Louise Penberthy celebrates maiden hole in one on Saturday

Louise Penberthy well and truly had a day to remember on Saturday when the Narrabri golfer scored her first hole in one.

Playing in the Narrabri Golf Club’s monthly mug event, Penberthy had endured a rocky start to the day across her first seven holes, but that completely changed when she arrived at the eighth.

She pulled out her six iron and, from about 145 metres from the cup, launched the ball towards the green. It landed just to the left of the flag before rolling in for a hole in one.

Penberthy was playing alongside Di Parish, Yvonne Findley and Robyn Smith on Saturday who celebrated the unforgettable moment with her.

“I normally don’t even get on the green on that hole, I usually hit them to the right near the water,” Penberthy said.

“But this one landed on the green, it landed a couple of metres left of the hole and because it’s on a hill it rolled in.

“The flag was at the front of the green so we saw it roll in quite slowly.

“We sort of just all looked at it and none of us said anything then Robyn Smith was the first to start jumping up and down.

“I still couldn’t believe it until I got up there and saw it in the hole for myself.”

Not only was it Penberthy’s first hole in one, but it was also the first scored at the Narrabri Golf Club in 2021.

Penberthy had played golf on and off until about two years ago, when she started to really apply herself and take the game more seriously. She now competes in the weekly Wednesday ladies’ competition while also taking part in the competitions played on Saturdays.

It has been a remarkable rise for the local golfer during the past 12 months, during which she was crowned the 2020 ladies’ B-grade nett winner at the club championships, won several events and awards at the 2021 North and North Western District Ladies’ Golf Association Amateur Open Tournament held in Narrabri in June, and on Saturday scored her first hole in one which was also her first eagle.

She said that while hitting a hole in one is something that every golfer strives to achieve, it is something she never thought she’d do.

Penberthy added that while having fun with friends and family was her main aim in the golfing arena, she had set a goal to shoot under 100 off the stick each time she plays at Narrabri Golf Club. She did that on Saturday with a round of 98.