Notwithstanding all of the bowls that have been played in the past month, the most significant event this month has once again been the weather. Having just completed an extensive refurbishment of the Berry Bowling Club, the devastating deluge on the 5th of April flooded the newly renovated Club and completely smashed the greens. The Clubhouse was inundated, with mud completely covering the new carpet. Outside, part of the concrete block fence was demolished and the wire fences together with some of the shade structures were flattened and washed onto the greens, which were completely covered in debris.
A remarkable effort from the Berry community and club members to clean up and repair the damage resulted in the club being reopened for business within a few days. However, the effect on the greens will take considerably longer to rectify. As a result, all bowling events have been transferred to the Bomaderry Bowling Club until further notice.
Women’s Bowls
The Major Pairs championship began on the 19th of March as planned, thankfully before the deluge mentioned above. The match between Irene Dunn and myself against Anna Stewart and Jane Haddon was a very close game. Irene and I managed to win through to play against the winners of the other semi, Pam Tulloch and Gillian Portener in the final on the 26th of March. All I can say is I know how to choose a bowling partner! I had an OK game but Irene was outstanding giving us the win for the third year in a row.
The Major/Minor pairs was supposed to be next……I will let the accompanying photos tell the story!
Deb Folkard
Men’s Bowls
Pennants
The Grade 3 Team continued their winning streak on the 13th of April when they defeated Shoalhaven Heads, winning all three games and taking all of the available ten points. The fortunes of the Grade 6 Team have finally started heading in the right direction. Despite only winning one of the three matches against Culburra, we won the big board (aggregate score) and therefore earned eight of the ten points.
On Sunday the 14th of April, we played a catch-up round at Bomaderry for a previously washed-out round. Sadly, the Grade 3 Team lost their match against St Georges Basin which put them out of contention to win the Grade 3 competition. On a more positive note, the Grade 6 Team won all three games against Worrigee Sports Club to earn all ten available points. Whilst we have no chance of winning the competition, it was great to finally get back in the winner’s circle.
Pairs Championship
The semi-final of the Club Pairs Championship was held on the 10th of April with David Badger and Adam Rigney pitted against Nathan Bezant and Terry Hayes. This was an extremely close match with the score locked at 19 all on the 18th end, making for a nail-biting finish. Over the final three ends, David and Adam scored two points and Nathan and Terry won six points to win the match by 25 points to 21 and progress to the final.
The next event on the calendar is the Club Mixed Pairs competition. This is my favourite event as Deb and I finally get to play together. There are no easy games in this competition and our first game, against Gillian Portener and Terry Bezant, on the 21st of April will be a very tough match. The winner of this match will go on to play against Irene and Bob Dunn in the second round.
Social Bowls
13th March – “Jingles” Chittick and Mark Power 25 – Deb Folkard and David Badger 15. Derek Raymond and Steve Kellett 24 – Laurie Watson and Rob Folkard 16. Bob Burney, Bob Dunn and Lindsay McNamara 25 – Keith Pepper, Col Agar and Bill Chittick 18.
23rd March – Bill Capple and “Tige” Lidbetter 41 – Derek Raymond and Lindsay McNamara 7. George Waddell and Bob Dunn 39 – Bob Burney and Tom Froggatt 5.
27th March – Bob Dunn, Bill Capple and Lindsay McNamara 16 – Bob Burney, Laurie Watson and Terry Bezant 11. Russell Tulloch and Bill Chittick 26 – Tom Froggatt and Col Agar 15. Mark Power and Tige Lidbetter 27 – George Waddell and Terry Hayes 10. Derek Raymond and Rob Folkard 28 – Keith Pepper and Jingles Chittick 14.
30th March – Mark Power and Jim Abbott 24 – Jingles Chittick and David Badger 13.
10th April – Deb Folkard, Paul Smith and Steve Kellett 20 – Bob Dunn, Mark Power and Jingles Chittick 18. George Waddell, Keith Pepper and Rob Folkard 27 – Ron Nelson, Tom Froggatt and Col Agar 6.
Rob Folkard
