The annual George Griffith Trophy match was played on Saturday against Newport. Three rinks at home and three down on the Northern Beaches. All the players were met with unseasonable conditions for mid-summer- temperatures in the low 20s and gusty winds after overnight rain.

The Grade 5 sides met at SIBC and all three teams from St Ives performed well, winning their games with a little to spare. The combined score on the Big Board was 67-39. It was a little tighter in the Grade 6/7 match down in Newport. In all three games the score fluctuated but no-one ever got a big lead. St Ives led on the Big Board most of the way but late in the proceedings it was Newport a few shots ahead. Honours were even as St Ives got one shot on the 63rd end to leave the final score 53-53.

​So St Ives won the match overall 120-92. Well done to all involved.

It was to time to celebrate the successes in our competitions in 2019 as Kevin Latham presided over this year's Presentation Day. Kevin expressed his thanks to everyone who had participated in the various events. 

The Bowler of the Year award was presented jointly to Chris Carey and Rod Silber. The full list of honorees is shown below.

Sunday saw the conclusion of the 2019 competitive bowling season as the final title was decided at St Ives BC. The Men's Handicap Pairs final saw Andrew Murphy & Mike Heath take on Trevor Whitehead & Peter Shlager.

Andrew and Mike started with a 3-shot advantage but arguably the final was won on just three decisive ends. On end 3 Trevor & Peter notched a SEVEN to take them into the lead. They consolidated that advantage with a run of four ends won to lead by 9 shots. Then came the second big score of the match- on end 10 Trevor & Peter notched up a five to extend their lead to 21-8.

Andrew & Mike certainly weren't going down without a fight. They put a run of their own together winning six ends and narrowing the score to 23-16. However Trevor & Peter had one final big moment taking four shots on end 18. The match finished on end 20 with a final score in favour of Trevor & Peter of 30-16.

Congratulations to the winners and commiserations to the runners-up.

Very different conditions for the Semi-Finals of the Men's Fours championship. A grey, mild day after overnight rain had left Green No. 2 running considerably slower than we've been seeing of late.

On Rink 9, the four of Peter Tonoli, Tim Walton, Laurie Wilson and Chris Wood faced off against Tony Pope, Andrew Murphy, Peter Larcombe and John Cumming. Chris Wood's side couldn't have asked for a better start as they took the first seven ends to lead 10-0. John Cumming's four were able to cut that down to a six-shot gap before Chris & co. landed five shots in two ends to lead 15-4. From there the teams traded ends but John's side could never close the gap. Finally Chris' four took ends 17 through 20 and ran out deserving winners at a final score of 23-9.

Next door on Rink 10 the other semi-final was a match-up between Lawrence Barolsky, David Gill, Geoff Rose and Mike Heath up against Wilson Cheng, Fred Alexander, Chris Carey and Rod Silber. In contrast to the other match this game was nip-and-tuck at the start producing a narrow 7-5 lead to Rod's side after 10 ends. The next five ends all went Rod's way and the lead built to 15-5. Rod's side had the advantage now and ran away with the game, finishing on end 20 with a final score of 21-9.

The Final will be played next Saturday, November 30.

The semi-finals of the 2019 Men's Handicap Pairs were played today.

David Bottomley and Gerry Hurdwell took on Trevor Whitehead and Peter Shlager on Rink 11. With a headstart of 8 shots, Gerry's team kept ahead until the 10th end.  Then Peters team got on a run to lead 22 -19 by end 17.  Gerry's team clawed back the deficit to level at 22-22 on end 20.  However a 5 on end 21 took Peter & Trevor over the line and into the final.

On rink 9 Greg Smith and Chris Bergman took on Andrew Murphy and Mike Heath. Both teams were on 15 handicap so no advantage to either.  Chris' team got off to a flyer and were 7-4 up by end 7.  Then Mike's team went on a run, winning 5 ends in a row to go 14-7 ahead by end 12. A 6 on end 15, when Mike took out the only opposing bowl in the head, gave his team a lead of 20-9. From then on Mike's team were in charge,  winning 26-18.

The final will be held on Sunday 1st December. Trevor Whitehead/Peter Shlager v Andrew Murphy/Mike Heath

St Ives triumphed in today's Bicentennial Trophy contest against West Pymble. With three rinks in action at each venue an exciting match was in prospect. At St Ives we welcomed a old stalwart in Jock Currie who gave a most welcome set of introductory remarks before play commenced. St Ives jumped out to an early lead but had to withstand a late fightback by the visitors. St Ives also came away victorious away from home and the overall big board score was 123-110.

Greg Smith accepted the trophy on behalf of SIBC. Well done to all who participated today.
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Greg Smith's form in this year's Handicap Singles competition has been top grade but yesterday's Final pitched him against the wily talents of Joe Shofer.

Greg had a 6-shot advantage on handicap and jumped on that advantage early to be up 11-0 after 3 ends. Joe got himself back in the game, taking four of the next six ends. However Greg still had a handy 15-7 lead after 9 ends. From this point Greg's control over the match reasserted itself as he won five ends in a row to stretch his advantage to 22-7.

This was too big a lead even for Joe and the match ended after 18 ends with Greg Smith a deserving winner. The final score was 24-11.