YMGCR Bowls
Mid-Week Pennant
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After a qualifying final loss to Corowa RSL, played at Corowa Civic, the A1s got their chance at redemption when they took on Wangaratta in a preliminary final played last Tuesday. Corowa RSL was the venue for the preliminary final.
The A1s had finished the home and away season in second place on the ladder with 9 wins and 127 points.
Wangaratta finished the home and away rounds in fourth place on the ladder with 7 wins and 105 points.
With only two home and away wins and 22 points separating YMGCR and Wangaratta, the preliminary final was always going to be a close-run affair.
Regrettably for YMGCR, the game ended in a narrow loss to Wangaratta. This brought the A1s finals campaign to a sudden close.
The final scores saw Wangaratta with 67 shots and 12 points defeat YMGCR, who had 58 shots and 2 points.
This meant a straight-sets exit for the A1s and an earlier finish to their finals campaign than they would have liked.
Waving the flag as the sole winning rink for YMGCR were Laureen Smith (L), Ian Febey (2), Michael Vaughan (3), and Anne Miles (S), who won 23 shots to Wangaratta’s 21.
Also representing YMGCR in the preliminary final were Chris Horne (L), Ray Brown (2), Michael Szabo (3), Ray Irvine (S), Rhonda Irvine (L), Greg Green (2), Gary Presnell (3), and Ian Brimblecombe (S).
Our congratulations go to all those players who represented the A1s through a very successful home and away season and finals campaign.
After a qualifying loss to Club Mulwala, the A2s got a second chance to reach the grand final should they win the preliminary final, where their opponents would be Kiewa.
Kiewa had finished the home and away season in third place on the ladder with 8 wins and 111 points, just one win and 25 points behind the A2s, who finished with 9 wins and 126 points.
The end-of-season ladder positions indicated that the preliminary final would be very close. And so it was, with YMGCR narrowly prevailing 61 shots and 10 points to Kiewa’s 58 shots and 4 points. This was one of those games where one rink’s efforts carried the whole team over the line.
Winning the day for YMGCR were David Irvine (L), Robyn Moore (2), Caroline Reilly (3), and Allan Goudge (S), who defeated Kiewa 23 shots to 16.
The A2s now play in a grand final at Wangaratta Bowls Club against the side that finished the season on top of the A2 ladder, Club Mulwala.
The game was scheduled for Tuesday, March 3, and when this article goes to print the result will be known. Here’s hoping it’s a victory for the A2s.
Players representing YMGCR in the grand final are Bruce Davie (L), Liliana Borwick (2), Shirley Hummel (3), Rob Hummel (S), David Irvine (L), Robyn Moore (2), Caroline Reilly (3), Allan Goudge (S), Lynne Baxter (L), Vicki Withers (2), Garry Seamer (3), Greg Fisher (S), and Chris Horne (emergency). Good luck to you all.
Thursday Social Bowls
Due to the annual Bernie Bott tournament being played at the Golf Club, there were no Thursday social bowls last week. Thursday social resumes this Thursday, March 5.
The game commences at 10.30am. The format is one game of nominated 3-bowl pairs played over 24 ends. The cost per player is $10.
There is always terrific prize money on offer, and a chance to win the Lucky Number raffle, which costs $1 per number. The games are played on the best greens in the Ovens and Murray region.
Why not enter a team by placing your names on the entry sheets located on the Bowls Office noticeboard. Single entries and visitors from other clubs are always welcome.
Single entries and visitors, please provide a contact telephone number when placing your names on the entry sheets.
Barefoot Charity Challenge
Bowls have been bedevilled by inclement weather this year, usually of the hot-weather variety. The YMGCR / Mercy Health Barefoot Charity Challenge has not been immune from adverse conditions, with one game cancelled due to the heat.
Last Tuesday’s games were abandoned due to inclement weather of a different kind: lightning, thunder, and a heavy downpour of rain brought the evening to a sudden and unwelcome halt.
We desperately need the rain, so to curse its arrival would be churlish at best. However, it would have been nice if it could have held off until midnight.
As there were no results for the evening, this is an opportunity to thank our major sponsor for the tournament, Mercy Health Yarrawonga. Our thanks also go to Woolworths Yarrawonga, who have generously donated hampers for each evening’s play. Ron and Jill Lamson have also kindly donated raffle prizes.
YMGCR bowlers who have given their time to assist with the running of the event include Kerry Kinnane, Jill and Ron Lamson, Peter Lidgerwood, Chris Horne, and Ian Febey, to mention just a few.
Hopefully, the weather gods will allow this week’s games to proceed without interruption.
Until next week, good bowling.
Yarrawonga Bowls Club
The club has some exciting news to share with members. After the success of installing new lights on the front green, the club is now installing new lighting on the newly replaced back green, meaning we can now host and play on a premium surface at night.
This will enable us to play night pennant, extend our barefoot bowls capacity, and host up to 30 teams on occasions such as our monthly night-time triples matches.
The board is to be commended for continuing to invest in strategic development for the club premises and for sound management principles that enable us to be in such a strong financial position to support these initiatives. Well done.
Monday, March 2
Social bowls – please note that from Monday 9th March, the start time will revert back to 12.30pm.
Monday, February 23
We had 32 players on the green for our social Monday. Winners were Peter Velardo and Ken Chamberlain. Well done. Runners-up were Ken and Donna Smith. Good job.
The jackpot was claimed by new faces Deb and Trish Driden, and the lucky number was won by Mick Reilly.
2 bowl triples – Wednesday, March 18
Now hosting up to 30 teams on two greens under the new lights on the green.
The next match will be Wednesday 18th March at 6.30pm. Get your team entries in and make a big night of it. Entries are on the sheet at the front of the club.
Over 60’s competition
The boys had a ripper day out last week, winning 3 out of 3 games. Their best performance for quite some time.
It still wasn’t enough to take the chocolates, but what a great fun day was had by all. Well done, gentlemen. Super effort.
Barefoot bowls
The ever-popular barefoot bowls continues to thrive under the new lights, with great numbers continuing to show up for this well-loved activity.
Thursday nights really are like a family. Come and join the fun. Cost is $5 and includes a BBQ dinner. BBQ at 6pm, bowls from 6.30pm to approximately 8.30pm. Raffles and prizes.
Please have your name down on the sheet at the front of the clubhouse by 3pm, and also advise if cancelling so we can have the draw done correctly.
Friday night happy hour
Last Friday saw a happy group of bowlers enjoying the camaraderie and a chat to round out the week.
This week, members enjoyed the monthly complimentary hot finger food and sandwiches provided by the club. Thanks to the volunteers who prepared and helped, always much appreciated.
Finger food is always provided by the club on the last Friday of the month.
Why not come along and have a coldie and a yarn this week. Remember, happy hour is on every Friday from 5–6pm, with the bar open from 4pm.
Sponsors barefoot bowls shield night – Wednesday, March 25, 5.30–8.30pm
The annual sponsors barefoot bowls shield night is fast approaching.
This is the night we invite the sponsors along for a night of fun bowling, socialising, and mingling with other local businesses.
It’s our way of thanking the sponsors for their ongoing support and showing our appreciation. We all know, however, the most important part of the evening is to vie for the coveted YBC Sponsors Shield, the bragging rights.
Last year, in our inaugural event, it was Team Cumberoona who took the honours.
Who will claim victory this year.
The club would love as many spectators as possible to come and support the sponsors, just like they support us. The bar will be open from 5pm.
Club championships
The Sanders continue to collect club titles, combining with our other husband-and-wife team of John and Judy Wenzel to take out the men’s and women’s club pairs events.
It might be the first time in club history that we have had a husband and wife win the club singles and pairs, along with another husband-and-wife combination also partnering and winning the pairs alongside them.
The women’s pairs final saw Judy Wenzel and Claire Sanders narrowly defeat long-serving members Ros King and Kay Tait. This was a fabulous game to watch, with so many good bowls delivered.
The game was neck and neck until the very end. Well done to both teams on a quality display.
The men’s pairs final saw the new combination of Noel Owen and Ken Smith taking on Garry Sanders and John Wenzel. Garry and John took the honours in a great club game full of good spirit and excellent bowls.
Congratulations John and Garry on a well-deserved win, and to Ken and Noel, what a super effort in reaching the final. You boys should be very proud of yourselves.
Men’s 100 up final
Two quality bowlers, Neil Hocking and Robbie Wickham, contested the men’s 100 up final.
These two have had an excellent year in pennant, performing consistently well on the greens all season.
Neil Hocking emerged victorious in an excellent game. Congratulations Neil on your win, and also to Robbie as runner-up. Great job, fellas.
Easter tournament
Our annual tournament is fast approaching. Just a reminder that entries are full for Good Friday, and the Saturday and Sunday triples events are also close to filling.
Please get your entries in as soon as possible to avoid missing out.
Entry forms are in the clubrooms, or you can contact Kim Silver via email for a form or with any queries at ybceaster1@gmail.com.
We will accept single or pairs entries at this stage and partner you up to form a triples team.
Ovens and Murray – congratulations again to Claire Sanders
Ovens and Murray Champion of Champions.
After claiming a number of club titles this year, representing Australia in Cyprus and bringing home a silver medal, and performing strongly in various other regional and state events, Claire has now claimed the top title of women’s Champion of Champions. She will now represent Yarrawonga at the State Titles in Bendigo in April. Go Claire.
Good luck to all the region teams competing in the coming finals series.
We look forward to seeing everyone on the greens next season.
To all our club members and the wider community, good health and good bowling.
Club Mulwala Bowls A3 Premiers
Saturday saw a large contingent of Club Mulwala members travel by bus and car to support the A3 and B1 teams in their grand finals of the weekend pennant.
The A3s faced a tough match after a last-gasp win over Howlong in the semi two weeks prior.
In what proved to be one of the best games the team played all year, Club Mulwala emerged triumphant.
With a great starting platform set by the leads and seconds across all rinks, they won three rinks and drew the fourth to run out 35-shot winners.
This capped off a great season for the team, who went through the year losing only one game and now look forward to the challenge of A2 next season.
The B1s headed into their game full of confidence after some strong late-season form, which saw them force their way into the semis in the last week and play resilient bowls to storm into the grand final.
Alas, the team fell just short, going into the second-last end only two down overall, but finally finishing five down.
All rinks were fought hard, after being up to 12 down during the day.
Well done to the team for a great year in a tough division. Thank you to all supporters who cheered throughout the finals campaign.
Sunday saw the inaugural playing of the Loris Lockheed Memorial event, celebrating her life and contribution to Club Mulwala Bowls.
Eighteen teams of three turned up in support of the event, and even though the skies were overcast, spirits were not dampened, with everyone enjoying the day.
Winners on the day were Vicki Armstrong, Therese Alexander from Moira, and Chrissy Armstrong from Swanpool. Well done to Di Day and her team for putting on a fantastic event.
Earlier in the week, the Mixed Pairs final was played, with Lisa Burnham and Steve Day winning a closely fought game over Steve McPhee and Kay Smith. Congratulations to Lisa and Steve.
The draws are now up for the next club event, which is the men’s and ladies’ pairs.
The sheet is up for the restart of Tuesday Social Bowls on 10th March at 10am, so please put your name down for a fun morning of bowls.
On the club scene, barefoot bowls continues to be popular, so if your organisation is looking for a fun afternoon or night out, please contact the club to make a booking.
That’s all from the rinks this week, with hopefully more good news next week, with the A2s having played their midweek grand final on Tuesday against Border Golf.
Tungamah Bowls Club
Midweek Pennant
Tungamah played Howlong at Corowa Civic for a chance to progress to the Grand Final against Lavington. This didn’t happen; we drew just one rink and went down 41 to 63 to a team that bowled better than us on the day. We have had a great season to end up third on the ladder. Next year, we will try to do better.
Special appreciation goes to Paul Wellington and Mal King for their continued loyal support throughout the season, and to those players who made themselves available on a regular basis.
Congratulations to Club Mulwala on their Saturday Pennant victories – a great effort by all involved. Also, well done to Clare Sanders (Yarrawonga) and Ian Brimblecomb (Border Golf) on winning the Ovens and Murray Champ of Champs.
Pairs Championship
The Pairs Championship is getting down to the last couple of games.
A terrific match on Thursday night saw Dick Thomson and Jack Dridan play against Jack Costigan and Ben Whiting.
After four ends, it started to rain, they continued to play, but then a full-blown storm made bowling impossible and lighting the BBQ equally impossible.
After the storm passed, both pairs were able to continue. The green had obviously changed, but four very wet players finished the game, with Jack and Ben getting up by just two shots after entertaining the appreciative crowd, who then enjoyed a BBQ.
The 100 Up has started, and the Minor Championship will begin this week.
These matches can all be played as players are available. Finals for all will be held on the same evening when all matches are completed, sometime in March.
March 13th: Farmers Night. A great night for the community – farmers, get your teams organised now.
March 17th: First Responders “000 Cup.” A night for all our local heroes to relax, have fun, and no phones.
March 28th:“Boosey 1000 Classic” – O’Hallorans Triples event, much sought-after honours.
April 18th: Presentation Night and the drawing of our major raffle. Which couple will be flying off to Noosa for five days with $1,000 spending money in their pocket? Or which six people will be watching the Storm play at AAMI Park from a corporate box? Someone else will win a Stihl chainsaw and an esky. Players and members have tickets, or you can call John on 0475 468 67.