Bowls Notes and Club Blog

Here’s the latest from the Bowlie.
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS.
Major Singles.
The Semi-Finals of the Major Singles were played during the week and the final will be played shortly between Col Hayward and Mark Dwyer.
On Thursday, May 11, in the first Semi-Final, Col Hayward won the first end by two shots and Col Mudie played “catch-up” all day but Col Hayward ran out the winner after twenty-three ends, 31-10.
The second Semi-Final was played on Saturday, May 13 and in a similar match, Mark Dwyer won the first end by two shots from Steve Turner. Steve played some great bowls but after thirty ends Mark won the match 31-15.
Minor Singles
On Saturday, May 13 two matches were played in the Minor Singles Championship.
In a very close match George Boatswain had the better of the early ends against Greg Townsend and it wasn’t until the twentieth end that Greg first hit the lead, 18 -16.George regained the lead after twenty-three ends and after twenty-six ends lead 25-22. From there on Greg played some great bowls to eventually win the mat 31-25 after thirty ends.
The early ends in the other match between Bernie Mitchell and Steve “Nimo” Mills were also very close and after eleven ends the scores were level 10 all. From there on Steve took control of the match and after twenty-three ends only needed on shot to claim victory. Bernie was not about to give up without a fight and it wasn’t until the twenty-ninth ends that Steve won the match 31-24.
COMING EVENTS.
2017 Classic Pairs.
This Event will once again be sponsored by Casey Surveying & Design and will be played next weekend, 20-21, May 2017. Co-sponsors for the tournament will be Parkes Courier Service and Telescope Tyres. The draw for the event will take place on Friday, May 19 at 6.00pm at the Club (and anyone is welcome to attend) and play will commence at 8.45am on the Saturday and Sunday.
Teams of two can be all male, all female or mixed and the entry fee of $100 per team includes lunch on both days.
Format for the event will be;
Saturday, May 20 – three games of 15 ends.
Sunday, May 21 – two games of 15 ends.
Total Prize money is $3000 with prizes for the first five teams and 3 mystery draws, thanks to the support of the sponsors.
Entries can be made in person at the Club, you can ring the Club on 02 6862 1446 or by mail to P.O. Box 280, Parkes, 2870. Entries close at 5.00 pm on Thursday, May 18.
Charity Day – Prostate Cancer Day.
A Charity Day to support the local Prostate Cancer Group is being organised by Graham Barby, Chris Dunn and Keith MacRae for Saturday, June 3.
No need for early entries, just contact one of the organisers or phone up on the day by 12-30 for a 1.00 pm start.
Social Bowls.
Thursday, May 11.
Twenty-two players turned out to play four games of Pairs and one of Triples.
Graham Nicholson (visiting from the Glass House Mountains in Queensland) joined with Geoff Freeman for a very close match against John Davies and John Hodge. The scores were very close all day and with one end to play they were level at 14 all. On the final end Graham and Geoff scored one shot and took the lead for only the second time in the match to claim victory 15-14.
Greg Howlett and Guy Ellery had a good win against Ron Hornery and Mick Craft.
John Ward and Graham Barby were too strong for Keith MacRae and Mike Valentine and in the other Pairs match; John Dunn and Gordon Dickson got the better of John Watson and Jim Blake.
In the Triples match, Rob Irving, Greg Huggins and Bob Freeman started strongly and lead 9-0 after seven ends. The team of Les Kent, Bill Skinner and Ian Mill gradually got into the match and after seventeen ends took the lead, 16-13. Les’ team went on to win three of the last four ends to win the match 21-14
The Prize winners were John Ward and Graham Barby and the Runners-up prize went to the Triples team of Les Kent, Bill Skinner and Ian Mill.
Saturday, May 13.
A small field of fourteen players turned out to produce two very close results.
The Triples turned out to be the closest match of the day. Ron Hornery, Maureen Baillie and Gordon Dickson scored four shots on the opening end but John Ward, Col Woods and Bob Freeman won the next seven ends to lead 10-4. Over the next twelve ends John’s team maintained their lead, but only just, and with one end to play they were up 21-20. Ron’s team scored a single shot on the last end to draw the match 21 all but John’s team had won twelve of the twenty-one ends to claim the match.
In a Pairs match, John Davies and Rob Irving won the first end but Tom Furey and Greg Howlett won the nest two ends to establish a lead of 5-2. Tom and Greg kept the lead for all except one of the next fifteen ends and with three ends to play had a lead of 18-16. On the next end John and Rob played some great bowls to win three shots and take the lead. In spite of some great bowls by Tom and Greg the last two ends were won by John and Rob who won the match 21-18.
The Prize winners were Mark Dwyer and Pat Cooney (who was marker in the Major Singles match and the runner-up prize went to Greg Townsend and Gladrin Sun (the marker for the Minor singles match).
Friday Night
The Badge Draw was not drawn last Friday and will be worth $2100 in this week and the draw will take place after after the meat and voucher raffle.