Bowls Notes and Club Blog

Here's the latest from the bowlie.
AUSTRALIA DAY – BOWLS CARNIVAL.
What a great day this turned out to be.
It was the first time I had seen all three greens full to capacity and I am told it is quite some time since this has happened.
The sun was shining, the greens looked great and eighty Bowlers enjoyed it all. We had visitors from Manildra, Condobolin, Forbes and Parkes Railway/Diggers Club.
A lot of the players had gone to a lot of trouble getting their Australian costumes and accessories together and the whole scene was very colourful.
The serious part of the day, playing for a share of the prize money, saw some close results.
Each team played five matches and the winner was decided by number of wins and the best aggregate of shots “for and against”.
First prize went to the team of John Corcoran, Clive Stibbard (Parkes Railway/Diggers), Max Tomkins and Ian Simpson (Parkes Railway/Diggers) with five wins and +34 shots.
Runners up were Col Mudie, Graham Barby, John Carr and Rob Irving with five wins and +18 shots.
Third place went to Flip Fliedner (and three friends from Manildra), Ian Campbell, Andrew Gosper and Paul Trevino with four wins and +39 shots.
Fourth prize winners were Keith MacRae, Greg Howlett (Parkes Railway/Diggers), Maree Grant and Wally Grant with four wins and + 34 shots.
Our thanks go to the Sponsors for the day, Littlewwods Smash Repairs and Parkes Auto Wreckers –your support is greatly appreciated.
We must also thank the visiting players for their support. Also, many thanks to a great team of volunteers who organised the day, prepared the greens and club amenities and provided lunch and snacks before and after play. Thanks also to the club bar staff; they did a great job looking after us all on what was a very busy day for them
DISTRICT TRIPLES AT CONDOBOLIN
The Club was well represented in the District Triples played at Condobolin last Saturday and Sunday. We played very well to get two teams in the Semi Finals. As luck would have it they were drawn to play each other to decide one of the finalists. The team of Col Hayward, John Davies and Graham Barby started strongly against Brett Frame, Garry Went and Paul Henry. Try as they might, Brett’s team could not narrow the gap and Col’s team were convincing winners. The final will be played against a Condobolin team that beat Forbes in the other semi- final.
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS.
In the only match played during this week, the team of Brett Frame, Col Hayward, Paul Henry and Steve Turner had a convincing win over Graham Fliedner, Peter McPhee, Craig Henry and Dave Johnson. Brett’s team won the first three ends to lead 5 – 0 but Graham’s team scored three shots on each of the next two ends to lead by 6 – 5. The match was then dominated by Brett’s team who won the remaining ends by 17 – 5 to run out winners by 22 – 11.
SOCIAL BOWLS
Thursday, January 28.
Five matches of Pairs were played with some interesting results.
Col Hayward and Gordon Dickson won the first three ends to lead Lee Hetherington and Gary McPhee 7 – 0. Col and Gordon steadily increased the lead until after the fifteenth end, when they held a lead of 18 – 9. In a very strong finish Lee and Gary scored nine shots on the last 6 ends to tie the scores up at 18 all. Col and Gordon claimed victory having won eleven of the twenty one ends played.
In another match Warren Bevan and Tom Furey won eleven of the first sixteen ends, but, thanks to a couple of 4’s and a 5 scored by Brett Frame and John Hodge, they only lead by one shot, 17 – 16. Brett and John then won the remaining ends by 9 – 1 to run out winners by 25 – 18.
Others winners on the day were Col Mudie and Ted Wright over John Corcoran and Bob Freeman, Geoff Freeman and Guy Ellery over Keith MacRae and Mike Valentine and John Ward and Graham Dixon over Ray Jones and John Watson.
Prize winners were Ted Wright and Col Mudie and the runners up were John Hodge and Brett Frame.
Sunday, January 31
After a very busy weekend we had two games of Pairs on Sunday evening.
In a match were every end was keenly contested and on each end the team holding shot changed two or three times, George Bradley and Brenda Davies just got home by 14 – 12 over Dave Johnson and Rhonda Mason. The other match was won by John Taylor and Gladrin Sun over Ian Nunn and Eileen Bradley.
VISIT BY WERRIS CREEK BOIWLING CLUB
Last weekend we had a visit from twenty one bowlers from Werris Creek.
On Saturday, January 30 a Men’s event saw seven games of Triples played. Our club won six of the seven games played but all credit to the Werris Creek team. Their home greens are carpet, which, I’m sure we would all agree, is totally different to playing on grass and takes a lot of adjusting to. In some close games Arthur Corbett, Graham Dixon and Bruce Orr managed a 20 – 14 win over Keith Moore, Ray Brown and Steve Payne. John Carr, Gary McPhee and Gordon Dickson also scored a 20 – 14 win over Mal Chaffey, Gerry Walsh and Shaun Saunders. Congratulations go to the Werris Creek team of Steve Bennett, Geoff Skewes and John Marker who had a convincing win over the Parkes team of Geoff Freeman, Ron Fisher and George Bradley.
The Prize winning rink went to Arthur Corbett Graham Dixon and Bruce Orr
On Sunday the format was for a mixed event.
After a BBQ breakfast of bacon and eggs for the visitors, twenty five members joined the 21 Werris creek players to play five games of Triples and two games of Fours. In a close game the local team of Pat Cooney, Mike Blunt and Jim Blake just held on to beat Steve Bennett, Mal Chaffey and Shaun Saunders 18 – 15. In another close one George Boatswain, Graham Dixon and Ray Jones proved too good for Jim Porter , Ken Smith and Graham Brown by 19 – 14.
Prize winners on the day were Steve Bennett, Steve Payne and Geoff Houlihan from Werris Creek and Ray Jones, Eileen Bradley, Maureen Bailey and Tom Furey from our Club.
The visitors enjoyed a light lunch before heading back to Werris Creek. It was a great weekend for all involved and we hope it can be repeated sometime in the future.
TWILIGHT BOWLS
THURSDAY, January 28.
Sixteen teams turned out for the second week of competition and there were some close matches.
The High Rollers were too good early in the match and lead Loopy Loppers 2 by 6 – 2 after six ends. The Loopy Loppers fought back well in the later ends but just failed to catch the High Rollers, going down by 9 – 8. The match between Three Amigos and The Battlers was very close until the Three Amigos scored five shots on the tenth end to lead by 14 – 6. Not to be outdone the Battlers then scored five shots on the next end and 2 shots on the twelfth end to trail by only one shot. However time beat them and at the end of the match Three Amigos had won by 14 – 13.
In another close match the Bushies went down, to a team made up of spare players, by 12 – 10.
Other winners on the night were Bowlbros over ROK FM, Casey Surveying over Central West Marine, We Wreck ‘M N’ We Fix ‘M over Loopy Loppers 1, Elle over Purple People (who, once again, would have won a prize for most colourful shirt) and Central West Glass over a team of new bowlers, 1800 Bugmen who played some great bowls and were not disgraced but more importantly had a great time playing.
UPCOMING BOWLS EVENTS
District Fours at Forbes – Saturday and Sunday, February 6 – 7.
District Pairs and Seniors Pairs at Parkes Railway/Diggers – Saturday and Sunday, February 13 – 14.
Presidents Pairs at Peak Hill – Saturday and Sunday February 13 – 14.
District Singles and Seniors Singles at our Club – February 20 – 21 and February 27 – 28.
Presidents Singles at Peak Hill February 20 – 21 and February 27 – 28.
STARTERS
Thursday, February 4 – Graham Barby and John Ward.
Saturday, February 6 – Bernie Mitchell and Ron Hornery.
GENERAL
Friday Night.
Come along and buy the winning tickets in the “Early Birds” meat tray raffle at about 6.30pm followed by the major raffle with prizes of meat trays, vouchers and cash which will be drawn at about 8 o’clock.
Great Pub style meals are available at reasonable prices from Mel’s Café.
The Members badge draw was not won last Friday and is $1,500 this week.