By Peter Owen
IT’S becoming almost a habit. Noosa Springs, after leading the standings for most of the season, beat Maroochy River on Sunday to take their second straight Division 1 junior pennants title.
Last year the team was represented by Sunday Moore, her sister Coco and their friend Jasmine Lena. This year, with the team number increased to four, the girls were bolstered by Alex Bray, who spends the week in Brisbane and drives up on weekends with his parents, for pennant matches.
The result, however, was the same – a narrow win to the Noosa Springs team against a powerful Maroochy River squad.
And, to highlight the strength of junior golf in the region, Noosa took out the Division 2 title, beating the team from Mt Coolum, which had been unbeaten throughout the season.
As she did last year, Sunday Moore took down Maroochy River’s No 1 player Ionna Muir 2&1. Alex won his match 3&2 and Jasmine won hers 1up. Coco took her match to the very last hole before losing to Lizzy Harman 1up, giving Noosa Springs a 3-1 win.
It was an outstanding performance by a team that held its form throughout a long season that began in May. And it was fitting that the Moore sisters, Sunday and Coco, were jointly named Division 1 Players of the Season.
In Division 2, Amy Coates (6&4), Nathan Roberts (6&4) and Declan Hudson (1up) were good winners for Noosa against the highly fancied Mt Coolum team. Division 2 Player of the Season was Noosa Springs’ James McCulloch.
In other pennants finals, Maroochy River beat Mt Coolum 6½-½ in A grade, Gympie was too strong for Cooroy in B grade, winning 5½-1½, while Caloundra pipped Maroochy River 4-3 in Masters.
Cooroy captain takes women’s title
COOROY ladies captain Wendy O’Hare, trailing by five strokes at the half-way mark, finished with strong performances on Tuesday and Thursday last week to claim this year’s club championship.
Wendy (93, 88, 90, 88) left early leader Kim Gladman (89, 89, 98, 94) in her wake to take the title by 11 strokes. Kate Sawrey (95, 94, 89, 93) was a stroke further back in third place.
The championships were played over 72 holes – 18-hole rounds on Tuesday and Thursday over the past fortnight. Wendy and Kim tied for A grade net honours, while Carmel Clark (93, 95, 94, 98) was the B grade champion.
The men are half-way through their club championship with former pro Cyril Trist (74, 80) holding a two-stroke lead from former club champion Lee Grainger. Young gun Kaleb Hamilton is two strokes back in third place after a stunning round of 72 on Saturday.
How Mikayla almost won a BMW
FROM the tee, the shot looked perfect. Mikayla Dyal’s swing was rhythmic and her ball headed, with laser-like accuracy, directly towards the hole at the back of the fourth green at Noosa Springs last week.
Had it continued its journey for just another few centimetres, the resultant hole-in-one would have earned Mikayla a $61,000 BMW 2 Series coupe which, just to tantalise her and every other player, was on display beside the tee.
Though it hardly ranked as a highlight for Mikayla, an outstanding young member of the Invincibles Sunshine Coast Junior Golf Tour, her near miss was one of the talking points of another successful Corporate Day for the 20-year-old organisation.
A full field of sponsors, supporters and talented junior golfers took part in the event, which Invincibles president Graeme Miller said was one of the most successful they’d held. It sold out within a fortnight.
So close for George in Country Week title
NOOSA club champion George Giblett couldn’t have come closer to winning this month’s Queensland Country Week championship.
After being three-over-par for the first nine holes of his final round in Toowoomba, George (71, 69) charged home with four birdies on the back nine to draw level with Gin Gin golfer Scott Warren (72, 68).
The two golfers returned to the course for a sudden death playoff. As George put it, ‘he parred the hole – I didn’t.”
Nonetheless it was an impressive performance by George in the 36-hole event, hosted by Toowoomba’s Middle Ridge and City clubs.
Trevor shines in vets championship
NOOSA’S Trevor Sumner shot a two-over-par 73 to be the outright winner when the cream of the Sunshine Coast’s older golfers got together at Peregian on Monday for the district veterans’ championship.
Trevor, a one-handicapper, was one of 120 veteran golfers taking part in the annual championships.
John Parsons, a Peregian member, won the A grade net prize with 66, while the B grade winner was Rob Alfredson. Peregian’s Jeff Cornell was the C grade winner.
A graders played a stroke competition, while B and C grades played a stableford competition.
The event was open to male and female veteran golfers.
Ryan quickly back to best form
RYAN Mulder brushed off Noosa’s disappointing A grade pennants semi-final loss to Maroochy River with a stunning performance to win last week’s Tuesday Club stableford competition.
Playing off a handicap of plus one, Ryan was five-under-par in his round and scored 40 points to take the A grade prize in the popular Tuesday event.
It was a quick return to form for Ryan, who had gone down narrowly to Maroochy River youngster Alex Procopis in a semi-final that Noosa had been widely tipped to win in pursuit of their fourth straight A grade title.
Ryan, 32, has long been one of Noosa’s best players. He’s been playing there since he was a kid of six, and his first job was as an apprentice greenkeeper at the club.
He won last year’s Noosa Open, one of the club’s most significant annual events. Victory came 18 years after Ryan’s first Noosa Open win in 2003 at the age of 13.
Ryan’s been a junior and club champion at Noosa, and his golf these days is generally limited to Saturdays and Tuesdays – and then only if he can arrange his working week to accommodate a half day off.
It’s goodbye from me
This will be my final Pin High column for Noosa Today. Thank you to all the golfers who have given me their time over the past couple of years, and to those who have been kind enough to read my column. It’s time for me to spend more time on the golf course.
Club competitions
NOOSA
Monday, 15 August
Women’s stableford: A grade – Lynette Cuss 38, Lani McDowall 35, Gwen Steel 34; B grade – Tracey Skeppstrom 38, Denise Read 36c/b, Rosanne Chisholm 36; 9 holes: Trish Berg 19, Marg Colwell 18c/b.
Tuesday, 16 August
Men’s stableford: A grade – Ryan Mulder 40, Bruce Blakemore 39, Joe Ottaway 37c/b, Coman Reynolds 37c/b; B grade – Jim Lawrence 40, Bart Jaques 38c/b, Mark Ostwald 38, David Ainscough 37c/b; C grade – Robert Willink 40, Marcus Edwards 39c/b, Dorcen Walters 39, Lyndon Bruggy 38c/b.
Wednesday, 17 August
Vets stableford: A grade – Alan Hollows 38, Alec Graham 37, Michael Morgan 36c/b; B grade – Scott Hobden 41c/b, Rex Lawn 41, Rodney Gillard 39c/b; C grade – Max Stockwell 39c/b, Mick Jones 39, Geoff Kerr 38.
Thursday, 18 August
Women’s stableford: A grade – Sue McLaurin 41, Gail Murden 37, Paula Jeffrey 36, Sandra Callaghan 35c/b; B grade – Dorothy Charlesworth 39, Tracey Frawley 37c/b, Megan Breid 37c/b, Raye Cairns 37c/b; C grade – Megan Toohey 39, Judith Priestley 37c/b, Donna Coey 37, Tracey Skeppstrom 36c/b.
Saturday, 20 August
Mixed 4BBB stableford: Judy Meager & Lisa Joseph 50c/b, Bradley Graham & Bettina Hammant 50, Matthew Leahy & David Tilley 47c/b, Andrew Broad & John Deem 47, Marcus Edwards & Brad Edwards 46c/b.
NOOSA SPRINGS
Monday, 15 August
Men’s stroke: A grade – Andrew Tregaskis 70, Glenn Sunderland 72, Peter Young 73; B grade – Kerry Sunderland 69, Terry Gee 71c/b, Bob Bean 71; women’s stroke: A grade – Leisha McMenamin 64, Kerry McFarland 71, Dianne Tonge 73; B grade – Jennifer Carr 72, Suzy McGavin 73, Alette Mead 74.
Tuesday, 16 August
Men’s stableford: Steve Troon 41, Cameron McNeil 37, Robert Scarborough 35; women’s: Rosemary Scarborough 33.
Wednesday, 17 August
Men’s stableford: Norman Lacombe 37, Stuart McFarland 36c/b, Tony Carabetta 36c/b, Jock Robertson 36, Ken Sweeney 35c/b; women’s: Shard Lorenzo 38, Rosemary Perkins 37c/b, Amanda Harburg 37c/b, Wendy Hopping 37, Claudia Cohn 36c/b.
Thursday, 18 August
Men’s stableford: Gregory Ellery 32c/b, Ryley Martin 32, Allen Forrester 29.
Friday, 19 August
Mixed Ambrose, 9 holes: Joss Cooper, Tony Carabetta, Phillip Fortington & Alex Hackett 24¾; Debbie Collinge, Rosemary Perkins, Chris Collinge & Kevin Perkins 26¾; Jack Chalmers, Phillip Stewart-Moore, Raffi Sekzenian & Kaye Bollen 27¼.
Saturday, 20 August
Men’s stableford: A grade – Peter Schouten 39c/b, Jean-luc Chaudet 39, William Hanton 38; B grade – Neil Cutting 36, Vince Green 35, Antony Buss 34c/b; women’s: A grade – Dianne Hudson 35c/b, Rowena Faerch 35c/b, Rosie Randall 34; B grade – Barbara Sweeney 41, Margie Waters 38, Shard Lorenzo 37c/b.
COOROY
Tuesday, 16 August
Women’s stroke: A grade – Kate Sawrey 71, Tina Thomas 72, Wendy O’Hare 73; B grade – Sally Deane 68, Carmel Clark 71, Aileen Morton 74.
Wednesday, 17 August
Vets stableford: A grade – Keith Harkins 38, Brett LeMoy 37, Peter Brown 36c/b; B grade – Garry Stephens 38, Bruce Dooley 37c/b, Dale Rickard 37; C grade – Ian Mulhall 40, James Bisset 38c/b, Michael Smith 38.
Thursday, 18 August
Women’s stroke: A grade – Wendy O’Hare 71, Sandra Viney 73, Terri Cairns 74c/b; B grade – Carolyn Foster 73, Wendy Morse 74, Jenny Tucker 75c/b.
Saturday, 20 August
Men’s stroke: A grade – Dean McEwan 68c/b, Peter Jeucken 68, Grathan Leatherbarrow 71; B grade – Tony Gordon 68, Malcolm McLellan 69, Michael Lunney 70; C grade – Kevin Pickford 66, Peter Palmer 68, Mark Kennedy 70c/b.
