From Tony Durkin
MATES WIN: They had never met until Geoff Bland joined Headland four years ago, but Dan Diachkoff now has a Fourball Match Play Championship title thanks to a friendship and a regular Saturday golfing partnership which has since ensued. Geoff and Dan beat rookies James Reinke and Dylan Fennell 2&1 in Sunday’s final in what was a fluctuating event played over 18 holes in extremely windy conditions. All four hit poor drives from the first tee and long markers James (30) and Dylan (26) were able to scrounge a win, but their early lead was lost when Dan birdied the par-five second. The victors then took control and were never headed, leading three-up after 11 only to see that margin cut to one after the par-five 13th. But Geoff (16) and Dan (5) took a two-hole lead at 16, then squared the 17th to be crowned Headland’s fourth Fourball Match Play Champions. Event sponsor, Michael Thomas of ZenFind Accounting, has confirmed he will again sponsor the event- for the fourth time – in 2022.
MACCA’S BEST: Trainee Professional McKenzie Wright, who will complete his traineeship at the end of the year, shot his equal best round at Headland on Sunday with a three-under par 69. And while his 39 points was not good enough to win the Medley Single Stableford event, it was a confidence booster for the popular Pro Shop attendant and coach. McKenzie had four birdies on his card – at holes two, three, eleven and thirteen – 13 pars and a bogey at the fourth, to match his previous round of 69, back in August last year. His best-ever score, a five-under 67, was at his home course of Yamba when he was 18. Ty Pilcher had nine pars in his score of 41 points, to win Sunday’s event.
DOCTOR ACE: Christine Parkinson says she will ‘die a happy woman’ following her hole-in-one at the 14th on Thursday. And not only did the Buderim GP score her first ace, her 39 points won the Women’s A Grade Single Stableford event and in doing so she reduced her handicap to an all-time low of 17.8. A SWING graduate from 2014, Christine has had a somewhat tempestuous golf career since, mixing surgery on both feet, plus a bad back, with two Monthly Medals, a handicap reduction to 25 in her first year and Pennant team captaincy for Headland. But despite that comparative success, Chris never believed a hole-in-one was on the horizon. “I usually play par threes poorly, and think I have won just two NTPs in my seven years as a member,” she lamented. Chris hit a seven-iron just short of the 14th green on Thursday, saw it roll on but because of the lower-level tee block, did not believe it had dropped in the hole. Kym Mason (38) won B Grade and Jenny Stokes (36) won C Grade.
COURSE WINS: After scoring his first win on Wednesday since snaring a Monthly Mug back in 2016, Course Director Gavin Rooney heaped praise of Couse Superintendent Ben Tilley and his staff. “I am Ben’s biggest fan,” said A Grade Single Par winner Gavin, who described the Headland course as ‘in outstanding condition so soon after renovations’. Gavin shot 79 from his 13 handicap for a score of plus six, with no minus holes on his card of nine pars, eight bogeys and a birdie at 14. The proprietor of Rooney’s Electrical, Gavin has been a Headland board member for five years, the past three as Course Director. “Ben and his staff are talented, enthusiastic and work very hard – and it shows,” he praised. Michael Rutledge (+4) won B Grade and Trevor Beall (+6) won C Grade.
BACON ROLL: She wasn’t sure if it was the egg and bacon roll at the Halfway House on Saturday or the fact that her husband had left the course injured a few holes earlier, but Josie Ryan’s back nine on Saturday was her best ‘in ages’. The 19-time Club Champion won Saturday’s Single Stableford for women with 37 points – her 21 points on the back nine the result of eight pars and a bogey at 16 after she missed a short downhill slider. But her front nine wasn’t Josie’s best – seven bogeys and two pars for just 16 points. The outstanding golfer, who has won Club Championships at Headland over four decades, is currently suffering health issues and is having difficulty completing 18 holes. But while she conquered her fatigue on Saturday, husband Ron McMahon had to be assisted from the course after injuring his back while playing the seventh hole – a day after celebrating his 72nd birthday.
SECOND AGAIN: Sean Hanna played his best round at Headland on Saturday in his 19 years as a member – a one-over 73 – yet finished A Grade runner-up for the second successive week. The owner of Image Business Furniture, a Headland sponsor and supplier, Sean has played golf on three consecutive Saturdays for the first time in at least two years and credits the ‘enjoyment of being back out on the course’ as the reason for his purple patch of form. But the round did not start as spectacularly as it finished. Sean bogeyed the first, parred the second and double bogeyed the third, then shot two under for the next 15 holes, with birdies at six and eight. And, the score could have been much better as he hit eight of nine greens on the back nine and failed to drop a birdie putt. Sean shot his best-ever round at Maroochy River in March, when his three-under 69 gave him 47 points and a runaway win in the A Grade Stableford event. Headland Patron Simon Whittle had 42 points for the second time in three weeks to win A Grade on Saturday, Lachie Keenan (41) won B Grade and Gary Martin (40) was best in C Grade.
SCOTCH MIST: Scotsman Stewart Douglas won Thursday’s Single Stableford for men with 42 points, his first victory since he joined Headland in January, and described the conditions as perfect. “It rained from the first green to the final hole – it was lovely,” he quipped. Once a 12 handicapper at East Renfrewshire in Glasgow, Stewart played golf with a social club in Sydney for a dozen years before moving to the Sunshine Coast in 2019, and deciding to once again get serious about his golf. But his venture began badly, suffering a bout of the shanks – a problem Head Pro Adam Norlander has obviously repaired if his consistent round of six three-point holes and a dozen two pointers is a yardstick. Adam also convinced the former railway project manager to abandon his 12-year-old driver and replace the graphite shafts in his 20-year-old irons with steel, and the change has worked a treat.
WET TRACKERS: Twenty-eight hardy souls – 14 women and 14 men – braved the rain on Tuesday to finish the Single Stableford event, with ‘garden guru’ Dean Smareglia the leading light with 41 points. Playing off 6.5, Dean shot two-over 74 which he thinks may be his best score at Headland. He had 37 on both nines – two bogeys and a birdie on the front and two a bogey at 15 to go with his 14 pars. He streeted men’s field by five shots and the women by four, with Lynn Deacon scoring 37 points.
WHOOPS: Men’s Director of Golf, Peter O’Brien, finished Saturday’s Single Stableford in a three-way tie on 42 points, but finished third on a countback. But his round was memorable for much more than his score of six better than his handicap. Peter, in his first term as Men’s Captain, started his round brilliantly with birdies – and 12 points – at the first three holes. He then wiped holes four and five, birdied the sixth – and collected the Pro Pin – then finished with three pars for an outstanding front nine of 24 points. His roller-coaster round continued on the back with six pars, two bogeys and two doubles on his card.
WEEKLY RESULTS:
Tuesday, Single Stableford, Women (14 players) – Lynn Deacon (37 points), Jenny Stokes (35). Men (14 players) – Dean Smareglia (41), Malcolm Woods (36).
Wednesday, Medley Single Par (215 players) – A Grade, Gavin Rooney (plus 6), Graham Newlove (+5), Rob Cunningham (+3); B Grade, Michael Rutledge (+4), Denis Clifford (+1), Graham Meyers (+1); C Grade, Trevor Beall (+6), John Bourke (+4), Neil Dougherty (+4).
Thursday, Single Stableford Women – sponsors Mandy Oster, Jenny Ingham, Julie Halliday, Emilia White and Kath Barford– (87 players) – A Grade, Chris Parkinson (39 points), Jodie McDonald (38), Yvonne Richter (37): B Grade, Kym Mason (38), Carmel Visser (37), Doreen Davidson (36); C Grade, Jenny Stokes (36), Gillian Thomas (36), Shirley Eggleton (36). Men, (57 players) – Stewart Douglas (42), Dane Partridge (37), Garry Small (36).
Saturday, Single Stableford, Women (34 players) – Josie Ryan (37 points), Patrice Jenkins (37), Di Stark (36). Men (210 players) – A Grade, Simon Whittle (42), Sean Hanna (42), Peter O’Brien (42); B Grade, Lachie Keenan (41), Doc Fleming (41), Tom Adcock (39); C Grade, Gary Martin (40), Michael Fortune (38), Stu Ennever (38).
Sunday, Medley Single Stableford (60 players) – Ty Pilcher (41 points), McKenzie Wright (39), Wil Sprake (39). Fourball Best Ball Matchplay Championship final – sponsor ZenFind Accounting – Michael Thomas – Geoff Bland and Dan Diachkoff beat James Reinke and Dylan Fennell (2&1).
