BBC BROADCAST WEDNESDAY JANUARY 24th (Terry Norwood in the chair)
It is with sadness that we note the passing of Mrs Rosemary Denman, wife of much respected and loved Bowral bowler Richard Denman. We offer our heartfelt condolences to Richard and family. Funeral details will be posted when available.
Some reminders and bits of information:
- The Bowls Secretary is still calling for entries into the Chris Benton memorial event to be staged on Saturday February 3rd. Keep in mind that you don’t have to organise a full team of four, but your own name will be enough to have you placed in a team by the organisers. Proceeds from the day are donated to brain cancer research, so let’s all get behind this event.
- Another reminder that social bowls on Wednesday February 14th will be combined with the visit of the group from the ACT. Because there will be quite a number of bowlers we will almost certainly need the Lewis Green for some of the games, so keep that in mind when nominating for the day.
- The BBC Open Singles event has now been scheduled for Sunday February 11th and the nomination schedule has been posted on the notice board. Bowlers have until Saturday February 3rd to enter, so don’t dilly-dally too long before you get your name listed.
Social Bowls Wednesday
A somewhat muggy day greeted the thirty-four bowlers who turned out for the mid-week social bowls. The breeze, fairly stiff at times, blew quite consistently from the west/north west and helped to keep bowlers’ minds on the job throughout the afternoon. And remember bowlers, you can’t blame the wind for any very wayward bowls, especially those that curl off onto the neighbouring rink. With there being thirty-four bowlers, the Match Committee arranged one game of pairs and five of triples.
In the pairs game on rink 8, Scott Kennon and Kevin Stafford took on Graham ‘jockey’ Hunt and Mr unflappable Chris Forrester. Although they dropped two shots on the first end, Graham and Chris were soon into stride and led 5 – 2 after four ends. Scott and Kevin then hit their straps to win five of the next six ends and set up a handy lead of 14 – 6. Their lead was still eight shots after fifteen ends, but two ends later Graham and Chris had reduced that to three. Game on . . . but an eyewatering five shot haul on the next end to team Stafford steadied their ship and they went on to win 25 – 21. There were some very good bowls put down in this game; the leads had a keen tussle as did the skips, but none played better than Graham.
Scott bowled well but had his hands full with a hot Graham Hunt!
In the game on the next rink, Bill Meredith, Russell Dunstan and the maestro Robin Staples battled against Joel ‘ho ho’ Hunt, Terry ‘PNE’ Norwood and Ian ‘merlot’ Crow. In a ripping start, Robin led his team to a 9 – 0 after four ends and had the opposition gasping for breath. Robin’s team then continued to dominate the game and led 14 – 4 after nine ends. Ian’s team found a little better form as the game progressed and got themselves to within three shots by the seventeenth end, and felt that they were in with a good chance of victory. It was then that Robin played the shot of the game; with two opposition bowls sitting on the jack only inches from the sideline and at least four shots down, Robin killed the end. Brilliant! This took the steam out of the Crow run and team Staples went on to post a 23 – 18 victory.
Robin ‘the maestro’ pulled off the shot of the day on the way to victory!
In the sixteen-ender on rink 10, Keith ‘foxy’ Edwards, Bill ‘the’ Pope and John ‘junior’ Cummins went head to head against Wal Markow, Barry Werfel and skipper Paul ‘rowdy one’ Rubie. Now, the opening couple of ends of this match gave no indication of the drama that was to follow. Team Cummins won the first end with a single shot, and team Rubie matched that on the second end. One all after two ends, a very normal start to a game. However, unfortunately for Paul’s team, that was the end of their scoring; they failed to win another end! Oh ouch! As often as not, the opposition lead Keith was on the jack, and if he wasn’t Bill or John knocked the team Rubie bowls away. Try as they might, and they got good bowls in, they were out-bowled by the Cummins steamroller. Won’t mention the score, but the gap was huge.
Keith ‘the fox’ was rarely off the jack!
On the next rink, Ian Duncan, Peter ‘Virgin’ Flight and the wily skipper Bob Edwards took on Col ‘Hawaii’ Stone, Joe O’Donnell and ‘Mr Potters’ Mick Flynn. Both sides got onto the scorecard early for Bob’s team to lead 4 – 2 after three ends. However, a run then of four ends saw team Flynn race to a lead of 10 – 4. Bob’s team then had a couple of solid ends so that by the eleventh end the deficit had been reduced to four shots. And then, the second half of the game saw the scores swing back and forth as the sides won alternate ends right through to 21st. Bob’s team did get as close as three shots at one stage, but the final score was 23 – 16 in favour of team Flynn.
The wily Mick Flynn saw his team home with a solid victory!
In the triples game on rink 12, Graham ‘grandad’ Denman, Don Chapman and the wily Scot Owen Williams battled for honours against newcomer David Charlesworth, Arnold Lenczuk and skipper gentleman Jim Starkey. Owen’s team had much the better of the opening and raced to a lead of 7 – 1 after four ends. However, Jim’s team got themselves to within two shots by the seventh end, and three ends later the scores were locked at 9 all. Owen’s team then edged ahead and after the seventeenth end led by three shots. Far from done, team Starkey hit back and had the scores at 15 all with two ends to play. Two shots on the twentieth put Owen’s team in front, and when team Starkey could muster only one shot on the last, they held on to the slimmest of victories at 17 – 16. What a ripper of a close one! Yes, another close one for gentleman Jim who has had a draw and three one-shoters recently!
Gentleman Jim went down by one shot in another close one!
The final game on rink 13 saw Michael Hook, Neville ‘the’ Tanner and the evergreen nonagenarian Gordon Lewis up against Charles Coode, Rowena Coode and skipper Steven ‘smooth’ Goddard. Steven’s team won the first three ends, but, by the fifth end, the lead was only one shot at 4 – 3. Team Goddard then had a nice run of four ends, but a three shot haul on the eleventh end to Gordon’s team meant that they were only one shot adrift at 7 – 8. And when they notched up a four on the thirteenth end, they hit the lead at 11 – 10. With Gordon in good form, his team continued the run winning five of the next six ends to hold a five shot lead with two ends to play. But . . . never write off a team led by the formidable Steven Goddard! Four shots on the twentieth saw his team one behind and then two on the last gave them a last gasp victory. Another ripper of a close game at 17 – 16!
Steven got his team home in a storming finish!