From Tony Durkin
RICH RICHARDS: Adam Richards discovered a rich vein of form to play some of the best golf of his life on Saturday to win Headland Men’s A Grade Match Play Championship final in extremely difficult conditions. Fittingly, the 36-hole championship decider finished on the most difficult hole on the course, with Adam parring the 15th to win 4&3 over 2019 Club Champion Jake Crowther. He had earlier taken a five-hole lead after birdying 11, 12 and 13, with Jake hitting back with a birdie to win the par-three 14th. Adam finished square with the card, a magnificent effort considering the condition of the course after 125ml of rain in the past week and four heavy showers on Saturday morning. The 45-year-old, who has been a Headland member for 32 years, turned the clock back to his glory days at the club when he previously won the Club Championship and the Match Play Championship on three occasions. Totally relaxed following two week’s holiday and keen to prove to himself – and others – that he could still compete against the best in club land Adam, a proud winner of his fourth Match Play Championship, described his 33 holes on Saturday as ‘absolutely the best’ he had played.
PRO AM STARS: A three-time winner on the European Tour, Marcus Fraser is the latest big name to enter the Headland Pro Am, to be held next Wednesday (July 10). PGA Tour winner Andre Stolz as well as multiple European Tour winner Michael Sim, who won the 2017 Queensland Open, have also entered, and Brett Rankin will be back to defend his title. Anthony Quayle, Deyen Lawson, Aaron Pike, Adam Blyth and Tim Hart are other notables on the list, while former Australian PGA winner Marcus Cain heads the line-up of Sunshine Coast golfers alongside Jacob Boyce, Charlie Dann, Shae Wools-Cobb and Atomu Watanabe. Sponsored by Headland members Jamie Holbrook (Property Today) and James Brownsworth (Innovative Planning Solutions), the Pro Am has also attracted former Headland trainees Ben Wedmaier and Shane Miley. Shotgun starts will be at 6.45am and 12 noon, with presentations from 5.30pm.
OPEN CANCELLED: Headland’s second attempt to stage its annual Ladies Open has again been thwarted by the rain. A field of 140 was entered for the event on Monday, but consistent rain, which dumped 125ml on the course in a week, forced the cancellation of the event which had already been postponed from April. Ladies had entered from as far away as Moree (in northern NSW) and Royal Queensland, with Bribie island, Caloundra, Pelican Waters, Cooroy, Noosa, Peregian, Beerwah, Mt Coolum and Nambour also to be represented in the impressive field. An announcement will be made soon as to if, and when, the Open will be played.
JORDAN’S ADVICE: Rising 79-year-old Bruno Ciot had the words of wisdom from his Surf Ironwoman champion granddaughter racing through his mind as he teed off on the final few holes during Headland’s Vets’ visit from Mount Coolum on Monday. Jordan Mercer, the 10-time world champion who is Bruno’s absolute pride and joy, often reminds her grandfather that while running second is still a good result, the feeling of winning is so much better. And Bruno, a Headland member since 2001, took her advice on board when he scored 44 points to easily return the best score in the Single Stableford event. He had 10 three-point scores on his card, traversing his home course in 94 shots and having his lowest round in almost 12 months. And while Jordan’s competitive slogan may have kept her grandfather on his toes, Bruno used the adrenalin generated by ‘the best putting of my life’ to help keep him warm on the cold June morning. Once an 18-handicapper at Port Kembla Golf Club Bruno, who suffered a stroke when he was 50, is now just happy to be playing golf and feels comfortable playing off 30.
JAKE STALLS: A magnificent run of victories by Jake Crowther stalled when beaten by Adam Richards in Saturday’s Men’s A Grade Match Play Championship final. Conceding he was beaten by a far better opponent on the day, the reigning Headland Club Champion experienced the kind of success the previous weekend which would be difficult for a cub golfer to beat. Jake smashed the opposition to win the Nambour Club Championship last Saturday week and the following day backed up to win the Cooroy Open. The Nambour junior won his third club major title by an amazing 29 shots and beat Luke Parker in a ply-off at Cooroy after both had shot one-under rounds of 69.
TERRY WINS: In 10 months as a Headland member, Gavin Terry has shed a remarkable 10 strokes from his handicap – and in the process has won the B Grade Match Play Championship. The Englishmen, who once played off five at Surry National Golf Club, beat Matt Macauley in Saturday’s 36-hole Match Play final after Matt conceded on the 27th hole when Gavin was six-up. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom for Matt – he raced off to fulfill a commitment with University in the Sunshine Coast A Grade Rugby Union competition, which his team won 21-15. And plumber Michael Goodluck made the best of accustomed conditions to win the C Grade final, beating Druce Fielding 4&2. A former Scorchers cricketer, Michael joined Headland three years ago and Saturday’s championship win was his first competition victory in that time.
HALFBACK VIEW: A new driver, a golf lesson and a view of his swing on video in Headland’s Golf Simulator has former Wallaby halfback Brett Johnstone back on track with his golf. Having a 15-year break from the game after initially joining Headland in 2000, Brett won his first competition since returning from his hiatus when he scored 39 points in Saturday’s Single Stableford event. A lesson with assistant pro Matt Douglass during the week certainly paid dividends, as did a tweaking of his swing and the sight – on the video – of him trying to ‘muscle’ the ball and not turning his body. The result was much greater consistency – just one double bogey in his round of 86 – a win in B Grade and a new-found hunger to play more regularly.
YELLOW CALL: Players in next week’s Headland Pro Am have been asked to wear yellow in support of the #DoingItForJarrod campaign, a charity established in the name of Australian professional golfer Jarrod Lyle, who passed away last year from leukemia. Having been diagnosed with cancer three times throughout his life, Jarrod was fully aware of the hardship young people and their families face when battling cancer and became and ambassador for Challenge, Children’s Cancer Charity. Yellow shirts bearing the Headland Pro Am logo will be available next week at Headland’s Pro Shop for $35.
WEEKLY WINNERS:
Monday, Vets, Single Stableford, Ladies (28 players) – Helen Fraser (37 points), Kathy Atkins (36), Gwen Nancarrow (35); Men (92 players) – A Grade, Greg Wareham (39), Greg Doolan (38), Barry Hartz (37); B Grade, Peter Wolfenden (38), George White (38), Alan Westacott (36); C Grade, Bruno Ciot (44), Rob Keogh (40), Stuart Miles (39).
Tuesday, Medley Single Stableford (competition cancelled).
Wednesday, Men, Fourball Best Ball Stableford (competition cancelled).
Thursday, Single Stableford, Ladies (competition cancelled). Men (26 players) – Mick Kinnear (39 points), Neil Oxley (39), John Jamieson (39).
Saturday, Single Stableford, Ladies (competition cancelled). Men (146 players) – A Grade, Peter Gablonski (40) Graham Smith (38), Josh Holbrook (38); B Grade, Brett Johnstone (39), Burgess Stephenson (37), Greg Patrick (36); C Grade, Ian Harper (37), Mark Gersbach (32), Michael Gregora (32).
Men’s Matchplay Championships, final, A Grade – Adam Richards beat Jake Crowther (4&3); B Grade –Gavin Terry beat Matt Macaulay (6-up); C Grade –Michael Goodluck beat Druce Fielding (4&2).
Sunday, Medley Single Stableford (56 players) – Josh Vearing (39 points), Jacob Mimnaw (38), Jason Meehan (38).
