*** Nov. 30 *** NOTE CORRECTION TO PENNANT TRIAL DATES (sorry for any confusion) & sides for Cyril South & George Griffith Trophy matches.

Preparations for the 2019 Pennants season are already underway. There will likely be internal pennants trials on December 15th and 22nd, with possibly some additional dates to be confirmed.

With the likelihood of members being unavailable in the New Year due to holiday & family commitments, the selectors have named the teams for the annual matches against Killara (Cyril South Trophy) and Newport (George Griffith Trophy).  If you are named but unavailable please contact the selectors asap.

The Cyril South Trophy this year will be played at Killara on Wednesday January 9th (12:30 pm start). The side is as follows:

The George Griffith Trophy will be held on Saturday January 12th. The teams are as follows:

Saturday December 1st will see a new format & scheduling for two big events in the Club's calendar. The Turkeys Galore mixed bowls event is being scheduled to combine with the Mens Section Presentation Day. The intention is to make both events a little special and of course maximise participation from our membership.

The timings for the day will be as follows:-

• 11:30 am  Presentation of the Mens Championship prizes and the naming of the Bowler of the Year
• 12 noon   Sausage Sizzle 
• 12:30 pm Calling of the cards
• 12:40 pm Mixed Triples playing straight through
• 4:15 pm   Post-game refreshments & Turkeys Galore prizes

Bookings are requested for catering purposes and entry forms are posted outside the men's locker room. Entries should be made by 5 pm on Friday November 30th.

Please support this event if you can get there! Any enquiries about the event can be made with Jenni Bradley.

Gerard Coggans 21 November 2018

The Selectors have picked their line-up for the Midweek Challenge Grade C Semi-Final which will be played at Belrose BC on November 28th. Good luck to St Ives!

The Womens Fours final was played today. Just like the Mens Fours final on Saturday, the result came down to the last end. The teams were neck and neck all the way. After 19 ends the score was 19-19. Jan Woodcock's team scored 3 on the 20th end. On the final end, Pam Caganoff's girls scored 2 - oh so close!
Congratulations to the winners - Bev Donnelley, Barbara deBarkaz, Di McBryde & Jan Woodcock. Well played to the runners up - Nancy Smith, Maureen Cookson, Jo Hartmann & Pam Caganoff.
​What a fantastic game!

The Mens Fours Championship for 2018 was played out between two strong teams on Saturday. Peter Shlager, Peter Larcombe, George Rosettenstein and Jim Barclay took on Peter Tonoli, Tim Walton, Chris Wood and Bruce Mason. In the Final there was a substitute on each side: Peter Larcombe was a replacement for Bob Talbot and Peter Tonoli took over from Tom McKelvey.

Throughout the final was a close affair with never more than 4 shots separating the two sides. After 11 ends the two teams were level at 8-8. Jim's side notched up a 4 on end 13 to lead 12-9 but that spurred Bruce's team to fight back and it was all level again 13-13 after 16 ends. In the closing ends Jim's side built a 17-14 lead with two ends to go. The drama wasn't over as Bruce's team got 2 shots on end 20 to make it a 1-shot game. On the last end it was Bruce's side who were celebrating after getting 2 shots and an 18-17 victory.

Congratulations to the winners and commiserations to the runners-up after a tremendous final match to decide the championship.

​Gerard Coggans 18 November 2018

After two very close semi-finals last weekend the winners played out the 2018 Mens Handicap Pairs Final on Saturday under dry but increasingly blustery conditions. Gerard Coggans and Jim Vatiliotis had a 4 shot handicap advantage over their opponents Greg Smith and Geoff Rose.

Gerard and Jim built on their advantage in the early ends moving to a 10-4 lead after 7 ends. Greg & Geoff then started to narrow the gap and took the lead with a 4 and a 5 on successive ends and moved out to an 18-10 advantage after end 12.

As the match moved into the closing stages each side was having their little victories. The decisive moments came on end 18, with Greg & Geoff leading 21-16 at that stage. Gerard & Jim racked up 7 shots on that end and suddenly they had the lead back. With a 4 on end 19 and a 3 on end 20 the match was over and after a great contest it was Gerard & Jim who took the final 30-21.

Congratulations to all involved.

Gerard Coggans 18 November 2018

We saw two great matches today in the semi finals of the Womens Fours played in very windy and difficult conditions.

Pam Caganoff's team were behind early in the game but forged ahead and held on to win against Rhonwen Martin's team.

Anita Hain's team had a close game against Jan Woodcock's team. Jan and team managed to hang on for the win in a low scoring game.

Great games ladies!
​

Thank goodness for a (relatively) dry afternoon for the final round of action in this year's Zone 9 Midweek Challenge.

The highlight came in Grade C where the top two sides in their section- St Ives and Turramurra- met on our home green. On the big board St Ives scraped home 56-52 but that became a decisive 5 1/2- 1/2 point win on the ladder. Despite an impressive 6-0 win by Warrawee over Asquith, St Ives were first on the ladder and move forward into the post-sectional round next week. The other section winners in Grade C are Lindfield (1), Pittwater Memorial and Belrose.

In Grade A St Ives' last match was away to the ladder-topping Harbord side. The result was a creditable 50-61 loss (1 pt to 5).

The Grade B side ran into something of a hurricane at Turramurra, losing heavily 53-107 (0 pts to 6). Also at Turramurra, the Grade D side had rather better fortune notching up a nice 75-38 win (6 pts to 0).

The summary of our Midweek Challenge results are as follows:-

The field for this year's Mens Handicap Pairs is a small one but the competition was fierce in the two semi-finals played on Saturday. Both matches were close throughout and both ended in cliff-hanging style.

​John Swann & Steven Goddard started with a 3-shot handicap deficit against Greg Smith & Geoff Rose but they wiped that out immediately with a 5 on the first end. John & Steven had their noses in front most of the way; leading by 6 shots after 15 ends. This sparked a comeback from Greg & Geoff and after 20 ends it was a 20-20 tie. Two shots on the last end saw Greg & Geoff progress into the final.

In the other semi-final it was Gerard Coggans & Jim Vatiliotis with a 3-shot handicap advantage over their opponents David Stubing & Peter Sullivan. Gerard & Jim kept their advantage in the early ends but David & Peter fought their way into the match and it was a very symmetrical scoreline after 12 ends, 12-12! From there Gerard & Jim built a lead with crucial wins on end 14 (3 shots) and 16 (4 shots). So there was a 20-16 edge for Gerard & Jim with one end to go. Now the nerves kicked in- with four bowls left, David & Peter were holding 5 shots (which would have won them the game) and it was still that way with Jim to bowl the final bowl of the match. With steely determination Jim drew into the head and cut it back to just 2 shots. So Gerard & Jim held on to win 22-20.

Gerard Coggans 13 November 2018

Round 1 of the Womens Fours Championship was played today. There was only the one match - Judy Lonsdale's team vs Pam Caganoff's team. Pam Caganoff's team were the victors with Pam herself playing excellent bowls. Congratulations to all the players for a very good game.