Cohuna
A REALLY busy couple of weeks have seen plenty of social bowlers enjoying the balmy conditions.
Also, Cohuna has been providing its greens to assist with the state over-60 carnival, hosted primarily by Barham.
All hands have been on deck this past week as more than 200 bowlers have competed for various over-60 state titles.
Three rinks were in use all week and many compliments were received on the superb greens as well as the catering provided.
It was a huge effort by both the Cohuna greens committee and the kitchen team.
Also on hand every day were the administrators, the bar staff and the ticket sellers, as well as many others who stepped up.
The club is very proud of their efforts and also of the local bowlers who participated.
Social bowls the week before saw 39 players, including visitors from Ballarat, South Australia and Wonthaggi. There was only one two-game winning team, on 49 points, being Peter from Wonthaggi, along with locals Savi Barnes, Pat Quinn and Gayle Anderson.
The last of the pie-and-soup days was held at Gunbower on May 16.
Winners were the in-form team of Rhonda Ballard, Ian Howard and Bluey Fletcher.
Runners-up were Mike Hoffman, Marian Smith and Corale Jones.
Winners of social bowls on May 18, with 53 points, were Doug Peace, Sue Burgess and Mary-Anne Maud.
It was great to see Mary-Anne back enjoying her bowls.
The spin-and-win jackpot finally went off, with Jules Mastin the lucky winner.
Nice to see Jules doing so well both on and off the greens.
Social bowls this week will be this Wednesday due to Coliban Water conducting maintenance this Tuesday.
After that there will be social bowls each Tuesday and Saturday, weather permitting.
It’s great to see so many visitors and members from other clubs enjoying the outstanding greens available in Cohuna.
Friday afternoon practice sessions followed by a light meal continue to be popular.
The opening day for the new season is on Sunday September 15, and the new pennant season will begin soon after that.
Good luck to all bowlers playing in local and interstate tournaments over the winter; hopefully the practice will mean good bowling for the coming season.
Kerang
AS we are all aware, I do know how to spew off a diatribe of information to reflect the happenings within our club at Kerang.
For this instance, I am dumbfounded.
The heart and soul of the club worked tirelessly for five days to project the club favourably to visitors from all walks of life – over 60 years of age – which seems to have been achieved quite well.
Going by reports from those visitors, all efforts were very well received and they were in awe of the playing surfaces provided.
A huge thank you goes to Moff and the hard workers within the club.
Also, the feedback from the Bowls Victoria luminaries is that the facilities and volunteers were received as top-notch – but within the club everyone already knew they were.
I would like to personally thank everyone from the match committee, kitchen staff and also the barkeep and our volunteers along the way for their dedication to the cause.
The club has enhanced its reputation for running events.
We must also thank Bowls Victoria for seeing Kerang fit to co-host such an event.
It was great to see the club revisiting days of yore with a full clubhouse day after day, where many laughs were had by everyone in a very relaxed atmosphere.
Also a big tank you to Luke Hoskin who continues to support the club all the way from Bendigo to have his wares on sale.
He’s probably on a poaching mission on the lookout for prospective bowlers.
On Tuesday the main event for the week took place with a hefty purse on offer to three lucky bowlers.
There was a bit of a spillover from the over-60s who came for a gander at one of the premier events on the Kerang Bowling Club’s calendar and they weren’t to be let down.
Sixty-six bowlers graced the A- and C-grade greens for the afternoon.
Nino Vlahovic and Tony and Judy Nardella claimed the day with two strong wins.
The largest second-game winners were the B. Lombardi, S. McLeish and R. McKerrow combination with +11 shots.
After a lengthy drumroll and building intensity, the unlucky number of -13 was drawn.
The jackpot has been rising for about nine months so there seems to be no reason to have it claimed just yet.
Although, I am sure we have a few cards close to the mark with two full rinks occupied.
So now with the jackpot unclaimed again, it surges to almost $1100 for potential claimants.
If you have to take annual leave from your daily job or change your diary for this coming Tuesday, do it.
It is always a good day, and to be a part of it all you need is to get your name on the entry sheet on the board in the clubrooms or ring on the morning before 11am on 5452 1194.
We had a few local members play through the week as Som Pascoe and Kim and Kerry Watts played most days, with Kerry winning her section in the singles.
Alyne Fagg played on Friday and had two wins from his three games.
It was an absolute pleasure to entertain such a broad cross-section of the bowling fraternity (country and metro) in Kerang and to show off what we have to offer as a township.
Also, it was a chance to show the younger brigade that you can still have a great time playing the game we relish in our mid to advanced years.
That’s the thing about bowls: you can play against anyone at any time (weather permitting) of any age and still enjoy each other’s company.
Kerang Golf
LAST week the club was the venue for three days of the over-60 carnival and, wow, what a great event it was for our bowling area, with more than 1000 entries in the five events that Bowls Victoria organised across the sevens days.
Our club welcomed the visitors and enjoyed providing great greens and great hospitality to all the visitors, who were appreciative of the enjoyment provided by all the host clubs.
With the success of this inaugural event in our area and the support of all clubs, the event will continue to attract plenty of eager competitors to our superb bowling facilities in future years.
Thanks to CluBarham for its support of bowls in our playing area and all the other sponsors who made this carnival a great success.
At our club, the greens group, the catering ladies and the match committee all contributed their time to make the days as successful as was humanly possible, and reports from all who used the facilities were all positive.
Thursday social was enjoyed by 12 players, with some members marking games in the knock-out singles in the carnival at Kerang.
The winners were Robb Fisher and Marlene Rawson, who won both games and finished +9 shots, to just pip out Ken Pay and Craig Hicks, who finished +8.
Apparently, Marlene won the three votes for a best-on-ground performance.
The chocolates went to Laurie Gray and Dale Spinks.
These will be the last notes for a while as this correspondent will be having a well-earned holiday in a warmer climate.
Bowls action is also bit quieter over the cooler months.
However, at Kerang Golf, social bowls will continue on Thursdays and Sundays with a 12.45pm register and a 1pm start.
Everyone is welcome to have a game.
