By Peter Owen
The Cooroy veterans sure know how to have fun. How else do you explain last week’s astonishing Ambrose competition – an event that has become one of the highlights of the vets’ golfing calendar?
It was the brainchild of greens superintendent Todd McNamee, who three years ago answered the vets’ challenge to set up something really special for their midweek encounter.
The golfers who teed off on that fateful Wednesday found all sorts of unusual obstacles in their way – and it became a special challenge for the vets to get through relatively unscathed.
The annual event became known as the Vets v Greens Staff Challenge – even though the greenkeepers never actually swung a club.
Last week Todd excelled himself.
Players found a toilet seat protecting the cup on the first hole, a ramp on the second green, sprinklers on the third, a tractor in the bunker on the fourth, three new trees in front of the fifth green, aliens dressed in Parramatta jerseys guarding the 15th green and empty drums on the 18th green.
And those were the easy holes!
The obstacles did not seem to cause much difficulty for the winning team – Andrew Dick, Mike Smith, Rick Lenske and Jim Lenske, who returned a commendable score of 56 and three-eighths.
But the real winners, according to Vets secretary Rod Booth, were the greens staff, whose efforts were much appreciated by the players.
“Our Vets are as much about the social side as playing the game,” he said. “But it’s surprising how all these obstacles actually make you think your way around the course.”
This year’s Vets v Greens Staff event marked Todd McNamee’s last day at Cooroy. He’s accepted the role of superintendent at Mt Coolum.
Slow start by Noosa in pennants
Defending champion Noosa, buoyed this year by fielding two teams in A grade pennants competition, started the season slowly on Sunday with both teams tasting defeat.
Noosa’s big guns George Giblett, Toby Harding and Sam Boulden all went down in their clash with Caloundra.
Cooper Clarke and Alex Officer scored good wins, and Tama Stana and Ryan Mulder tied their matches. But Caloundra still scored a narrow 4-3 win in first round competition.
The Noosa 1 team – whose only winners were Grant Baker and Shane Dunning – found the powerful Maroochy River too strong, going down 5-2.
In B grade, Noosa again tasted defeat – losing 5-2 to newcomers Tin Can Bay – and Noosa Springs lost a cliffhanger, going down 4-3 to Nambour.
Cooroy, however, beat Twin Waters 5-2, thanks to wins by Marc Bright, Lee Grainger, Kaleb Hamilton, Pat Carroll and Mitch Davies.
In the Masters division, Cooroy were again successful, beating Twin Waters 5.5-1.5, while Noosa drew 3.5-3.5 with Tin Can Bay, and Noosa Springs narrowly lost 4-3 to Nambour.
Sunday leads her team into final
SUNDAY Moore, with a comfortable 4&3 win over Maroochy River’s Ellandi Findlay, led her in-form all-girl team into the final of the zone junior pennant competition on Sunday.
Sunday and team-mate Jasmine Lena were winners in the semi-final clash with Maroochy River 2 at Peregian. Their Noosa Springs 1 team scored a 2-1 win to earn a place in the final against the powerful Maroochy River 3 team, led by 13-year-old scratch marker Iona Muir.
The Noosa Springs girls have been beaten only once this season – a first-round 3-0 defeat by the same team they will meet in the final, which will be played at Gympie from 7.30am on Sunday.
Two Classics on the drawing board
The Sunshine Coast Winter Golf Classic has been so well received organisers are now considering presenting the annual tournament twice a year.
Aimed at showcasing the Sunshine Coast’s outstanding golf courses, the Classic was first played last October – held over from June because of COVID-19 restrictions. The second was staged this month with a capacity field of 120 players, the vast majority from outside the region.
Organisers were thrilled with the feedback from competitors, and are looking at the possibility of holding two events next year – a Sunshine Coast Winter Classic in mid-winter, and a Spring Classic later in the year.
The 72-hole tournament, played under stableford conditions, is targeted at club golfers and is contested in two divisions for men, and one for women, with daily prizes.
Golfers play at Maroochy River, Peregian, Noosa Springs and Twin Waters over four days. A midweek rest day was scheduled this year to allow players and their partners to take in the sights of the Sunshine Coast.
Mark Brady, the executive general manager of Noosa Springs and one of the event organisers, said if COVID-19 restrictions continued to ease, it was hoped to attract more players from interstate and New Zealand next year.
“We’ve learned a lot from the first two Classics and we’re hopeful this will become a major event, and have a positive impact on our region’s economy,” he said.
Ladies Series soon at Noosa Springs
Time is running out to register for the second round of Noosa Springs’ Ladies Golf Series, where golf is only part of the attraction.
An 18-hole stableford event is played in the morning, but what follows is just as much fun. Noosa Springs serves up a gourmet lunch, complete with a glass of sparkling wine, and offers the chance of being pampered at its renowned day spa.
Those who play in two of the three scheduled Ladies Golf Series will go into a draw to win a half day Spa Escape, plus four rounds of golf at Noosa Springs in an electric cart. The prize will be drawn after the final round on December 7.
The cost is $104 ($39 for Noosa Springs members). Call the Golf Shop on 5440 3325 for more details or to register.
Club competitions
NOOSA
Tuesday, 15 June
Men’s stableford: James Anderson 40, Miles Richardson 39, Richard Rudledge 38c/b, Craig Strudwick 38c/b; B grade – Craig Smith 40, Peter Baynes 39, Shane Dunn 38c/b, Derek Pousette 38c/b; C grade – Richard Henley 37, Joe Franz 35c/b, Andrew Broad 35, Luke Robinson 34c/b.
Wednesday, 16 June
Vets stableford: A grade – Barry Robinson 41, Jaro Cemy 38, David Murray 36c/b; B grade – Roger Waters 41, John Wex 38, Tony Gerrard 37; C grade – Jeff Scougall 38, Jim Crawford 36c/b, Michael Masters 36c/b.
Thursday, 17 June
Women’s stroke: A grade – Allana Moore 72, Gwen Steel 74c/b, Ann Tummon 74; B grade – Maggie Ross 71c/b, Tracy Whitbread 71c/b, Paula Jeffrey 71; C grade – Pauline Sunderland 71, Alice Daw 73, Melissa Cowie 74.
Saturday, 19 June
Men’s stableford: A grade – Tony Lincoln 39, Gary Kruger 36c/b, Shane Dunning 36c/b; B grade – John Purdue 39c/b, David O’Connor 39, Mike Dehnert 37; C grade – John Sharp 38c/b, Keith Moore 38, Robert Hemmings 35c/b; women’s: Lani McDowall 36c/b, Peta Mancktelow 36, Lisa Joseph 34c/b.
NOOSA SPRINGS
Monday, 14 June
Men’s stableford: Alex Wyer 39, Bob MacPherson 38, Simon Hilbert 37; women’s: Gillian Maddern 37c/b, Robyn Roberts 37c/b, Debbie Collinge 37c/b.
Tuesday, 15 June
Men’s stableford: Tony Carabetta 40, Martin Scollon 39, John Mulquiney 36c/b; women’s: Linda Taylor 29c/b, Cherylyn Rakich 29, Karen Davies 28c/b.
Wednesday, 16 June
Neil Sheahan 40, Greg Copeland 38c/b, Damien Nicholson 38; women’s: Lorna Gibson 42, Wendy Hopping 40, Fay Layton 39.
Thursday, 17 June
Men’s stableford: Martin Scollon 36c/b, Glenn Smith 36, Tony Carabetta 34.
Saturday, 18 June
Men’s stableford: Rob Ellis 40c/b, Mike Cawsey 40, Greg Brookes 38c/b; women’s: Gillian Maddern 39c/b, Marie Osborne 39, Janet Young 38c/b.
Sunday, 19 June
Men’s Sunday Series, stableford: Steven Troon 35, Drew McMenamin 34, Robert Poynting 32c/b.
COOROY
Monday, 14 June
Vet’s stableford (host day): A grade – Brian Clemow 41, Peter Piggott 37c/b, Peter Crosby 37; B grade – Ron Ballantyne 42, Joe Daniels 37, Lance Horn 36.
Tuesday, 15 June
Women’s stableford (3 clubs + putter), 9 holes: Susie Thompson 21, Beatrice Bruin 20.
Wednesday, 16 June
Vets 4-man Ambrose: Andrew Dick, Mike Smith, Rick Lenske, Jim Lenske 56.375; Greg Flanagan, Peter Crosby, Geoff Cowan, Ray Lally 57.25; Terry Wilson, Neville Kunst, Hans Herrle, Michael Hill 57.375.
Thursday, 17 June
Women’s 2-person Ambrose: Juliet Hall & Michelle Blundell 61.5, Fay Wiggins & Aileen Morton 64.75.
Saturday, 19 June
Men’s stableford: Div 1 – J. McKee 35, P. Carroll 34; Div 2 – B. LeMoy 36, M. Arundel 35; Div 3 – R. Roemermann 36, J. Timm 35; women’s: J. Kitcher 40, J. Rabjohns 39,
