Nine years after claiming the ladies Champion of Champions, the Sebastopol Gold skipper has taken out the top Ballarat District Bowls Division title again.

In a close contest with Victoria’s Julie Nimmo, Harman came back from a six-nil deficit to win the final 25 shots to 18.

“She had me on toast,” Harman said.

“Now it’s starting to sink in a bit that I’ve done it again and it’s exciting.”

Nimmo took the lead early in the Champion of Champions final, staged at Victoria Bowling Club on Wednesday, and got up six shots before Harman finally scored.

“I got two ones and then she got up to nine,” Harman said. “She was holding four and I thought, if she gets that four, that’s the end of it.

“I just came up with a bit of weight and knocked her out.”

It was a meaningful victory for Harman, who started bowling at St Arnaud Country Club in 1992, but discovered a passion for the sport long before that.

Her parents were keen bowlers who, according to Harman, practically raised her on a green

“They used to replay all their games at home with salt and pepper shakers,” she said.

Wednesday’s victory was also notable for the fact of Harman’s lack of bowling in the past eight years.

After winning the Champion of Champions title nine year’s ago, Harman stepped back from bowling due to family commitments.

She continued playing Monday pennant and, a year ago, started increasing her hours on the green.

It paid off quickly, as Harman won the 2010/11 club champion – an achievement she backed up again this season.

Harman said going a step further to win champion of the whole ladies BDBD was an achievement she couldn’t have realised without the support of her peers at Sebastopol Bowling Club.

“The girls here are very supportive. I’m quite sure it was their support and energy that got me through,” she said.

A Sebastopol support crew will be there to cheer her on when she competes in the group Champion of Champions play-off in Trentham on Sunday, February 5.