Playing Ditch Weight

Fortunately, the fine weather over the weekend provided a clear run for the District Pairs Championships.

Congratulations to the winners of all three divisions. The Open division was won by Damien Miller and David Quigley, Seniors by John Cooper and Peter Watts and President’s Reserve by Jason Jones and Terry Smith from Cootamundra Ex–Services.

Play in all divisions commenced on Saturday morning and concluded on Sunday. The Open semi–finals on Sunday saw wins to David Ward and Russell Boyd who defeated Joe Bargwanna and Harold Anderson 24–9 and Damien Miller and David Quigley who defeated Terry Ricketts and Brian Madden 25–15. Damien and David scored the maximum 8 shots on the first end – a most unusual feat. The final was very one–sided with Damien and David scoring a 7 on the first end and playing excellent bowls to win the game 30–6.

Saturday’s games in the Seniors were played at Harden with the final at Young. In Saturday’s semi–finals, Brian March and Colin Stokell defeated Ted Loader and Denis Rosen 22–21 and John Cooper and Peter Watts defeated Geoff Hillier and Jim White 23–21.

In Sunday’s final John and Peter led 14–6 after 12 ends, but Brian and Colin fought back to level at 18-all with one end to play. With his last bowl, Colin moved the jack to hold 3 shots but with his final bowl Peter drew the shot to give him and John the game 19–18.

The President’s Reserve Pairs was played at Cootamundra Ex–Services. On Sunday morning, one semi–final involved two teams from the Ex–Services Club and the other involved two teams from Cootamundra Country Club. In these games, Jason Jones and Terry Smith defeated Anthony Wilson and Geoff Manwaring 23–22 and Arthur Ward and John Malone defeated John O’Loughlin and Charlie Willis 22–16. Jason and Terry were too strong in the final with a 30–8 win.

Thanks to all the organisers and officials involved over the weekend.

In Club bowls, there were 26 players involved on Thursday afternoon in conditions where the temperature varied with the cloud cover. The vouchers for the afternoon went to Albert Carter and Brian Madden with the very big margin of 26 shots. The other winning teams and their margins were Milan Brankovic, Kevin Bryant and Ian Schofield – 10 shots; Brian Christie and Russell Boyd – 7 shots, Terry Mulligan and Harold Anderson – 6 shots; Tony Ruhl and Joe Bargwanna – 3 shots and Brian March and John Cooper – 1 shot.

With so many players from the Club participating in the District Pairs, there were only 8 players for Saturday’s Jackpot Bowls. Alan Gall and Jonathon Watson won their game by 13 shots to claim the vouchers for the afternoon. Scott Douglas and Ian Schofield won their game by 4 shots.

The District Mixed Pairs Championship is scheduled to be played at Cootamundra Country Club at the weekend. Details are on the women’s noticeboard.

The District Singles will be played on 15th and 16th August and the draws for those events are on the noticeboard. Players are advised to check the notice board for details of a preliminary round of the BPL Cup to be played at the Club on Sunday 23rd August.

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