Bowls notes August 27

Place entries for all social events on sheets in club or phone answering service on 44742108. Details of club activities can be found on the "Moruya Men's Bowling Club" facebook page.

UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS:

MIXED PAIRS SPRING TOURNAMENT: Thursday 12 and Friday 13 September 2019. Entries close Wednesday 4 September

MORUYA MEN'S PAIRS TOURNAMENT: Saturday 14 September and Sunday 15 September. Entries close Wednesday 4 September.

DEUA RIVER TRIPLES: Saturday 16th November thru to Sunday 17th November. Entries close Wednesday 6th November.

On Tuesday, August 13, two teams of four Grade 3 lawn bowlers arrived from Tomakin to play in the State Pennant play-offs held at Kingscliff. Each team of four plays 21 ends and are awarded points as follows 1 point for a win, half a point for a draw, 3 points for a match win and one and half points for a match draw. Our first match on Wednesday against South Tamworth we scored 4 and half points, on Thursday morning we played Castle Hill scoring 4 points and against Wangi scoring 5 points. On Friday we played Austral scoring 1 point, total points were 14 and half. Friday afternoon Austral played South Tamworth and we needed Austral to lose. They did so we were in the final play-offs.

On Saturday morning we played Cabarita Beach winning, to play Muswellbrook RSL in the final on Sunday morning, August 18. We won the flag, it was so exciting we could not believe after 38 years when the club was formed that we had won our first State Pennant Flag. We would like to thank all our supporters.

Bruce and Denise Lidbury continued their dominance of the Tuross Head Mixed Pairs Championship taking out their fourth consecutive final! In the final they played Fran O'Connell and Marcel Kors who went into the match full of confidence on the back of a couple of excellent wins while the Lidburys had not been at their best.

The early ends of the game proved a struggle for all four players as they found the conditions tricky. A combination of a swirling wind and a green that had been affected by rare overnight frost, made it very hard for the players to adjust. However, the pattern for the game was established in this period with Bruce Lidbury quickly into his stride and he was able to continually put pressure on his opponents.

By the 10th end the Lidbury's had established a good 12 - 4 lead. Unfortunately, O'Connell and Kors could not reproduce their form of the previous matches. They were a little off the mark and found that even good shots did not reap the rewards they were hoping for. As always, Denise Lidbury played a couple of crucial bowls when they were needed. On the 11th end she played one where she trailed the jack to turn a 2 shot deficit into 3 shots for her team. Another 4 shots on the 13th end virtually sealed the win when the margin stretched to 19 - 4. O'Connell and Kors plugged away but it was not their day. The final score saw the Lidburys win 26 - 8.

The win is a credit to both Bruce and Denise who consistently play well and combine well together. In this particular game Bruce was the chief destroyer. He put on a master class of lead bowling and always had bowls in the head. Well done to O'Connell and Kors who had a great Championship but just found the final hurdle too tough!

In the Zone 7 Presidents Reserve Fours final played on August 17-18, the winners were Malua Bay bowlers Murray O'Bryan, Peter Hutchison, Steve Maher and Barry Thurlow. They will now go on to represent the club at the state finals next month.

Last weekend the club hosted a major open pairs competition with 52 bowlers taking part in six games over two days. The winners with 6 wins plus 49 shots were Jeff Rankin and Shane Quinlivan. Second place went to Bob Brown and Mark West with 5 wins plus 49 shots. Third place went to Murray O'Bryan and Darren White with 5 wins plus 45 shots. Fourth place went to Peter Hutchison and Barry Thurlow with 5 wins plus 40 shots.

The best last game winners on Saturday were Brett and Stuart McGee with plus 37 shots and on Sunday the best last game winners were Peter Van Der Hueval and Keith Pickett with plus 16 shots. Next Saturday the first round of the handicap singles will be played.

What a fabulous 10 days away staying at Cabarita Beach, not hard to take at all. State Finals for lawn bowls was held at four clubs in the area, Cabarita, Kingscliff, Cudgen and Pottsville, with some amazing bowls played. Malua Bay had two sides of four teams competing in grades 1 and 4 who did us proud. The 1's won and lost two matches against some very strong opposition, some of the bowlers they played against are Australian Champions who we often see on television, and all very young!! The 4's lost their first match by only 2 points, then had a big win 68/19 but lost the next two matches, all of our teams did their very best. Teams from Tura Beach and Tomakin also represented the Far South Coast. We were all fortunate to see Tomakin girls take out the State Flag in Grade 3 and to be there to cheer them on.

The Nader Shield was played over two days last Thursday and Friday, hosted by Club Tomakin. As well as Malua Bay and Tomakin there were teams taking part from Moruya, Narooma,Tuross Head, Dalmeny and Bermagui. Thursday was a cold day with gale forced winds, making it very hard for bowlers. Friday was a much better day and I am proud to say Malua Bay team were the 2019 Shield winners. Well done to Singles, Karen Signor, Pairs, Sue Beavan and Paula Hancock, Triples, Pat Weekes, Alison Innes and Jenny Blyth, Fours, Gay Biggs, Julie Lewis, Ellie Crompton and Pat Bill.

Last Sunday morning started off nice and warm but by the finish of our bowls it was very cold so hoping for some rain. Welcome to visitors Brett Montgomerie son of Terry, Peter Epplestun from Sale , also several members of Malua Bay's Sunday Sippers who were unable to bowl at their club whilst championships were being played. There were 42 bowlers on the greens playing in 10 pairs games of two-four-two.

Winners were those with highest losing margin, Tricia Wheeler and Dick Morley. Runners-up, Terry Montgomerie and Tony Birmingham. Breakfast trays won on 14, Bob Starkovski and 23, Flo Young. Moby Dick selected Rink 10 to try for Jackpot. Brett Keegan cut the cards and came up with the Joker but as there wasn't a lot of money to share he decided to leave the kitty for another day. Don't forget next Sunday is Father's Day Twisties.

Social Triples: Thursday, August 22. Due to District Bowls commitments our social triples were brought forward and played on Wednesday. We apologise to those bowlers who missed out on a game due to the change of day. The winners were Fred Burggraaf, John Desmet, and Ken Higgins with a margin of plus 11. The runners up with a plus 6 were Robert Richardson, John Zanotti, and Chris O'Brien. The jackpot draw went to rink 4. Chris O'Brien did not pin down the joker so the $510 jackpot carries over to next week.

Social Pairs: Monday, August 26. Today we welcomed Ian Mather who was visiting us from Crescent Head near Kempsey. The winners were Fred Goodman and Gerry Vandermey with a margin of plus 19. The runners up with a plus 13 were Ken Calder and Owen Roe. The jackpot draw went to Ron Beeley the winning skip on rink 3. The card Ron picked had hearts on it so the $500 jackpot carries over to next week.

Men's Bowling Club AGM: Congratulations to all those club members who nominated for committee positions for 2019-20. Our new President is Graham Skidmore with Steve Gigg filling the Vice-Presidents position. Thank you also to Ross Hardy (Secretary), Robbie Murdoch (Treasurer), and Steve Hall (Bowls Coordinator) who continue in their previous role. The six general committee positions were filled by Brian Leahy, Dave McCraw, Chris O'Brien, Tony Robinson, Bob Starkovski, and Les Vincent.

Club Member Welfare: Club members send a big cheerio to Gordon Wheatley who is recovering from an operation in hospital in Canberra. Get well soon Gordon and we hope to see you back on the green soon.

Club Championships: Members are reminded that the Mixed Pairs Championship is closing soon. It would be great to see a few more entries to help fill the draw.