From Tony Durkin
SAM FIRES: Ten-year-old Sam Fichera has put his name forward as a contender for Headland’s Junior Pennant team with an outstanding round which garnered 42 Stableford points on Saturday. Partnering his dad Anthony in the Medley Fourball Aggregate event, Sam had three four-point holes and four three-pointers to steer the team to victory with Anthony (handicap 8) contributing 38 points towards the overall total of 80, three points clear of the field. Sam gained his first handicap in October last year and within two months he and his father won the Fourball Match Play Championship, a Headland Honour Board event. Sam’s 102 off the bat on Saturday is his best gross score to date and regular lessons with Trainee Pro McKenzie Wright has helped him reduce his handicap to a new low of 33. Alex Dwyer (handicap 14) shot the best score of the day – 44 points – with three birdies and seven pars on his impressive card.
LADIES MATCHPLAY: The first outright winner in Headland’s Handicap Consolation Matchplay competition for Pennant players has been decided, with Mouna Humzy victorious in Division Two with an imposing 6&5 win over Ali Lamond in the final. In Division One, Jenny Ingham will meet Kate Wilkie in the final next Sunday after eliminating Vicky Sheridan, also 6&5. In a superb exhibition of golf, Jenny parred seven of the 13 holes played. In the Division Two Consolation Plate, Leigh Derigo beat Kathy Petrie and will play Rhonda Parry in the final, while Flight 3 will be contested by Veronica Bassingthwaite and Monica Antony, and Flight 4 between Penny Cooper and Gail Young. Christina Claxton has won the Division One Consolation Plate, 2&1 against Robyn Boreham, while Josie Ryan beat Susie Fenton 3&1 in Flight One and will meet Amanda Ingham in the final after Amanda received a walkover result from Julie Halliday. And in Flight Two, Annabel Harris won the right to play Sue Jones after beating Karen Wilson 2-up courtesy of a birdie at the 18th.
STUNNING BOGEY: Drew Walker may have won the B Grade Single Stableford three-club event at Headland on Wednesday with 39 points, but it was the structure of his implausible bogey on the first hole, second time around, on which the 19-handicapper wanted to elaborate. Drew, who had a driver, seven-iron and sand wedge in his bag, shanked his drive into the tree adjacent to the women’s tee and it finished short of the tee, on the left, giving him a precarious uphill lie. With driver in hand, he played for a draw but the ball sailed over the cart shed and out of bounds. Taking advantage of the ‘stroke and distance’ local rule, Drew then dropped a ball on the edge of the fairway 145 metres from the pin, and proceeded to slam dunk a seven iron for bogey, and two Stableford points. That, and the par that followed on the second hole, gave him an impressive 18 points in six holes and his final score 39 was his best result in as long as he can recall. ‘Getting back to basics’ with three clubs and ‘not over-complicating things’ was the secret to his long-awaited success, although the big-hitting Drew doubts he is about to shed 11 clubs from his bag.
HELEN’S MIRACLE: Retired Librarian Helen Martyn has a simple explanation for her exceptional score of 42 points in Thursday’s three-club event – it was a miracle. And included in her round was also a ‘miracle’ birdie at the sixth, which scored her five points. A Headland SWING graduate from 2016, Helen doesn’t relish the pressure of competition golf and says she primarily plays to enjoy the walk, the company and the wildlife. But that philosophy may have to change following her best-ever round – 102 – playing with a driver, three-wood, eight iron and putter. It was her second-ever win following her Monthly Medal last year and just her second birdie, describing her first as yet another miracle. That came two years ago on the par-three fifth when her tee shot finished on the ninth fairway, behind the row of trees on the left of the hole. Helen’s attempted chip over the trees actually scuttled through them and – to her astonishment – the ball finished in the hole. Not surprisingly, Helen’s score on Thursday easily won B Grade, while Val O’Brien (37 points) won A Grade following a recent run of outs.
LOUIS HELPS: Watching the smooth swing of South African golfer Louis Oosthuizen during the Phoenix Open the previous weekend sent Dave Sims a message he carried over to Tuesday’s Medley Ambrose event. Dave (handicap 7) teamed for the first time with Richard Senior (12) to win the event, shooting five birdies, 12 pars and a lone bogey in their nett score of 63.25, winning by a shot from Christina Claxton and Bob Trevor. Following some lean scores of late, Dave was impressed by how simple swinging a golf club looked in the hands of Louis, and his goal during Tuesday’s round was adopting a similar tempo. But the win was very much a team effort, with retired GP Richard sinking some vital clutch putts. NOTE: Dave backed up Tuesday’s round with 38 points in a three-clubs plus putter event on Wednesday, to finish third in A Grade.
KEANE TO GO: Peter Keane has extended a fourball invitation to Aaron Duff any time the ex-Queensland hockey rep is available. The pair combined to win Thursday’s Two-Ball Ambrose for men with an impressive eight-under par 64 nett, with former Lieutenant Colonel Peter confessing he was little more than a spectator. ‘My contribution was my handicap,’ said Peter (28) whose lone tee shot taken was at the par-four third after Aaron found the lake on the left. Peter said he was in awe of the distance Aaron (8) hits the ball, but was as impressed by his friendliness and unassuming demeanour as he was of his golfing ability. The two ‘fluked’ their first game as partners when Peter came off the wait list.
GWEN PREVAILS: Gwen Nancarrow had to survive a dramatic countback to win Sunday’s Medley Stableford, relegating a somewhat-unlucky Bernie Duncan to second place. Both scored 37 points – as did third placegetter and last Sunday’s winner, Steve Rose – and both also had 19 points on the back nine. The countback then retreated to the final six holes with Gwen scoring 13 points to Bernie’s 12 – a disastrous eight on the 13th hole finally cruelling Bernie’s fate. The ever-consistent Gwen mixed four three-pointers with 11 two-point holes, but Headland’s 2020 Woman of the Year did not have a wash on her card.
MALENY WIN: A group of Headland members who regularly play together each week journeyed to Maleny on Wednesday and scooped the pool. Playing a Single Stroke, Bevan Horsnell (handicap 8) won the event with a nett 66, beating Chris Duhig (12) on a countback. Barry Newton (5) was third with 73 nett while the fourth member of the quartet, Tony Pattinson, described his round as ‘awful’. Not surprisingly Bevan and Chris, who partnered up for the ‘intra-group’ contest, did not lose a hole to their Headland mates. On Bevan’s impressive card of 74 off the stick was a quadruple bogey nine on the par-five second hole. Some Headland members also travelled to Beerwah on Wednesday and Tim Henricks (40 points) continued his recent run of form with a win in Division One.
BUFFALO’S BRIEFS: A black mark against modern-day professional sportspeople is their seemingly unrelenting poor manners when socialising. Yet while other sports attract negative headlines, golf doesn’t – not often, anyway. And that’s why I feel particularly proud to inform our members of the positive feedback our Trainee Professionals – McKenzie Wright and Jordan McDonald – received following a tournament at Woodford last Monday. Woodford Head Pro Matt Douglas texted me after the event saying McKenzie and Jordan were ‘pretty much the only two trainees who bothered to thank me after the event, and both later sent texts, again passing on their appreciation’. Jordan, incidentally, won the event with a six-under 66, his best result as a Trainee and his first win. And while that is a tremendous result for Headland, I’m equally as chuffed by the common courtesy displayed by our two Trainees.
EAT OUT IN: Headland caterer and Vista Executive Chef Greg Pollard finally has a big grin on his face again – his takeaway meals service is back in service. And, it is back under a new name, Eat Out In. The service, which kicked off in April last year primarily as a means to keep kitchen staff employed during the Covid lockdown, was a huge success but was forced to close for club renovations the weekend before Christmas. But as the renovations have dragged on Greg and his staff have naturally suffered, hence the establishment of a temporary ‘container’ kitchen adjacent to the clubhouse. And while the club restaurant will still operate under the Vista@Headland name, Eat Out In is the new side of the catering business. To view this week’s menu, members should go to www.eatoutin.com.au and order by Monday (February 15).
RIP PETER: Headland member Peter Bucknell has passed away following a short illness. Peter and his wife Ann joined Headland when they moved from Inverell to retire in Buderim in 2002, and although the couple had moved back to Inverell in recent years, Peter maintained his full playing membership at the club. And despite not being an official member of the Old Goats group (Order of Late Developing Golfers Optimistically Approaching Terminal Senility) he regularly played with them on a Wednesday morning. Peter would have been 81 next month.
WEEKLY WINNERS:
Tuesday, Medley Two-Ball Ambrose (64 players) – Dave Sims and Richard Senior (63.5 nett), Christina Claxton and Bob Trevor (64.25), Rodney Hutchison and Geoff Sawyer (65.5).
Wednesday, Medley Single Stableford, 3-clubs plus putter (105 players) – A Grade, Clint Adams (39 points), Ross Roberts (38), Dave Sims (38); B Grade, Drew Walker (39), Bruno Ciot (38), Rob Ingham (38).
Thursday, Women, Single Stableford, 3-clubs plus putter (62 players) – A Grade, Val O’Brien (37 points), Althea McLean (34), Carmel Visser (33); B Grade, Helen Martyn (42), Trish Arden (38), Kerrie Tibbits (37). Men, Two-Ball Ambrose (44 players) – Peter Keane and Aaron Duff (64 nett), Andrew Beck and Dick Gibberd (66.25), Brett Beaumont and Geoff Sawyer (67.5).
Saturday, Medley Fourball Aggregate Stableford (210 players) – Anthony and Sam Fichera (80 points), Tony Coad and Vicki Maynard (77), Alex Dwyer and Will Millroy (77), Thomas Adcock and Nick Bolton (76), Kirk Hardy and Wyndham Tibbets (75).
Sunday, Medley Single Stableford (30 players) – Gwen Nancarrow (37 points), Bernie Duncan (37), Steve Rose (37).
