BBC BROADCAST WEDNESDAY BOWLS OCTOBER 9th (Terry Norwood at the desk)
Some bits to salivate over until you get to the main course below:
- The first round of the Rookie Singles Competition was held yesterday, the 9th. Details follow below in the bowls report.
- On Sunday coming the 13th, the first round of the Mixed Pairs Championship will be staged commencing at 10.30am. There should be some great bowling on view for those who wish to sit back in the sun and sip on a beverage. Past champs in Gail Fraser and Jim Neely will play Reta South and Bob Edwards in what should be a ripper of an opening encounter.
- The Men’s Bowls Committee held its latest meeting at the Club on Wednesday October 9th. The draft minutes will be posted on the notice board asap.
- One decision from the Men’s Committee was that as of now, there will be no prize money for Club events. Apparently, there are now no active sponsors for the Club (although the status of BOQ is not yet clear) and hence no money flowing through to the Men’s Committee. Until we can line up some sponsors, we have to budget on a shoestring!
- The Men’s Committee also decided to run the Major Singles and Major Pairs in November as scheduled. Entry notices will be posted on the board in the very near future, so men, keep your eyes peeled for those.
Social Bowls Saturday October 5th
There is one game from Saturday to report on, in respect to a hardy sextet that hit the green, especially our Tongan returnee Chris ‘the unflappable one’ Forrester. Just hankering for some time on the green, Chris teamed with Barry ‘smerfel’ Werfel and Ian ‘mr cool’ Duncan to battle against Grahame ‘dragon’ Denman, Peter ‘ambi’ Flight and the wily one Bob Edwards. With Chris a little rusty after his short layoff, Bob’s team won the first three ends with singles. However, Chris’ boys then hit their straps to win six of the next eight ends and leap to a 13 – 7 lead, and there was no stopping them from there. They dominated the back half of the game, including a mouth watering five shotter on the fifteenth end which pulled the plug from the Edwards boat. 26 – 10 was the final score.
Rookie Singles (25 up)
In the round one game on rink 11, Ian ‘cool’ Duncan took on Graham ‘gouty’ Hartnup. Despite a gouty hand, Graham was in great touch early to lead 7 – 2 after five ends, including a pair of three shotters on the first two ends. However, Ian slowly found some better form, and a four shot haul on the 12th end saw him hit the lead for the first time. With some fine draw bowling, Ian then pushed his lead out to 22 – 11 by the twentieth end and had his fingers all over victory. To Graham’s credit, he won the next two ends, but, unfortunately for him, Ian then put four shots close to the jack to take out victory on the twenty-third end. There was some fine bowling in this keenly fought match.
Ian sends down another fine bowl!
In the other round one match, Russell Dunstan took on Grahame ‘dragon’ Denman. In a blistering, fire-breathing start, Grahame led 6 – 0 after three ends and 8 – 3 after six. Russell then steadied and got the score to 7 – 8, but Grahame won six of the seven ends after that to set up a huge lead of 18 – 8! He even cracked a smile when the marker gave him the score. However, unfortunately for him, the pendulum then swung, the worm turned, the wind changed . . . well, Russell got the jack, bowled short ends and started scoring. With some much better bowling, Russell moved the score to 17 – 18, only to have Grahame then snatch three ends and lead 23 – 17. So close, only two away from victory!! But, unfortunately not close enough, because Russell then bowled his best three ends of the game to come out on top 25 – 23. What a great contest!
Grahame, the ‘dragon’, had a great game, but just ran out of puff!
In a second round game rolled out on rink 12, Peter ‘ambi’ Flight butted heads with newcomer Bruce Yahl. In what must have come with a nice feeling, Bruce won the first end in his first singles match and was on the scorecard. However, Peter was soon into stride and with a three shotter on the third end led 4 – 1. Bruce did get the score to 4 all, but Peter was all over the jack to win the next six ends and hold a commanding lead of 17 – 4. Not conceding without a fight, Bruce hit back to win five of the next seven ends and reduce the deficit substantially. However, in the end, experience showed and Peter finished off the match on the twenty-second end and moved into the third round. It must be said though, that Bruce bowled well in his first hit-out having many bowls shave the jack or his opponent’s bowls without once having the luck go his way.
Ian Duncan, Graham Hartnup, Bruce Yahl, Peter Flight, Russell Dunstan and Grahame Denman, the first day contestants in the Rookie Singles Competition!
Wednesday Social Bowls
Twenty-six bowlers turned out for social bowls on what was a cool, cloudy afternoon. The Match Committee organised three games of triples and two of pairs. With three rinks of the Waratah Green devoted to the Rookie Singles matches, the two pairs games were allocated to the grass of the Wilson Green. Unfortunately, the feedback from all bowlers was that the Wilson Green is still not up to scratch.
On rink 4, Arnold ‘rosie’ Lenczuk and the venerable cobbler Gordon Lewis battled for honours against Denis ‘rowdy’ Lees and Bob ‘wily’ Edwards. Despite dropping three shots on the first end, Bob and Denis were soon into better form than their opponents and led 10 – 3 after seven ends. However, through perseverance on the bobbly surface, Gordon and Arnie won six of the next ten ends to move to within five shots on the scorecard. With four ends to play, they were in with a chance of victory. However, it was not to be! Bob and Denis snuffed their run out, and rolled home victors at 22 – 13.
Poetry in motion, Bob Edwards on the mat!
In the other pairs game, Mike ‘fish’ Hook and Richard Denman tussled against Graham ‘leaning tower’ Hunt and the miracle man Peter Morales. Both sides won early ends for the score to be 4 – 3 to Peter and Graham. They extended this to 7 – 4, but a four end scoring run by Mike and Richard saw them reverse the situation and lead 14 – 7! Team Morales hit back and it was 14 all and then with four ends to play 15 all! Game on! And it was Mike and Richard who gained the initiative, won those four ends and sneaked home at 20 – 15. No miracles happening today!
Another victory for Richard as skipper!
In a triples game on rink 8, Graham Bond, Paul McInerney and the maestro Robin Staples went head to head against Barry ‘smerfel’ Werfel, Viv ‘second’ Gear and the dasher himself Clive Neutze. And it was Clive’s team that had the better of the opening ends to lead 4 – 1 after four. However, hitting better touch, Robin’s team won the next five ends, and when the game reached the eleventh end, they led 11 – 5. And then, as it turned out, there was to be no recovery for team Neutze. With the skipper in fine form and his second chipping in well, team Staples won all but three ends in the run home and came away with an impressive 24 – 11 victory.
The maestro was at it again on Wednesday with a big win!
In the 18-ender on rink 9, Wal Markow, Keith ‘foxy’ Edwards and John ‘junior’ Cummins faced off against Alex Christlo, John ‘rowdy’ Fleming and Paul ‘why leave it to me’ Rubie. Both teams won early ends and the score-line of 4 all after six ends gave no indication of where the game would go from there. Paul’s team did lead 5 – 4, but it was downhill for them from there! Junior’s team went on a scoring spree from that point and showed no compassion whatsoever; in fact, they loved it! With Wal all over the jack and enjoying himself immensely, team Cummins coasted home at 19 – 9 without even having to set the spinnaker.
Wal really set the 18-ender alight!
In the final game on rink 10, Joel ‘grr’ Hunt, Don ‘gentleman’ Chapman and Mick ‘potters’ Flynn took on Charles Coode, Neville ‘the’ Tanner and the wily Owen Williams. And this was another game where the early score gave no indication of what was to follow. Owen’s team led 4 – 3 after five ends, but, unfortunately for them, a scoring drought followed. Mick’s boys, with Joel and Don in top form, won ends four through to thirteen and set up a massive lead of 22 – 4. It was then that Owen’s team had its purple patch of the game, winning five straight ends, collecting an eleven shot bag and working themselves back in the frame. However, as it turned out, they were too far behind and Mick’s team finished on top at 25 – 15.
Joel had another big game as lead on Wednesday!