From Tony Durkin
BACK-TO-BACK: Close mates for the past 27 years, Nick Reed and Will Millroy have once again combined superbly to win Headland’s Medley Two-Ball Ambrose Jug, sponsored by Hometree Property and Finance (Graeme and Jack Nicholas) and Grant Martyn Constructions (Grant Martyn), for the second successive year. With a handicap of 5.5, Nick (17) and Will (5) had six birdies and 12 pars on their unscarred card, giving them a winning score of 60.5 nett, slightly more than their imposing 57.75 nett 12 months earlier. Nick, who was Men’s C Grade Matchplay Champion last year and whose golf in 2022 has been ‘very average’, heaped praise on partner Will who he said held the team together. But Nick obviously played his part, with his second shot at the par-four sixth winning the Pro Pin, adding $79 to the combined prizemoney of $200 from the generous sponsors. NOTE: Nick and Will started pre-school together at Immanuel Lutheran College, went right through to Grade 12, graduated with twin Engineering degrees five years ago, and neither starred playing golf seriously until they both joined Headland in December of 2017.
POWER COUPLE: Headland’s new power couple, Tilly Poulsen and Scott Walker, may have been pipped at the post for Saturday’s Medley Two-Ball Ambrose Jug, but they still enjoyed a major day out. With a combined handicap of 1.25, Tilly (4) and Scott (1) scored 60.75 nett for second place in the big field of 128 pairs, but easily won the gross with a 10-under par score of 62, and no bogies on their card. And, as well as being a successful day, their brilliant play was also financially rewarding. Between the couple they collected a $429 – $80 each for second, $80 each for best gross, $79 for Tilly snaring the Women’s Pro Pin at the 11th and $30 for Scott’s longest drive at 12. Two weeks earlier Tilly, Headland’s Golf Manager and Scott, Club Champion in 2020, teamed to win the 2022 Sunshine Coast Burnett Glasshouse District Mixed Foursomes Championship, played at Mount Coolum, with nett 113.25 for the 27-hole event.
NEW TARGET: When Sue Bolton joined Headland in December last year following her graduation from the SWING program, her goal was to reduce her starting handicap of 33, to 30, by this Christmas. But after winning Thursday’s B Grade Single Stableford with 42 points, that goal is now 25. “Believe it or not, I left a few points out there,” revealed Sue, who roared home with 22 points despite a wipe at the par-five tenth hole, and her new AGU is 26. A former tennis player, Sue – the mum of Headland’s 2022 B Grade Champion Nick Bolton – still laughs recalling the time a years ago when she attended a golf range with her husband and, literally, could not hit the ball. “Now, after coming out of SWING, I’m loving golf,” she said after playing three successive days last week. Sue had five pars in her round on Thursday, including one at the tough 15th with garnered her four points. Marg Smith (38 points) won A Grade.
THREE-PUTT PAIN: Ben Brown needed a par three at the 18th hole on Sunday to break 80 for the very first time, but three putted and had to settle for just his best-ever score. “I hit a poor first putt,” confessed the St Terera’s Noosaville teacher who joined Headland three years ago as his first club. But his 80, playing off 12, gave him 40 points and a win in Sunday’s Medley Single Stableford. Considering the windy conditions, Ben was more than satisfied with his round, in particular his birdie at the par-four sixth hole when he found the trees on the left, played a low five-iron to just off the green and sank a seven-metre putt. Apart from a double bogey at the par-four fourth hole, Ben’s birdie was penned beside nine pars and seen bogeys on his ‘steady’ card.
HANDI MONEY: Three members have shared in the biggest prize pool ever offered in a club event for women at Headland, with Colleen Sarquis and Jill Nixey each scooping $420 from the Handiskins pool. The final was played last Thursday and 33-handicapper Colleen won skins on five of the 18 holes, with her two biggest collects $130 and $140, respectively, for pars at the eighth and 13th holes. But it was Jill (handicap 22) who collected the biggest skin of the day, amassing $280 for her par at the 18th, plus another $50 for NTP. Amazingly, Jill won just two holes – the fourth as well as the 18th – for her monster pay day, while the unlucky Julie Halliday (13) – the lowest handicapper in the group – won three skins for her $160. The fourth player, the popular Gwen Nancarrow (17), failed to collect a skin.
SLUMP OVER: Former Mooloolaba yacht broker Nick Cox hopes that his first win in 18 months – B Grade in Wednesday’s Single Par event – means better golfing days lie ahead. “I have been on the crest of a slump for the past six months,” joshed Nick, whose lowest-ever handicap of 11.6 had slipped out to 14 before Wednesday’s round. And the reason for the win – ‘the putts went in’. Nick started on the back nine and after wiping the 11th and 13th holes, turned at plus one but came home in two-over 38, with seven pars and two bogeys for his winning score of plus six. A three-decade Headland member, Nick moved from Sydney in 1989 for a better lifestyle and joined fellow member Col Thomas in a yacht-broking business. Joel Cooney (+3) won A Grade and Phil Martin (+4) won C Grade.
STOKED JENNY: Starting on the back nine in Tuesday’s Single Stableford, Jenny Stokes was reasonably happy after scoring 17 points after her first nine. But the former Australian Masters Hockey player was absolutely stoked at the end of 18 holes, having accumulated 44 points with a staggering 27 on the front nine, including two four-pointers and six threes. “It was great fun,” quipped Jenny, who came through the 2019 SWING program after giving hockey away and thinking she would ‘give golf a go’. “But I found the game very difficult. There was still too much muscle memory from years of hockey,” she said. And while Tuesday’s round was her best since joining the club, Jenny is not getting carried away despite slicing her handicap from 36 to a new low of 27.4. Her ultimate goal is to drop to below 20.
BOB’s 16TH: Bob Trevor is at it again. No sooner had 81-year-old Ken Anderson beaten his age three weeks ago to take his tally of shooting or beating his age to 17, chaser Bob Trevor has edged a smidgin closer. The retired telephone technician took his tally to 16 on Tuesday when the 77-year-old shot three-over 75 for 39 points and a third placing in the Single Stableford event. Bob last beat his age just a month ago with a three-over 76, his seventh similar achievement this year. His round on Tuesday featured a birdie at 11, 13 pars and four bogeys, and he credits his recent run of consistent scores to short-game practise at least twice a week. Bob’s current AGU handicap is 7.1, a remarkable effort considering his lowest handicap has been 2.8 when the septuagenarian was in his mid-40s. Ken, who is 81, scored 80 from his 11 handicap in his most recent age break. Paul Andrews, with 40 points, won Tuesday’s event.
PAM THE ACE: She turns 81 on Christmas Day, but Pam Vincent is still mixing it with the ‘youngies’ at Headland as evidence by her victory in Monday’s Vets’ event. And while she was delighted with her winning A Grade score of 42 Stableford points, she was keen to remind HH of her hole-in-one at the par-three 14th on September 19. The former Buderim Mountain State School teacher, who once taught budding Headland golf professionals David Grenfell, Richard Moir, Andrew Bonhomme and Marcus Cain, returned to golf in 2019 following an 18-month absence and had some startling results from an initial ‘generous’ handicap in the mid-40s. But over time that handicap has been reduced to her new AGU mark of 26.8 following an explosive Monday front nine of 24 points, with six three-pointers and three two-pointers on her card. And although the wheels fell off somewhat on the back nine, the octogenarian finished in a blaze of glory with a four-point birdie at the 18th. Wendy Burnie (40 points) won B Grade. NOTE: Pam’s recent ace is her fourth hole-in-one, and the first in a Headland Vets’ event for 2022.
FLAMINGOS WIN: Graeme Warne and Brad Reddan were not just standouts in their bright flamingo shirts at Headland on Sunday – they combined to beat the highly-fancied pair of Josie Ryan and Kate Wilkie to win through to the semi-final of the Medley Fourball Best Ball Stableford Match Play Championship, sponsored by Michael Thomas of ZenFind Accounting. Kate took the match to the 18th after sinking a monster putt at the par-four 17th, but when Josie missed her birdie putt at the final hole the Flamingos retained their lead with a par, and were victorious, 1-up. With handicaps vital in the event, the higher markers won all four quarter finals. Andrew Hempsall and Roly Hoy (combined handicap of 51) beat Scott Bromfield and Mick Morris (23) 1-up, Clive Glover and Mark Johnson (49) beat Mike McQuarrie and Denis Orr (25) 5&4, John Marrington and Sergio Nogarotto (58) beat Simon Richardson and Peter O’Brien (18) 2&1, while Graeme Warne and Brad Reddan had a combined handicap of 26 against Josie Ryan and Kate Wilkie’s 23. The semi-finals of the event will be played on Sunday.
PAUL IS BACK: A Headland member since 1991, Paul O’Connor was understandably deflated when he returned from a 12½-year absence from the Sunshine Coast – and golf – to learn that his handicap when he left was still active. “I reckon I played half a dozen 18 holes of golf in the time I was away, so I virtually had to learn the game again,” said Paul, who moved back ‘home’ with his wife Pam in 2019. In the interim his handicap has drifted out to 21, from which he played on Thursday when he won the Men’s Single Stableford, with 40 points. But even in those three years back at Headland his luck has hardly changed – he has had two major surgeries and a hip replacement this year, limiting him to just six competition rounds. “But I am in better shape, and – fingers crossed – so is my game,” he predicted. On Thursday his back nine of 43 revealed four three-point holes and five two-pointers, for an impressive 22 points.
DRINKS AGAIN: Like many ‘average’ golfers who enjoy the game, but rarely win, Richard Ryan’s reaction to Monday’s victory was ‘it’s been a long time between drinks’. Although he conceded the greens were not yet ‘pure’ after their recent renovation, Richard said putting had saved him on a number of holes as he scored 41 points to win the Men’s Vets’ Single Stableford in A Grade. “My birdie on six, for instance, was the result of dropping a six-metre putt,” he revealed. “It was one of those days were most things just fell into place.” A Headland member for a decade who lives at the back of the second tee, Richard plays regularly with the Vets and on Wednesday and Thursday, but admits that at 78 years of age, the game seems to becoming more difficult and good scores are few and far between. Bob Keogh (38 points) won B Grade
RIP LYNN NICHOLSON: Long-time Headland member Lynn Nicholson has been cremated at a private ceremony following her recent passing. Lynn was the mother of former Headland Champion Justin, and mother-in-law of popular staff member Jenene, and had stoically fought a lengthy battle with cancer. A Headland member for almost 35 years, until her illness Lynn was a regular in the Women’s Thursday competitions and also enjoyed many a social round with friends.
Monday, Vets’ Single Stableford – second round of Tony Coad Perpetual Trophy, sponsor Living Choice – Women (36 players) – A Grade, Pam Vincent (42 points), Jan Langdon (39), Marg Smith (38); B Grade, Wendy Burnie (40), Donna Rose (38), Jill McAndrew (35). Men (62 players) – A Grade, Richard Ryan (41), Ross Itzstien (41), Wayne Nixey (40); B Grade, Bob Keogh (39), Bob Snowball (39), Paul Stephens (38).
Tuesday, Single Stableford, Women (57players) – Jenny Stokes (44), Pik Chong (43 points), Tove Larsen (42). Men (54 players) – Paul Andrews (40), Malcolm Woods (40), Bob Trevor (39).
Wednesday, Medley Single Par – sponsor, Brendan Southey and Bevan Horsnell, Prime Property – (199 players) – A Grade, Joe Cooney (+3), Barry Newton (+3), Ian Moore (+3); B Grade, Nick Cox (+6), Peter O’Brien (+5), Paul Anderson (+4); C Grade, Phil Martin (+4), Roger Van Ginkel (+4), John Wettenhall (+3).
Thursday, Single Stableford, Women – sponsors Ann Dykstra, Margot Easton, Barb Marrington and Rhonda Biggs – (73 players) – A Grade, Marg Smith (38 points), Louise Harriott (37), Gail Young (37); B Grade, Sue Bolton (42), Denise Hutchinson (41), Carolyn Schwarz (38).
Men, (81 players) – Paul O’Connor (40), Richard Franklin (40), Geoff Sawyer (38).
Saturday, Ambrose, Two-Ball Jug – sponsor Graeme and Jack Nicholas of Hometree Property and Finance and Grant Martyn Constructions Pty Ltd (256 players) – Nick Reed and Will Millroy (60.5 nett), Tilly Poulsen and Scott Walker (60.75), John Bohrigner and Brian Callaghan (61.25), Mark Swift and Chris Pace (61.25), Adam Richards and Simon Mitchell (62), Chris Schultz and Daniel Brooks (62.25).
Sunday, Medley Single Stableford (45 players) – Ben Brown (40 points), Maureen Cartledge (38), Susie Fenton (38).
Medley Fourball Best Ball Stableford Match Play Championship, quarter finals – sponsored by Michael Thomas, ZenFind Accounting – Andrew Hempsall and Roly Hoy beat Scott Bromfield and Mick Morris (1-up), Clive Glover and Mark Johnson beat Mike McQuarrie and Denis Orr (5&4), Graeme Warne and Brad Reddan beat Josie Ryan and Kate Wilkie (1-up), John Marring and Sergio Nogarotto beat Simon Richardson and Peter O’Brien (2&1).
