Saturday morning November 14th 2020 and Stephen Della and Kevin Stafford were off to Campbelltown City Bowling Club to play the final of the Zone 5 Champion of Champions Pairs.  Opponents from Austral Eagles were C Couchman and A Breese.  Do not have a full score card but I know that the match was very tight.  Way over in Bundanoon for the Southern Highland Cup the Men’s Bowling Club President was glued to his phone watching the final ends and relaying the information to other Bowral team members.  As I gather Austral were leading going into the final end and on the last bowl of the match Kevin managed to latch onto the jack and trail it to other Bowral bowls for a match winning result of 23-22.  A super effort from Stephen and Kevin and we now look forward to similar results in the NSW Champion of Champions event which is in January 2021.

To top off a marvellous weekend Stephen returned to Campbelltown on the next day,Sunday, for the Champion of Champions Zone Singles.  His morning match was against Anthony Viney of Kingwood Mens and Stephen won this game 31-19.  Next up in the afternoon was Martin Miles from Glenwood Panthers and this game was a little tighter, but still a victory for Stephen 31-27.  Certainly a wonderful weekend of results and Stephen moves into the quarter finals on November 21st at 9 am with a match against Adam Johnson of Campbelltown City.  I am sure the whole Bowral Club will be following his matches and urging him on to victory.

Bowls coordinator Carl Spilker and President Bob Crowley lead a Bowral team to Bundanoon for the first round of the Southern Highland Cup.  This a is an annual event between these two teams and Robertson with a round robin format followed by a final which this year will be a Bundanoon.  Matches are a fours, triples and pairs games with two nine end games and a three end tiebreaker if the teams are one all.  A mixture of home advantage for Bundanoon and a Bowral team with only three top graders present resulted in a 7-2 win for Bundanoon.  The Bowral Pairs team of Dave Coltman and Alistair McGhee lost 15-21 and 19-2.  The triples team of Chris Forrester, Ted McPhee (who I am sure as newer bowlers would have found the greens very different to that which they were used to) and Paul Leverett were closer with loses of 11-8 and 12-4.  The fours of Robin Staples, Bob Crowley, Carl Spilker gave Bowral it’s only win.  They won the first set 16-4, went to sleep and lost the second 6-9 before winning the tie breaker 3-1.  Next week Bowral will host Robertson at Bowral.

With December not far away, you might think that bowls activities might slow.  Not so, a host of events are taking place and scheduled over the next few weeks.  The Club Mixed Pairs is now well under way with four games on Sunday 8th November.  Closest of the four was Enid Brown and Don Coleman against Alex lamb and Carl Spilker.   Very close all the way, scores tied at 9 all after 11 ends and a one shot win to Alex and Carl 17-16. Gail Fraser and Jim Neely comfortable win over Bob Crowley and Lynn Boshier 24-14.  Good win for Rita South and Brian Porter 29-11 over Lurleen and Tony Oakes.  Finally Elaine Jones and Bob Edwards playing Ann Brenning and Dave Riddell.  Winner of this game Elaine and Bob by 25-12.  This win moves them into the quarter final and they are due to play Sylvia Handley and Kevin Stafford on Sunday 15th November.  This match has been completed but as yet I do not have the result.  Semi Finals should be next Sunday 29th November.  Breaking News!  Great win for Elaine Jones and Bob Edwards with a win over the current trophy holders 21-15.

Other Club event under way is the Senior Singles.  Clive Neutze and Robin Staples played their game on Wednesday 11th November and resulted in a win for Robin 31-16.  Clive was kind enough to allow him to pull out to a 15-2 before putting lots of pressure on but finally falling short.  The other three games were played on Saturday 14th November and winners were Mike Holmewood, Peter Morales and Eric Willacy.  Mike win was over Gordon Lewis and 31-19.  Another slow start for Mike allowed Gordon a 7-4 lead before Mike came on strong to overtake and win.  Peter’s opponent was Keith Edwards.  Peter was on top for all of this game, leading 14-2 after 10 ends and moving out to a 31-20 .  Finally Bob Edwards was in the fight after 15 ends against Eric Willacy with the score 10-10.  Thereafter Eric was the stronger with his final score 31-17.  Semi Finals next Saturday and Robin Staples versus Eric Willacy and Mike Holmewood versus Peter Morales.

So to wrap up just a few other notes on coming events.  The final of the Friday Night Hit Up was been delayed a week to Friday November 20th 2020.  Partly due to inclement weather and part due players being absent.  Remember The Mens Committee AGM. This will be held on Sunday morning 28th November at 11 am.  The new committee is promising some changes so if you wish to be part of the process then you need to be there to have your say.  Finally another event is up on the notice board.  The Bernie Michael Commemoration is to be played on Saturday 19th December.  This will be a triples event so assemble you teams as soon as possible as entries close on December 5th 2020.  Bernie was a wonderful Club member and enthusiastic bowler, so make up your team to support his day.  Finally do not forget to add your name to the pennant player list as the Club needs as many players as possible.