BBC BROADCAST WEDNESDAY JUNE 3rd            (Terry Norwood at the desk)

Some bits and bobs to open with:

1. The final of the BBC Triples Competition will be held on Saturday June 6th rolling off at 12.30. It should be a cracker when Noel Fraser, Jim Neely and Gail Fraser take on Gordon Lewis, Al McGhee and Ash Lewis, so let’s hope for a fine, wind-free day. Bowl well!
2. As well as the triples final on the Wilson Green on Saturday, there will also be social bowls on the Waratah Green for anyone feeling like a roll.
3. In the last report there was mention of our new windsock and the need to keep an eye on it and make sure it was locked away after play. Well, the blustery conditions on Wednesday put the new windsock to the test and, it was blown from the pole. Thanks to some eagle eyes, it was recovered and didn’t suffer the same fate as its predecessor . . . oblivion!
4. Committeeman Ian Duncan has produced an updated budget for 26/27 which, when ratified by the full committee, will be submitted to the Board of the Club. The minutes of the next Bowral Men’s Bowling Committee which is coming up very soon will carry a copy of the budget.
5. The updated participation figures (the number of times each bowler appears on the green at Bowral or represents the Club at pennants) for the period July ’25 – May ’26 have now been produced and will be posted on the notice board asap. Unsurprisingly, our indefatigable nonagenarian Gordon Lewis still leads the way with all the youngsters in his wake.
6. The Women’s Bowling Committee is again organising the Tulip Festival Competition this year and the date is Thursday 10th of September. This is a fours event for women or mixed teams so the men are invited to participate as part of mixed teams. Come on gents, get talking amongst yourselves and with the women and support this important day. The nomination schedules are posted on the notice board awaiting your entry!

Wednesday Social Bowls

If ever there was a day when the wind could be blamed for wayward bowls it was Wednesday June 3rd 2026!! The wind was a shocker, strong, blustery and freezing cold!! How Mick Flynn managed to begin the day in short sleeves is one of the wonders of the Bowral Bowling Club . . . however, it was noted that he wised up (or wimped out) halfway through and added three layers. If he’d found a fourth, that would have gone on too! And Chris in his shorts . . . well perhaps the three beanies on his head were pushing the heat south to his legs! Thirty-four bowlers braved the elements, so the Match Committee organised five games of triples and one of pairs.

On rink 7, Graham Hartnup, Graham ‘Pisa’ Hunt and the evergreen cobbler Gordon Lewis grabbed four shots on the first two ends against Charles ‘morse’ Coode, Paul McInerney and Dave Charlesworth, but were then only 5 – 4 up after six. Battling the gusts and cold, Gordon’s team then advanced the score to 13 – 6, but, by the fourteenth end, Dave’s trio had clawed back into the game to be within a shot. Team Lewis then kept pushing out, only to have Dave and his men edge after them. Four shots ahead with one to play, Gordon’s team racked up a double to take the honours at 21 – 15. ‘Pisa’ Graham made a good job of handling the gale better than most, as did the wily cobbler.

In the next game, Alex Christlo, Paul ‘ricochet’ Rubie and the maestro Robin Staples dropped a double on the first against Graham ‘dragon’ Denman, Don ‘gentleman’ Chapman and the ‘potter’ Mick Flynn, but a four on the third got them moving. Another four shotter on the sixth had them rolling, and by the eleventh, the lead was out to 15 – 7. In an amazing display in the wind, Alex was swinging his wide bowls into the jack and creating havoc for his opponent. With the wind not letting up, both teams kept struggling to keep the bowls on the line they thought might work. In the end team Staples handled things better to get home 25 – 12.

On rink 9, Clive Hutchens, Neville ‘the’ Tanner and Viv ‘fifth’ Gear managed the conditions better at the outset against Ted ‘Mr Ed’ McPhee, Russell Dunstan and Terry Norwood to lead to lead 7 – 3 after five ends. From there, the game settled into a dogged battle with neither team getting on top of the other. All bowlers were managing to get the occasional bowl close with Clive and Russell leading the way. Shots were scarce until the fifteenth end when Terry’s team managed a great end to snatch a five shotter and the lead for the first time. Viv’s team hung in determinedly to recover the lead with two ends to play. However, a second solid end to team Norwood, this time a four shotter, saw them scramble home 19 – 17.

In the pairs game, Peter ‘Virgin’ Flight and Denis ‘rowdy’ Lees dropped the first two ends against Neil ‘equally rowdy’ Puckeridge and Clive ‘dasher’ Neutze, but a five shotter on the third had them up, up and away! With both teams managing the wind better than many, they settled into a very keen battle. Neil and Clive edged out to a 13 – 9 lead by the tenth, but a run of five ends then put Peter and Denis on top by 18 – 13. Warming to the challenge on a freezing day (?!), Neil and Clive lifted and edged out to a two shot lead with the last end to play. In a great end to a ding-dong battle Peter and Denis could snaffle only a single and so went under to Neil and Clive 20 – 21.

On rink 11, Peter Marshall, Barb Wainberg and Richard ‘gazelle’ Denman made a blistering start against Shane Harvey, Ian ‘smooth’ Duncan and Arnie ‘dickie hammy, knee, ??, ??’ Lenczuk to lead 8 – 0 after three ends. Just when it looked like team Lenczuk needed a road map to find the jack, something clicked and they were on the scorecard. In fact, the radar had improved to the extent they had the score at 10 all on the ninth and the opening three ends were a distant memory. These two trios then settled into a tight battle and singles were the outcome end after end. The scores were 14 all and then 15 all by the eighteenth in a game that could clearly go either way . . . and it was Richard’s team that squeezed out two more singles and got to the clubhouse 17 – 15 to the good. Phew!

In the final match on the outside rink, Joel ‘AC/DC’ Hunt, Terry ‘pep’ Salter and Chris ‘triple beanie’ Forrester were matched over the early ends by Jill ‘Hollywood’ Harwood, Barry Werfel and Joe ‘rusty nail’ O’Donnell to be 4 – 5 after six. It was then, however, that Chris’ team got cracking, and by the tenth were ten shots to the good at 15 – 5. Joe’s team then steadied their ship with a five shotter on the next and looked to be back in the game. It was then, however, that Joel stepped up with some great bowls over the back ends, smothering the jack and setting his team up. Unable to match Joel’s leading, the ends drifted away from Joe’s team, and when stumps were drawn, it was 29 – 15 to team Forrester.