Community Bowls
The new season of Community Bowls has begun, with 24 teams registering to play. For once there was no wind on opening night and it was a very pleasant Tuesday evening on the greens.
Men’s 2nd Division & Under Singles Championship
Following on from the previous Sunday’s sectional rounds of play for the Men’s 2nd Division & Under Singles Championship, the eight successful players lined up again at 9:30am last Sunday to play the final rounds.
The quarter finalists were Bob Mulroy, Stan Van Mosseveld, Bob Jeffs, Rob Tozer, Alan Davis, Brian Staples, Larry Perry and Neville Odell. All players competed very strongly with some very close and quite long games.
The semi-finals were ultimately contested between Bob Mulroy and Bob Jeffs, and Brian Staples and Alan Davis, with Bob Mulroy and Brian Staples moving into the final game.
This game proved to be a game of two parts with Bob starting very strongly and sprinting to a big lead, until the game swung Brian’s way for the back half of the game. Eventually, Bob showed his class and closed out the game 21-15 in the 18th end. Congratulations to a very worthy winner.
Thanks to all who participated in the event which was played in great spirit and included some of our newer members. Also thanks to the members who turned up last Sunday to mark cards for the finalists.
Women’s 100 Up Singles Championship
Wednesday 6th October saw the start of the first Women’s Championship event for the season, with five sections of three players playing in the Women’s 100 Up Singles Championship.
The event continued last Sunday, firstly with an alignment round between Kaye Martin and Jackie Maxwell. The score was very close for the entire game, with the result coming on the final bowl of the game in Jackie’s favour, winning 101-99.
In the semi-finals, Jackie played Pauline Bourne and Robyn Woodward played Liz Marshall. Both Pauline and Liz were too consistent for their opponents and the final was set for a rematch of last year’s event.
Liz started strongly notching up a 23-7 lead but Pauline settled and the scores levelled within a few ends. Both players were putting down fine draw bowls and the scores remained close for most of the game. With several strong ends late in the game, Pauline took the lead and held it to eventually win the game 101-89.
It was good to see the players supported by the club spectators who witnessed some great ends, close games, and good sportsmanship over the two days. Thanks go to the Match Committee for running the event and to our volunteer markers and umpires.
Beyond Blue Charity Day
Last Friday was our annual Beyond Blue Charity Day with a good crowd of thirty social bowlers taking to the green on a warm and sunny day.
Congratulations to the winners of the day Trisha Smith, Ken Partridge, Eric Doust and Kevin McKersey (pictured) and Runners Up Jennifer Page, Ken Evans, Brian Alcock and Clive Webber.
Well done to everyone who participated, with $230 raised from players’ entry fees and some donations.
Men’s 100 Up Singles Championship
The Finals of the Men’s 100-Up Championships were completed on Sunday 10th October in mild conditions with a light to occasionally moderate breeze, first from the northeast and then switching to the southwest. In the quarter-finals, Alan Walton had a convincing win over John Sturk, while Ross Cunningham prevailed over Frank Tyson and Paul Knight beat Jan Konig in closer matches. The final match saw Barney Fleiser open up a good early lead over Gary Bayne before Gary fought back to win a cliffhanger 101 to 99.
The first Semifinal was won by Cunningham over Bayne with Cunningham starting strongly and never being headed, although Bayne put in some good counters to extend the game to 19 ends. Knight had to work harder against Walton, with the game being tied at 75 apiece after 15 ends, but Knight finished strongly to win 101 to 89.
The Final between Knight and Cunningham was a very close affair, with some classic draw bowling and the occasional on-shot, watched by a small but appreciative crowd. Ultimately, the slightly more consistent bowling of Knight narrowly prevailed, but not without major twists to the script in the last two ends. On the 19th end, Knight was lying for 9 points, which would have given him the win, before Cunningham came precisely through the head to move the jack back, tie the end and leave the score at 94-96. Down the last end Cunningham took control of the head and was lying 7 points, before Knight’s final drive – the first one of the match – took the jack back to the ditch giving him 8 points and the win.
Pictured: Chair of Match Dan Greig (L) presents winner Paul Knight with his trophy.
Divorced Pairs 2021
Wednesday 29th September saw our annual Divorced Pairs competition, with 30 teams participating on what turned out to be a mixed weather day. The morning was chilly but playable, but after the lunch break the weather allowed only five ends to be played before the heavens opened and all players scurried to whatever cover could be afforded. Despite the weather, the day was an enjoyable opportunity to compete.
A huge thank you to Duncraig Plumbing Services (Wayne Raffaele) for sponsoring the Divorced Pairs Competition for 2021.
The morning winners were Pauline Marsden and Adrian Rose (18 shots up) and afternoon winners were Shelley Jeffs and Spider Webb (16 shots up).
Runners Up for the day were Kaye Martin and David Dunstan (24 shots up) and the Overall Winners on the day Bruce Eagles and Shona Carter (pictured above) with 35 shots up.
Following the shortened playing time, all participants enjoyed a sausage sizzle. Thank you to Alan Susta for the preparation of the sizzle and the salads and also to the Women’s Match committee for organising the day.