By Peter Owen
If you looked at Shyla Singh’s scorecard, you could be forgiven for thinking Noosa Springs is a pretty easy course to play. Of course it’s not – but the 15-year-old lefthander from the Gold Coast certainly seems to have its measure.
On Sunday, competing in the Invincibles Tour’s Gold Cup of Cups – the season-ending tournament for the net winners of all the junior tournaments played on the Sunshine Coast during the year – Shyla scorched around in six-under-par 66.
Even after adding her handicap of a daunting plus four, her net score was still five better than any other girl.
She put the extraordinary effort down to good putting.
“I didn’t play particularly well,” the modest protégé said. “But I sank quite a few long putts, and that made all the difference.”
Don’t believe a word she says.
Shyla, the outstanding female golfer on this year’s Invincibles Tour, shot another 66 at Noosa Springs when she won the IGA Sunshine Coast Junior Masters in September.
And a few weeks later she fired a five-under 67 to win the hotly contested Ian Baker-Finch Classic at Twin Waters.
She is a rare talent. And it was no surprise that she won the award for Best Individual Performance of the Year at the Invincibles’ annual presentation dinner on Sunday at Noosa Springs – now her favourite golf course.
Noosa’s Jaxon Smith and Noosa Springs’ Coco Moore won awards for being the most improved players during the year, while Noosa Springs’ Maddison Kelly won the award for Best Individual Performance in Division 2.
Noosa Springs’ executive general manager Mark Brady again accepted the trophy presented to the club that had best promoted, developed and nurtured junior golf throughout the year.
Noosa pair in the mix in Tasmania
Noosa’s Cooper Clarke and George Giblett narrowly missed out on qualifying for the matchplay rounds of the Tasmanian Amateur Championships last week.
Only the top eight men and women made their way through to the matchplay final after the strokeplay component of the tournament was decided at the Mowbray Golf Club on Saturday.
Giblett, with rounds of 74 and 73 finished tied 10th, while Clarke was 18th after shooting rounds of 73 and 76.
Pelican Waters’ Blaike Perkins, with rounds of 68 and 70, won the men’s strokeplay title, while Tasmania’s Hally Meaburn, a granddaughter of former star Lindy Goggin, was the women’s strokeplay champion.
Get in early for Winter Classic
Noosa Springs will host the final round of next year’s Sunshine Coast Winter Classic, where winners of the Coast’s biggest tournament will be announced at a presentation lunch at the resort.
The tournament, now in its third year, has become popular with golfers from throughout Queensland.
And, with border restrictions likely to continue to ease and allow more interstate and New Zealand golfers to compete, organisers are expecting spots for next year’s event to fill quickly.
The 72-hole single stableford event, played in divisions for men and women, is played across four of the region’s finest courses, and was established to showcase our best courses at a time that would appeal to southern visitors.
Next year’s Classic will be played from Monday 13 June to Friday 17 June, with a rest day on Wednesday 15 June.
Play will be at Maroochy River (Monday), Peregian (Tuesday), Twin Waters (Thursday) and Noosa Springs (Friday). Prizes will be awarded for each day’s play, and to the overall winners in each grade.
Entry is $695, which includes the use of a motorised cart at all courses, daily lunches, registration, a tee gift package and a welcome function at Peregian.
Enter by downloading a form from the tournament’s website, golfsunshinecoast.com.au. Bookings can be made from Wednesday 1 December.
Cooroy marvel leads Coast to district title
Cooroy’s Grathan Leatherbarrow continued a remarkable year of golf when he led the Sunshine Coast to a thrilling win over South Burnett and Glasshouse Mountains in the Masters interzone challenge.
Perhaps it was because he was so familiar with the Cooroy course where Tuesday’s final was played that Leatherbarrow was able to return the best score – 36 points from his five handicap – of the 20 golfers who represented the Sunshine Coast zone.
The challenge was determined by the aggregate total score of the best 15 players in each zone.
After a testing day of golf, the Sunshine Coast team tallied 472 points – 24 more than the Glasshouse Mountains men, and 39 better than the visitors from South Burnett.
Leatherbarrow is enjoying a spectacular year on the golf course, having earlier won the Cooroy club championship, the matchplay championship and the Veterans club championship.
Herbert completes breakout year
Lucas Herbert played four solid rounds of golf – 72, 69, 70, 69 – to tie for 21st and collect nearly $100,000 in the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on Sunday, then prepared to fly home to Australia for the first time since early this year.
The rising star, coached by Peregian’s Dom Azzopardi, will take a few weeks off, play in a tournament in Victoria before Christmas, then head to Hawaii for the Sentry Tournament of Champions in early January.
He has earned spots in the three US majors, then will return to Europe to defend his Irish Open title and hopefully line up in the British Open at St Andrews.
Club competitions
NOOSA
Monday 15 November
Women’s stableford: Michelle Linklater 37c/b.
Tuesday 16 November
Men’s stableford: A grade – James Cervi 39c/b, Bruce Blakemore 39c/b, James Anderson 39, Coman Reynolds 38; B grade – James McKean 39, Tony Cawley 38c/b, Ray Bostelman 38c/b, Michael Norman 38; C grade: Clint Fuller 40, John Morton 39, Mark Levy 38c/b, Rod McCall 38.
Wednesday 17 November
Vets stableford: A grade – Alan Hollows 41, Stephen McCaul 39, Gav Hunt 38; B grade – Mal Thoms 40, Dennis Grigg 37c/b, Danny Woodward 37; C grade: Frank Thorne 41, Tony Faull 39c/b, Peter Gordon 39.
Thursday 18 November
Women’s A grade – Rungratree Cox 38, Connie Gordon 36, Sharon Vickers 34c/b; B grade – Kathleen Anschau 39, Karen Turnbull 38c/b, Jeannie Dodds 38; C grade – Trish Eldridge 39c/b, Melanie Venning 39c/b, Sandra Kiely 39.
Saturday 20 October
Men’s 4BBB stroke: Jim Harpley & Greg Smith 60, David Tilley & Brian Priebe 63c/b, Mark Trevanion & Tim McKieman 63c/b; women’s: Noreen Flood & Noreen Scanlon 68, Janis Rimkus & Peta Mancktelow 69c/b.
NOOSA SPRINGS
Monday 15 November
Men’s stroke: Peter Cordukes 66, Timothy Smith 69, Bob Layton 69; women’s: Jen Carr 69, Rowena Faerch 71c/b, Jan Fancsali 71c/b.
Tuesday 16 November
Men’s stableford: Robert Edwards 41, Josh Constable 38, Martin Scollon 34c/b; women’s: Gabriella Latham-Callcott 39, Maddison Kelly 36, Leonie Shanahan 28.
Thursday 18 November
Men’s stableford: Roy Cummins 35, Josh Constable 34c/b, Anthony McMinn 34.
Saturday 20 November
Men’s stableford: Ross Gillies 42, Peter Schouten 41, Graham Young 40; women’s: Susan Walker 38, Jan Fancsali 37c/b, Fran McLaughlin 37c/b.
Sunday 21 November
Men’s Sunday Series, stableford: Michael Turner 41, Thomas Mardling 35c/b, Bruce McCleary 35; women’s: Sandi Hoskins 38, Beryl Rowan 32, Judy Buss 30.
COOROY
Monday 15 November
Vets stableford: A grade – Andy Stewart 37, Dave Reid 35, Bruce Heseltine 34; B grade – Rudy Agerbeek 36c/b, David Attrill 36, Andrew Dick 35; C grade – Tony Atkins 33c/b, Andrew Aves 33c/b, Mike Smith 33.
Tuesday 16 November
Women’s stroke, 9 holes: Kathy Butler 36, Elaine Henman 37c/b.
Wednesday 17 November
Vets stroke: A grade – Terry Lyons 64, Richard Gibson 66, Peter Piggott 68; B grade – Jack Ruig 66, Trevor Kenneally 67c/b, Tom Williams 67c/b; C grade – Rick Lenske 62, Ian Mulhall 64, Tony Kershaw 68.
Thursday 18 November
Women’s 4BBB Irish stableford: J. Tucker, T. Thomas, M. Lucas & J. Hall 102, J. Kitcher, S. Zulpo, L. Dawson & S. Piggott 99.
