Local golfers Josh Orman and Zoe Tomlinson both surged to memorable victories at Narrabri Golf Club on Sunday afternoon as the talented duo delivered standout performances that saw them both emerge as the 2025 club champions.
For Orman, it was his seventh title and was a powerful return to form, having not won one in more than 10 years.
Tomlinson’s club championship victory is her second in three years after she claimed a maiden title back in 2023.
The champions won their respective divisions in contrasting fashion, with Orman producing a comeback for the ages across the weekend while Tomlinson led from the second round until the last.
Orman was a staggering eight shots off the lead at the halfway mark of the 72-hole tournament in the A-grade men’s division, but he saved his best golf for the final two days as he produced the second-best score on Saturday and the best score on Sunday. He ended the four-round tournament with a 15-over-par score of 299, the exact total that Adam Taylor won last year’s tournament with before he shot a 301 this year to finish second, just two shots behind Orman.
Orman was fourth going into the weekend but climbed into third by default on Saturday as Troy Nott did not line up for round three.
It was the defending champ who was leading the way with a two-over-par 144 after shooting 73 in the first round on Saturday, September 13, and a 71 the following day.
Nott was four shots behind Taylor with 148, the three-time defending Narrabri Open champion Karl Hatfield was third with 151, and Orman was next best with 152.
Orman produced a gross runner-up score of 74 in round three on Saturday while Hatfield topped the day with 73, which saw the open champion go an extra shot ahead of Orman.
It was a day to forget for Taylor though, as the leader shot a nine-over-par 80 to end the day tied on 224 with Hatfield and two shots clear of Orman.
Luke Flood was next best with 229 after he had shot a 77 in round three following his 78 and 74 in rounds one and two, and those four men teed off from the first hole together on Sunday at noon for the fourth and final round.
It was Orman who reigned supreme as he shot a 73 to finish with 299, two shots ahead of Taylor who shot a 77 on Sunday to end up with 301.
Hatfield and Flood shot 82 and 80 in the fourth round to finish with 306 and 309, respectively.
Tomlinson dominated the 2025 A-grade ladies’ division from almost start to finish and ended the tournament nine shots clear of her closest rival. She was the only female golfer this year to keep all four of her scores in the 80s, and it was that consistency that got her over the line despite the best efforts of runner-up Leisa Eather.
Eather had won the first round with an 83 as Tomlinson shot an 87, and she also defeated the champion by four shots in round four as she shot 84 and Tomlinson registered 88.
However, Tomlinson’s 84 and 85 in rounds two and three were 17 shots better than Eather’s 98 and 88, which saw the 2023 champion get the job done once again. She ended up with 344, blowing her 2023 total of 366 right out of the water.
Eather ended up being the runner-up for the second year in a row as she registered 353, and ranked third to fifth were Louise Penberthy with 370, Emily Flood with 376 and Robyn Smith.
The B-grade men’s champion for 2025 was Wayne Saunders, who produced some quality golf across the four rounds to also secure the veteran nett winner and Ted Barry memorial for best championships overall nett score prizes.
Saunders led the way with 160 after 36 holes at the midway point as he finished round two with an eight-shot lead over Tony Nott.
Nott did not play the final two rounds, so the lead going into round three for Saunders was 16 shots ahead of Mitch Cuell.
Saunders shot a B-grade top score of 80 on Saturday to go even further in front, and he was eventually the B-grade winner by 19 shots after scoring 330 while Cuell ended up with 349.
The B-grade ladies’ division winner was Peg Penberthy by 13 shots after she ended the four rounds with 395, ahead of June Lang on 408. Penberthy was the only B-grade lady to shoot three of her four scores in the 90s.
The C-grade men’s division winner was Tim Simmonds by the close margin of four shots over Bill Lang.
Simmons led the way alongside Bill Cameron after 36 holes, and he then led by three shots going into the fourth and final round. Lang was 12 shots behind Simmonds at the halfway mark, and although he was the C-grade men’s gross winner in rounds three and four, he ultimately fell four shots short of victory.
There were only three ladies who played all four rounds in the C-grade ladies’ division, which was won by Maree Taylor.
Taylor was two shots behind Sandra Nott after round one but went on to register the top gross score in rounds two, three and four to end the tournament on 432, 31 shots clear of Nott on 463.
Kim Bentley was third with 486 and was gross runner-up in rounds three and four.
The full championship prize winners list for Narrabri Golf Club’s 2025 club championships is as follows:
Club champions – Josh Orman (men) and Zoe Tomlinson (ladies).
Men’s A-grade:
Gross winner – Josh Orman with 299, gross runner-up – Adam Taylor with 301, nett winner – Kane Voysey with 293, nett runner-up – Luke Flood with 295.
Ladies’ A-grade:
Gross winner – Zoe Tomlinson with 344, gross runner-up – Leisa Eather with 353, nett winner – Emily Flood with 304 (countback), nett runner-up – Louise Penberthy with 304 (countback).
Men’s B-grade:
Gross winner – Wayne Saunders with 330, gross runner-up – Mitch Cuell with 349, nett winner – Paul Thomas with 290, nett runner-up – David McInnes with 293.
Ladies’ B-grade:
Gross winner – Peg Penberthy with 395, gross runner-up – June Lang with 408, nett winner – Myra Joseph with 300, nett runner-up – Joy Baker with 314 (countback).
Men’s C-grade:
Gross winner – Tim Simmonds with 382, gross runner-up – Bill Lang with 386, nett winner – Matthew O’Connor with 294, nett runner-up – Bill Cameron with 296.
Ladies’ C-grade:
Gross winner – Maree Taylor with 432, gross runner-up – Sandra Nott with 463, nett winner – Kim Bentley with 334.
Veterans:
Gross winner – Keith Flood with 317, nett winner – Wayne Saunders with 289.
Ted Barry memorial for best championships overall nett score – Wayne Saunders with 289.
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