Luke and Emily Flood win state championship in Bonville

Narrabri’s Luke and Emily Flood took part in last week’s 2024 KENO Let’s Play Ambrose State Finals at Bonville Golf Resort and returned home as the NSW mixed champions following two days of impressive golfing.

The Narrabri Golf Club members were one of 36 pairs that competed across three divisions at the Golf NSW event on Monday and Tuesday, December 9 and 10.

They stormed out to the lead after a dominant day’s play in round one as they shot a gross score of 66, which was the best of the 12 teams by two shots and earned them a net score of 58, which was the best by four.

They then shot a gross score of 74 on day two to earn a net score of 66, and that saw them place fifth for Tuesday’s play.

Macarthur Grange Country Club’s Kirsty Riley and Luke Campbell shot the best score on day two, but after they had finished sixth on day one, they fell a point short of the Narrabri duo as Luke and Emily were crowned the mixed division champions.

The Floods eventually finished 4.5 net points out in front of Riley and Campbell and both enjoyed what was a memorable trip away.

“It was unbelievable,” Emily told The Courier.

“It was a great experience and it is a beautiful golf course. It’s just so picturesque. It’s a beautiful part of the world.”

“When we won the regional final down in Merewether, we were pretty shocked. We didn’t think we would win there.

“We left before their presentation because we needed to come home, and when they called us to tell us we’d be going through, we were stoked.

“It was an all-expenses-paid trip to Bonville. Just getting there, we won three nights’ accommodation, two rounds of golf at Bonville, there was a welcome dinner and a presentation nights and breakfasts.

“It was a great time.

“We had six-under on the first day to get net 58, which was a fantastic score, then on the second day we still went well, but we ended up two-over with a net 66 and we came fifth.

“All up we won by one point, so it was very close.”

While winning the event made the weekend all the more memorable, what the Narrabri parents enjoyed most was the chance to spend some time on the golf course together.

“Because we have three little kids, it’s a bit hard and we don’t really get to play with each other,” Emily said.

“We both play every Saturday, but I’ll go out in the morning and Luke will go out in the afternoon.

“Being able to play together was really nice.”

Narrabri’s Luke and Emily Flood pictured with the Keno Let’s Play Ambrose mixed division trophy at Bonville Golf Resort last week. Photos: Golf NSW Narrabri’s Luke and Emily Flood pictured with the Keno Let’s Play Ambrose mixed division trophy at Bonville Golf Resort last week. Photos: Golf NSW

Players travelled from across NSW to compete at Bonville after securing their spots through club qualifying events and then later winning one of the 12 regional finals.

Narrabri’s qualifier was held in July, and Luke and Emily (mixed), Leisa Eather and Melissa Hall (ladies) and Mick King and Daniel Treseder (men) went through to the regional finals.

The Floods travelled to Merewether Golf Club in Newcastle for their regional final on Sunday, October 20, and won that event to go through to the state final.

King and Treseder played at Armidale Golf Club later that month before Eather and Hall travelled to the Forster Tuncurry Golf Club in November, and they missed out on qualifying for the state final.

There were 188 golf clubs in total that participated in holding a club qualifying event with a total of 6,230 pairs (12,460 golfers) across NSW that participated in this year’s KENO Let’s Play Ambrose event.

State finalists are unable to return to the state finals the following year and state champions are unable to return for another two years after that, so Luke and Emily are eyeing off 2028 as the year that they attempt to return to have another crack at the title.