Wheel and walk into basketball

BASKETBALLERS who may have lost their spring or want to see a different side of the sport are encouraged to come along to try wheelie and walking basketball at the Atherton State High School community hall on Wednesday nights.

The Atherton Basketball Association is hosting two new social competitions on Wednesdays at the school hall, walking basketball and wheelchair basketball.

The idea for the new competition initially came after the association was given a slot on a Wednesday night to host another competition.

The two new competitions give players who may not be able to run or jump like they used to the opportunity to still enjoy the sport they love.

President of the Atherton Basketball Association Helen Nawaqa said if players are able bodied, they can still try wheelie basketball.

“We do have some interest from people who are able bodied who think it would be fun to see another side of bas- ketball,” she said.

“It would be awesome to get two teams on the court and a good social environment would be fantastic.

“We really want to increase accessibility of basketball to the wider Atherton community.”

The association has 10 club chairs available for wheelie basketball and players are encouraged to bring their own sport wheelchairs if they have one available.

The competition will run over term two and three of the school year, 10 weeks each starting from 19 April and 12 July.

The competition is set to start next Wednesday 19 April and players are required to be a member of the association to play.

To register for either wheelie or walking basketball head to the Atherton Basketball Association website.

For more information around the new social competitions send an email to athertonbasketballassociation@ gmail.com

Locals show out at Survivor Golf Series

THE Millaa Millaa Golf Course was in immaculate condition ahead of round seven and eight of the annual Drummond Golf Survivor Series recently as a local team took out the latter round in style and secured their place in the finals.

The highly popular Drummond Golf Survivor Series is a new two-person Ambrose elimination series that gives golfers a fast-paced alternative to traditional golf.

Golfers travel to courses dotted around Australia vying for a “golden ticket”, their entry to the finals of the series that is due to be held in Port Douglas in December.

After a day of pre-tournament fun on Friday, March 31 with a 9-hole skins and night putting competitions, the teams arrived at Millaa Millaa to some inclement weather but a cracking sunrise to start off round 7.

Anticipation was high for this first qualifier of the Drummond Golf Survivor Series with two back-to-back rounds taking place over the weekend.

Round 7 saw a full field of golfers ready to tackle the tricky 9-hole layout.

Getting off to an early flyer was team, Last Minute.Com who literally entered the tournament at 5.30am, the golfers were -4 under their handicap after 9 holes.

With three holes to go there were six teams in contention for the golden ticket but it was Craig IIsley and Paul Forrester from Team Last Minute. Com who continued their early morning form by making two birdies out of the last holes.

The boys played a calculated round by using the strength of Paul Forresters drive as he drove the ball over 300 metres and the delicate putting of Craig, making the perfect combination.

It was a match made in tablelands heaven finishing with the sort after score of Net -10 under, securing their spot in the grand final at Port Douglas.

Round 8 was another sold out afternoon field and saw a fresh set of golfers ready to tackle the undulating mini paradise of Milla Millaa.

A very tight tussle with close scores again all the way to the finish, with five holes to play there were five teams tied with the lead, four of which were Tablelands based – two teams then jumped out of the pack, team Millaa Millaa Gorillas and team Migaloo.

In a very intense finish, it was Mark Twomey and Ashley Healy of Team Millaa Millaa Gorillas birdied their last two holes including Ash sinking a 25 footer to take out the Golden Ticket and booking themselves into the Port Douglas Grand Final.