London, England: Nadene Gole made history as she produced four birdies in her final nine holes to win the 2025 English Senior Women’s Stroke Play Championship, becoming the first Australian to take the prestigious title.
The world’s number one ranked senior women’s amateur saved her best until last as she shot the round of the tournament at Gerrards Cross, a two-under-par 70. It was the only under-par score across the three days in the southern English county of Buckinghamshire.
After being in the co-lead on day one, the 56-year-old dropped two shots behind Switzerland’s Karin Luxon who was leading at the end of round two.
However, with 18 holes to play, Gole came back superbly with three consecutive birdies from holes 13-15 to turn the tide and clinch the title with a final score of five-over, five shots ahead of Luxon, who finished second on 10-over.
Gole, a former touring professional, said: “It’s a fabulous event to win. I played it two years ago and decided to come back this year, so it’s an absolute treat to win an event I haven’t won before.
“When you become the first person from your country to win something, it’s always special. I’ve been very fortunate to have people in Australia supporting me, my club members and all of my friends back home. I think they’ll be thrilled that I’ve won. To be the first Australian to win this event is another thing I’ll really cherish.”
In 2024, she won both The R&A Women’s Senior Amateur and US Senior Women’s Amateur, the first Australian to do so. In the process she broke into the top-100 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and became the number one senior.
During her time as a professional, Gole played in Australia, Japan and Europe, where the highlight was winning the Ladies European Tour’s Danish Open in 1996.
She stopped playing soon after to begin a family. When her two children reached their 20s, Gole resumed golfing as an amateur and was soon winning senior championships across Australia and Asia.
Gole who also took the honours in the 55-59 category in the English Senior Women’s Stroke Play Championship, said: “Every win is special to me, I don’t rank them, I just love to compete and meet some wonderful people along the way!
“I haven’t played a lot of golf this year, so the first two days, I was a little bit scratchy mentally. So coming into the final round I thought: ‘Let’s just go out, play some golf and enjoy this beautiful golf course and let the scores speak for themselves’.”
A member of the Australian line-up that won the inaugural Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation Women’s Senior Team Championship in Malaysia in 2022, in March this year Gole became the eldest player to take part in the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific in Vietnam.
