By Peter Owen
When Josh Constable followed the World Surf League tour around the world he took with him three bags – one for his clothes, one for his board, and one for his golf clubs.
When he wasn’t competing against the world’s best surfers, he would head to the nearest golf course, honing a swing that would eventually lead to the Noosa star owning a four handicap.
“I’ve been playing golf for 15 years,” said the former world longboard surfing champion. “It’s addictive. I just love it.”
Now 40, Josh has never lost his competitive streak – in golf as much as surfing – and is looking forward to rejoining the World Surf League as soon as travel restrictions allow.
“The tour closed down in 2020 because of Covid,” he said. “It opened this year but only in the US, which was difficult for us to get to.
“But I’m looking forward to touring again as soon as it’s possible. I was ranked in the top 10 for the past three or four years and reckon I’ve still got another title left in me.”
During a stellar career which began when he was just 15, Josh collected 51 titles, including an ASP world longboard championship, six Australian longboard titles and four Noosa Festival of Surf victories.
He now operates his own company Creative Army Surfboards, where he designs, shapes, tests and builds custom boards.
And he plays golf whenever he can.
“At the beginning of Covid, I had a handicap of seven,” he said. “Knowing I’d have more time on my hands, I set a goal of getting it down to five.”
He’s done even better. After winning the Tuesday competition at Noosa Springs last week with 35 points, followed up by 41 points in the Wednesday comp, Josh’s handicap has been cut to four.
He’s achieved that level with the same dedicated training regime that made him such a successful surfer.
He practices constantly, sometimes spending hours on the chipping green, perfecting his short game.
“I love practicing; love hitting balls,” he said. “Golf’s a little bit like surfing in that it’s just you, and any success you have is determined entirely by yourself and what you do.”
Josh learned the game from former Peregian pro Wayne Rostron, before transferring to Noosa Springs, for which he is an ambassador.
He says he loves the mental side of the game, focusing and grinding out a good round, even when he may not be hitting the ball as well as he likes.
He plays at Noosa Springs most Tuesdays and Thursdays, and he’s encouraged wife Anna and sons Jet, 15, and Jive, 12, to take up the game. He says they’re all hooked.
Course record for Marc
Marc Bright matched the course record when he shot 67 in Saturday’s monthly medal at Cooroy.
Despite his memorable three-under-par round, Marc, a former professional, won only a voucher in the rundown, the A grade prize going to club captain Mitch Davies, with a net 65.
These days, Marc’s passion is encouraging disabled golfers to enjoy the game through the All Abilities classes he runs at Cooroy on Mondays. He says playing golf improves their confidence, gives them purpose and allows them to have fun.
Amy too strong in Noosa junior event
Amy Hodgkins, the long-hitting former Redcliffe golfer who is now a member of Royal Queensland, played brilliantly on Sunday to score a three-under-par 70 to win the Noosa Junior Classic – the last Invincibles Tour event of the year.
She set an Invincibles’ course record, three shots better than the score set by Rhianna Lewis in 2016, to beat Maroochy River’s Ionna Muir by four strokes.
Another visitor, Virginia’s Jedd Brady, shot 71 to win the boys’ section of the event, one stroke clear of Headland’s Ben Duncombe and Jack Armstrong of Royal Queensland.
So close for George
Noosa star George Giblett shot rounds of 69 and 74 to finish a close third in the Burleigh Cup, one of the state’s elite amateur events, on the Gold Coast last week.
Giblett’s total of 143, with both rounds played on the same day, was three strokes shy of Royal Pines’ Conor Whitelock, who won with rounds of 68 and 72.
Herbert back for December tournament
Lucas Herbert, who won his first tournament on the US PGA Tour a fortnight ago, plans to return to Australia in December to compete in the Sandbelt Invitational, a new event that will be held at four world-class golf courses.
Herbert, a former Victorian who is coached by Peregian’s Dom Azzopardi, will take part in the event, a creation of former touring pros Geoff Ogilvy and Mike Clayton, from December 20 to 23 at Royal Melbourne, Kingston Heath, Yarra Yarra and Peninsula Kingwood.
It will include male and female professionals and amateurs.
Herbert will be forced to miss the Australian PGA at Royal Queensland in mid-January as his win in the Bermuda tournament qualified him to play in the lucrative Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii that same week.
Ladies’ day at Noosa Springs
Ladies take centre stage at Noosa Springs on Tuesday, December 7 – the last in a series of three events for women to showcase their skills. As usual, the 18-hole stableford competition will be followed by a gourmet champagne lunch and presentations.
The cost, including lunch, is $104 ($39 for members; $94 for Links Hope Island members, social and reciprocal). Ladies who play in two of the three events will be in the running for a half-day spa escape plus four rounds of golf at Noosa Springs. The prize will be drawn after the round on December 7.
Club competitions
NOOSA
Monday 1 November
Women’s stableford: A grade – Jillian Yeatman 45, Noreen Scanlon 37c/b; B grade – Pamela Burton 43, Jean Beasley 36c/b; women’s, 9 hole: Margaret Smith 19c/b.
Wednesday 3 November
Vets stableford: A grade – Colin Myers 43, David Whiticker 39c/b, Jaro Cemy 39c/b; B grade – Steve Little 43, Rodney Gillard 40, Keith Munday 38c/b; C grade – Kevin Shaw 40, David Abey 39, Ron Smith 38c/b.
Thursday 4 November
Women’s stroke: A grade – Rungratree Cox 73c/b, Heather Alsop 73, Mandy Webb 76c/b; B grade – Cindy Lawson 71, Jeannie Dodds 72, Paula Jeffrey 73; C grade – Adrienne Wild 72c/b, Donna Coey 72, Irene Kerr 73.
Saturday 7 November
Men’s stroke: A grade – William Fogg 69, Craig Lena 70c/b, Jason Finn 70c/b; B grade – Peter Baynes 66, Alan Meredith 67c/b, Mike Dehnert 67; C grade – Michael Davenport 63, John Johnson 66c/b, Andrew Broad 66c/b; women’s: Megan Braid 69, Christine Baker 71, Judy Meager 73c/b.
NOOSA SPRINGS
Tuesday 2 November
Men’s stableford: Josh Constable 35, Luke Cummings 34c/b, Philip Walshe 34; women’s: Beryl Rowan 35, Leisha McMenamin 32.
Wednesday 3 November
Men’s stableford: Alistair Rooney 42c/b, Greg Copeland 42, Peter Butt 41c/b; women’s: Lynne Williams 37, Fay Layton 36c/b, Barbara Sweeney 36c/b.
Thursday 4 November
Men’s stableford: Martin Scollon 36c/b, Matthew Bartolozzi 36, Alex Hackett 35c/b.
Saturday 6 November
Men’s stableford: Noel Telfer 43, Hartmut Schlichting 41, Tony Carabetta 40; women’s: Margot McKellar 41, Leisha McMenamin 39c/b, Coco Moore 39c/b.
Sunday, 7 November
Men’s Sunday Series, stableford: John Barker 42, Ken Healy 38, Mark Waller 37c/b; women’s: Noy Fanning 29, Sandi Hoskins 28, Srithongsuk Raphiporn 25c/b.
COOROY
Wednesday 3 November
Vets stableford: A grade – Studley Martin 42, Peter Piggott 41 Grathan Leatherbarrow 38; B grade – Graham Laing 41, Ian Lumsden 39, Tony Foster 36; C grade – Wayne McKinnon 41, Mike Smith 40, Matt Saunders 36c/b.
Thursday 4 November
Women’s stroke: Div 1 – Eve Hunt 68; Div 2 – Fiona Buchanan 64, Div 3 – Wendy Morese 73.
Saturday 6 November
Men’s stroke: A grade – M. Davies 65, P. Jeucken 66c/b; B grade – P. Buchbach 66, I. Lumsden 68; C grade – L. Horn 66, S. Paice 68; women’s: Div 1 – Sarah Brogden 68c/b; Div 2 – Lynne Dawson 69.
