Bowlers Notes. April 2016.
Club Championship Singles. The final was played on 5
th
March
2016 between Greg Taylor and Jim Neely. After an even start Greg achieved a “Four” on
the fourth end and by the eleventh end had raced ahead to a 14-1 lead. He continued to
stretch ahead and by the seventeenth end was leading by 20-6. At this stage Jim staged a
fight back, winning the next seven ends. However, each of these end only reaped a single
shot so by the twenty-fourth end Greg was leading 20-13.Thereafter Greg won the next six
ends to reach a winning score of 31 on the thirtieth end.
So commiserations to Jim for a fine effort in reaching the final. Congratulation to
Greg Taylor in winning the major event of the year, competing in his first event with Bowral
Bowling Club since arriving from Brush Park Bowling Club late last year. I am sure Greg will
feature largely in all our events this year and we also congratulate him on his recent
marriage. Congratulations Greg Taylor.
.
Singles Events 2016 I do “go on” about not reading the notice board.
Please be reminded, if you do not turn up when scheduled you will be forfeited. If you do
not turn up to mark when scheduled you will be rostered for extra marking. If due to
unforeseen circumstances you are unable to play, let me know and I will endeavour to
accommodate. Basically this will apply once, certainly not for a three week holiday, but
Bowls Secretary’s discretion will apply on all occasions.
State (District) Events. The preliminary rounds and Zone Finals have
now been completed for these events. I am delighted to report that Bowral Bowling Club
has had some excellent results. The only event in which we were not represented in the
finals was the Triples. In the Zone Singles Gary Brown from Bowral was defeated by Sean
Sommerville from Austral club in the semi-final. In the Senior Singles Jim Neely went down
to Karl Syznal also from Austral and also in the semi-final. We did better in the pairs. Allan
Berle and Kevin Stafford won the Zone, defeating another Austral team in the final. Our
other team of Noel Fraser and Jim Neely had a close tussle in the Senior Pairs, just going
down on the last end of the semi-final to a team from St Mary’s RSL. To complete an
excellent competition for Bowral Club, on Sunday 28th February, our team of Stephen
Della, Gary Brown, Mick Armstrong and Mick Spong won the Zone Fours title. In the semifinal they defeated another Austral team, followed by a win in the afternoon over a
Wallacia team by 21-16. So well done again, to those who entered and the players who
have made the State Finals. The Finals are to be held at Ettalong Memorial Bowling Club.
In a happy coincidence both State Fours and State Presidents Pairs matches are on the
same days, with the round of sixteen and Quarter Finals on Saturday 15th October 2016 and
the semi-finals on the next day, Sunday 16th October 2016.
2016 Pennant Season
All pennant players please note that cards are called at 12.40pm with the roll-up to
start at 12.45pm so that games may start promptly at 1.00pm. It is strongly advised that
you plan your arrival at the venue for no later than 12.30pm.
Grade 4 will play against Bargo, Crookwell and Goulburn Rail.
Grade 5 will play against Austral, Camden, Campbelltown City, and Crookwell.
Grade 7 will play against Bargo, Camden 1 and Campbelltown City.
We are now approaching the third round of the Pennants draw. Our fours team has
had two wins. A 10-0 victory against Bargo in the first round and an 8-2 win against
Goulburn Rail in the second. A reminder that scoring this year is 7 points for a win with 1
point for each rink win. The “fives team” lost the first round 9-1 to Campbelltown City club
and had a bye in the second round. The “sevens” won the first week at home to Camden 1
team then lost at Bargo by one shot the following week. Full up to date results are on the
notice board and may also be obtained from our web site at
www.bowralbowlingclub.com.au.
Update.
The third round of the pennants was played on the 2nd April 2016.
Unfortunately, this resulted in loses for all three of our teams. The 4’s lost to Crookwell by
9-1, the 5’s lost to Camden by 8-2 and the 7’s were narrowly defeated by Campbelltown by
one shot with a score against of 9-1. Results on website and notice board.
Twilight Bowls. Daylight saving ends this weekend so there will be no more
twilight bowling until next spring. My thanks to Bruce Clyne for running most evenings.
Our attempts to organise a business competition were not fruitful, with only one business
team taking part. However, our own members enjoyed some lovely evenings of bowling
and seemed to derive a lot of pleasure from this informal event. My thanks to Brian Porter
(who also helped organize some of the evenings) Rita South, Howard Lewis, Bearnie
Michael, Jim Starkey, Keith Edwards, Dean Anderson and Josh Woodcock for participating.
Also to our Club Social members who participated on a regular basis, namely Tim Blake, Al
Chesmar and Dave Rossiter.
Club Championship Pairs. We have now reached the semi-finals
of this event. Currently planned for a 1.00pm start on the 17th April. These should be two
great matches with Ken Handley and Dennis Beatty (last year’s Champions) against Mick
Spong and Mick Armstrong. In the second match Stephen Della and Russell Knight (2014
Pairs Champions) take on Gary Brown and Greg Lewis. I would suggest the excellent
Sunday roast at the Jack High Bistro followed by some great watching of these pair’s games.
Minor Singles. The first match of this competition has been played,
resulting in a narrow win by four shots to Dean Anderson over Kevin Jones. The remainder
of the first round will be played over the first two Wednesdays of April. Please check the
notice board.
Minor Pairs. Entries for this event will be open on 9
th
April 2016. Entries
close on Saturday 7th May at 5pm. First round will be played on Wednesday 25th May
2016. Saturdays and Sundays may be utilized if necessary. Entry criteria are that entrants
may not have won a Club Championship Singles or Pairs, or a Minor Pairs at Bowral or any
other Club.
Library. The library is now up and running thanks to the efforts of Don
Chapman and the “Men’s Shed” who built the bookshelves. So if you have any books that
you believe others would like to read, please donate them to the library. Especially useful,
as this is a bowling club, would be books or DVD’s on bowling. Barry Werfel has kindly
offered to be librarian and has already sorted out the books donated into categories.
The fee for each book borrowed is $0.50. Unlike the roll up, this fee is
compulsory (though as it is unmonitored, it is an honour system). The first $100 collected
will go to repay the “Men’s Shed” and thereafter money collected will go to a cancer
charity.
Please note that a secure collection box is now in place for you to pay for
books borrowed.
www.bowralbowlingclub.com.au.
Check out the Club’s new web site at
the above address. Development is ongoing, but I believe that we have made a good start.
My thanks to Rovivor Enterprises which is run by Ivor Watkiss and has been responsible for
the development of our site. Ivor is a member of Camden Bowling Club and built the
Camden web site which I would recommend that you visit to see how other clubs operate a
website. Any feedback will be gratefully taken on board. Also due a vote of thanks is our
General Manager, Will Mathews, who has donated much time and energy to the contents
of our site. Should you visit the Camden web site you may note that they have two sites,
one for the bowlers and one for the club. Ours is combined, so a great deal of information
had to be contributed by Will to furnish the “club” side of the web site. My thanks to both
Ivor and Will.
Synthetic green.
Following the General Meeting of the 13th March 2016,
called by Deputy Chairman Allan Berle to inform members of the synthetic green situation,
it seems appropriate to summarise the meeting for those who were unable to attend. I will
try and be unbiased as possible, though I am one of the Board members who voted in
favour of a synthetic green. The meeting was initially addressed by new Chairman Elaine
Jones who thanked the outgoing chairman Jeff Williams for his efforts and outlined some of
the achievements of the last year. Also an outline of the plans for the near future. Allan
Berle addressed the meeting and explained some of the problems with synthetic greens,
including the heat generated on very warm days and that there were reports of 17 clubs
removing synthetic in favour of a return to grass. Allan Berle called Josh Woodcock who
gave an explanation of the current state of our three greens and reiterated some of the
problems of synthetic.
Ken Looke gave a summary of the Clubs financial position and explained that we are
losing on average ten bowling members per year against a gain of three members. He also
gave costing of maintaining two grass greens and a bare foot green. General Manager Will
Mathews presented an in depth assessment of the costings as presented to the
Wingacarribee Council which resulted in an interest free loan being forthcoming. R Staples
covered some of the advantages that a synthetic green will bring to bowlers as well as
addressing the downside of synthetic. Should any member require more information
please talk to the Board Members who will be happy to explain.
Current Situation: The Board has approved the installation of a synthetic green at the
January Board Meeting. After discussion it was decided that the Synthetic should replace
the North Green. Following the Clubs delegation to Melbourne to view synthetic greens
costing was predicated on installing a needle punch green as this was the unanimous
recommendation. Four Board Members visited Padstow and Warilla Bowling Clubs in
March. The greens at Padstow, KCL sand filled greens, were very impressive. As a result
some of the Board Members wish to explore this avenue further before a final decision is
made. This may take a little time. I will try and keep you informed of progress.
Club Championship Triples. Entries close at 5.00pm on Saturday
16th April 2016. If you have not yet entered, grab a couple of bowlers and enter now.