroochy River 3-2 at Beerwah with Gwen Nancarrow scoring a massive 7&6 victory. Other winners were Susie Fenton (2&1) and Norma Hobson (2&1), while Pik Chong (5&3) and Jenny Pirini (4&2) tasted defeat. A putt on the 18th from Chris Parkinson on her home course against Mt Coolum lipped out, and that meant a 3-2 loss for the Division Three team. Chris had taken the exciting match to the last hole, but lost 1up. Joy Bullock (2&1) and Di Stark (6&5) were winners for Headland, while Leigh Derigo (4&2) and Kerrie Tibbits (2 down) were beaten.
WEEKLY WINNERS:
Tuesday, Medley Fourball Best Ball Stableford (117 players) – Jackie Walkington and Trudi Russell (47 points), Bob Hunter and Kathryn Tayles (46), Robert Pixley and Greg Jellis (46).
Wednesday, Men, Single Stableford (195 players) – A Grade, Steve Norbury (43 points), Jay Gourlay (39), Grant Martyn (39); B Grade, Tony Kelleher (41), Morgan Winston (40), Roger Van Ginkel (40); C Grade, Stu Ennever (40), Ian Harper (37), Peter McNeven (37).
Thursday, Ladies, Single Stableford (111 players) – A Grade, Jenny Ingham (42 points), Lisa Ramen (37), Carol Dwyer (35); B Grade, Diane Molineux (37), Kym Mason (36), Monica Antony (36); C Grade, Vicki Houlihan (39), Louise Armstrong (35), Raewyn Bissett (35).
Men, Fourball Best Ball Aggregate Stableford (85 players) – Ray and Nigel Morrison (76 points), David Carmichael and Don Kitson (74), Matt Macaulay and Arthur Soanes (74).
Saturday, Single Stableford, Ladies (21 players) – Dom Paice (39 points), Sharon Purnell (37);
Men (202 players) A Grade, Peter Richardson (43 points), Andrew Stirling (43), Jamie Holbrook (42); B Grade, Liam Deverill (40), Peter Raymond (40), Greg Stray (40); C Grade, Ian Harper (43), John Marrington (42), Gary Jamieson (41).
Sunday, Medley Wood Duck Challenge (38 players) – Chris McArdle (66 nett), Trish Howe (67), Tom Burnett (68), Fred Muller (69), Gary Martin (70), Darren Walters (71), Ciaran Fenton (71) beat their handicap and each collected $45.
