{"id":12278,"date":"2026-01-26T01:21:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T01:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/headland.miclub.com.au\/cms\/?p=12278"},"modified":"2026-01-26T02:25:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T02:25:48","slug":"headland-headlines-26-1-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/headland.miclub.com.au\/cms\/2026\/01\/26\/headland-headlines-26-1-26\/","title":{"rendered":"HEADLAND HEADLINES 26-1-26"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Tony Durkin<\/strong><\/p>\n

GOLF PROPHECY<\/strong>: A recent playing partner of Andrew Stirling suggested it would not be long before the National Operations Manager for an energy company won a Headland competition. And his prediction was spot on, with the eight-handicapper shooting one-over 73 to return the best nett score \u2013 by three shots \u2013 in Saturday\u2019s January Wood Duck Challenge. \u201cI\u2019ve been playing average golf for a while, but seemed to be hitting it just a little better of late,\u201d Andrew explained after his round of two birdies, 14 pars, a bogey and a double. \u201cBut there was nothing too bad at all with my ball striking on Saturday.\u201d Andrew\u2019s two \u2018fails\u2019 came on successive holes \u2013 a double at the par three 14th, and bogey at the par-four 15th, after he had started his round on ten. \u201cFrom 15 onwards I was two under, which was really pleasing,\u201d he said. Andrew, who has been at Headland since his wife gifted him membership in 2012 for his 40th birthday, previously shot 69 back in 2023 when he won both the A Grade gross and nett in the September Monthly Medal, on the shortened course. He was one of 19 in the big field of 252 to break his handicap, and collect $77.20 as his share of the spoils from sponsors Greg Edgar (Rapid Equipment Hire) and Nelson and Lachlan Valderrama (Absolute Building Solutions). Wayne West shot one-under 71 to return the best gross score.<\/p>\n

EGGED ON<\/strong>: Encouraged to play golf by her husband Steve after they moved from Sydney, Chrissy Eggins came through the highly-successful SWING program in 2016 before joining Headland. Initially, she was not overly enamoured with the game she now loves, and displayed that new-found enjoyment by returning the best score in Thursday\u2019s Par Plus for Women. \u201cBut I hate the new bunkers,\u201d Chrissy voiced after not finding a single sand trap on her way to scoring plus four, and winning Division Three. For several reasons, Chrissy did not play a lot of golf after initially joining, but started to play more consistently around the time the bunker reconstruction program kicked off. \u201cI found things really difficult, and wasn\u2019t enjoying my golf much,\u201d she admitted. \u201cBut I again love the game, despite my struggles with the bunkers.\u201d Apart from finding no bunkers on Thursday, Chrissy revealed she had \u2018more two putts than three putts\u2019, which also helped. Returning plus four, she penned three double plusses and four plusses on her winning card. Kerry Longworth (plus two) won Division One and Nicola Whitmore (plus 3) won Division Two. Former QCA cricket umpire, Garry Holmes, scored 37 points to win the Men\u2019s Single Stableford on a rare Thursday of low scores.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

LYNDON WINS: <\/strong>When Headland junior Nash Hoger started liking his golf, and playing well, his dad Lyndon saw that as an opportunity to get serious about a sport he had played \u2018probably only three times a year\u2019. And on Wednesday, after just on 18 months as a member, the owner on Kenzee Constructions won his first event. Lyndon scored 41 points to head the C Grade ladder in what was a \u2018crazy kind of round\u2019. He started in brilliant fashion, birdying the par-five tenth for five points, but finished with an \u2018adventurous\u2019 wipe at the ninth. In between he carded one four-pointer, six threes, six twos, two ones and another wipe. \u201cI played okay. My putter was pretty hot, but my drives were off,\u201d confessed the former cricketer, whose wife Karra has also become a keen golfer. \u201cWe live near the course, and I have always liked golf. And when Nash joined before we did, we thought that was a good opportunity to take the plunge and join our local club,\u201d he said. In fact, so enthusiastic have Lyndon and Karra become, they are currently investigating sponsorship opportunities at Headland. For the second successive Wednesday Dave Mayes (also 41 points) won A Grade, and Kate Wilkie, one of only three women in the field of 223, scored 39 points to win B Grade.<\/p>\n

INVISIBLE FORM: <\/strong>Marg Smith reckons that when she is playing well, she doesn\u2019t seem to notice her golfing form. \u201cIt\u2019s when I\u2019m playing poorly that I get frustrated, and allow that to affect my game,\u201d said the former teacher after winning Tuesday\u2019s Single Stableford for Women. A recent golfing drought, where she has not been playing regularly because of \u2018a few aches and pains\u2019, ended with Tuesday\u2019s excellent score of 40 points from her handicap of 19, with six three-point holes and a four-point birdie at the par-three eighth. \u201cApart from a bad start to the second nine, I was happy with the way I played. And, I needed that outing,\u201d she said. Rain during the morning restricted the size of the Women\u2019s field, with Marg a clear-cut victor by four points with her best score \u2018for quite a while\u2019.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

SLEDGED VICTOR: <\/strong>\u2018Yes, I was accused of that\u2019 quipped first-time Headland winner Ian Crombie after victory in Tuesday\u2019s Single Stableford, despite wiping his final three holes. HH suggested Ian may have been protecting his handicap when he wiped holes seven, eight and nine, when sitting on 38 points, the winning score. \u201cThe only thing that surpassed my golf to that stage of the round was the sledging from my playing partners when we finished,\u201d quipped Ian, who has been a member for four years. \u201cI cannot really fathom how the good form transpired, nor why the finish was so dreadful. But it was a big moment in my very brief golfing career.\u201d Ian, who retired to Buderim from Brisbane in 2020, had played scant golf before joining Headland, and he commended Head Pro Adam Norlander for \u2018some valuable input\u2019 into his improved game. But he said his knowledge of golf was not of a sufficient level to comprehend the handicap ramifications of deliberately \u2018running dead\u2019. As a result of his good round, Ian sliced one shot from his GA handicap, which is now 19.9.<\/p>\n

SIMPLY THE BEST<\/strong>: Sparkie Wayne West, who flirted with becoming a PGA member around a decade ago, has returned the lowest round of the week at Headland, winning the third \u2018STB\u2019 award for the year. Playing superbly from his handicap of two, Wayne shot one under 71 in Saturday\u2019s Wood Duck Challenge from the blue tees, for nett 69. The owner of Westway Electrical, Wayne fired four birdies, 11 pars and three bogeys in his round, which won him $77.20 as one of 19 in the field of 252 to beat their handicap. Each week in 2026, HH will name our \u2018Simply the Best\u2019 golfer \u2013 those who return the lowest round \u2013 in recognition of the club\u2019s low-handicap golfers.<\/p>\n

WEEKLY RESULTS:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tuesday,<\/strong> Single Stableford, Women (21 players) \u2013 Marg Smith (40 points), Deb Bennetts (36), Penny Cooper (36).<\/p>\n

Men (72 players) \u2013 Ian Crombie (38), Trevor Simpson (38), John Prosser (37).<\/p>\n

Wednesday, <\/strong>Medley Single Stableford \u2013 sponsor, <\/em><\/strong>Doug Meecham, Meecham Consulting Engineers <\/em><\/strong>– (223 players) \u2013 A Grade, Dave Mayes (41 points), Max Faulkner (40), Sam Fichera (39); B Grade, Kate Wilkie (39), Bernie Duncan (39), Peter Wark (38); C Grade, Lyndon Hoger (41), Ben Kennedy (40), Chris Byrnes (38).<\/p>\n

Thursday,<\/strong> Women, Single Par Plus \u2013 sponsors Leeanne Ptak, Vicky Sheridan, Cathy Roberts and Linda Cannon <\/em><\/strong>– (94 players) \u2013 Division One, Kerry Longworth (plus 2), Huda Olsson (+2), Kathy Atkins (+2); Division Two, Nicola Whitmore (+3), Carol Sinclair (+2), Tracey O\u2019Connor (+2); Division Three, Chrissy Eggins (+4), Barb Marrington (+2), Trish Marsden (square).<\/p>\n

Men, Single Stableford (88 players) \u2013 Garry Holmes (37 points), Glen Grimish (36), Kevin George (36).<\/p>\n

Saturday<\/strong>, Medley Stroke, Wood Duck Challenge – sponsors,<\/em><\/strong> Greg Edgar, Rapid \u00a0Equipment Hire, and Nelson and Lachlan Valderrama, Absolute Building Solutions –<\/em><\/strong> (252 players) \u2013 Andrew Stirling (65 nett), John Craven (68), Darren Walters (68), Warren Sorby (68), Simon Lowing (69), Wayne West (69), Sharon Purnell (70), Aaron Baker (70), Paul Anderson (70), Ross Kelly (70), Adrian Barr (71), Bruce Reid (71), Graham Miller (71), Wes Houk (71), Ian Moore (71), Brian Callaghan (71), Steve Rose (71), Shadeau Brain (71).\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sunday<\/strong>, Medley Single Stableford (56 players) \u2013 Darryl Kong (37 points), Jude Bannister (37), Steve Ridley (36).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Tony Durkin GOLF PROPHECY: A recent playing partner of Andrew Stirling suggested it would not be long before the National Operations Manager for an energy company won a Headland competition. And his prediction was spot on, with the eight-handicapper… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1911,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headland-headlines"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/headland.miclub.com.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/headland.miclub.com.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/headland.miclub.com.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/headland.miclub.com.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1911"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/headland.miclub.com.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12278"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/headland.miclub.com.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12283,"href":"https:\/\/headland.miclub.com.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12278\/revisions\/12283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/headland.miclub.com.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/headland.miclub.com.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/headland.miclub.com.au\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}