The Ontario Under 18 championship was held at Lindsay on June 27th and 28th and Ben van Steijn was competing in the Boys Championship and sister Baylee in the Girls. Our high hopes were not mis-placed as they both had terrific performances with Ben winning gold and Baylee silver. Those results also meant that they both qualified as the Ontario representatives in the Canadian National championships to be played at the Nutana Lawn Bowling Club in Saskatoon in August.

Twelve boys competed and eight girls and the format was slightly different in each championship. On Day 1 the girls played three round robin games with the results being used to determine seedings for the quarter finals which would be played on Day 2. Baylee had three easy wins which meant an easier quarter final draw which she won 21-6. However there were no easy games after that. In a tight semi final game she won 21-17 to qualify for the final where she played Chris Burke of the Lindsay club. Her first loss of the championship  by 11-21 meant that she took silver. This was a great performance and as well as her silver medal she was presented with the award for girls bowler of the year in 2014, At age 14 Baylee has several more years to compete at this level and has a great chance of winning gold in the next few years. 

In the boys section there were four groups of three and the top two in each group would qualify for the quarter finals on Day 2. Ben had a tough draw and he lost his first game 20-21 to Owen Kirby of Kitchener who he would meet again in the final. However after that set back he never looked back, winning his second round robin game 21-4; his quarter final game 21-4 and his semi final game 21-15. In the final he put in a fine performance to beat Kirby 21-11. At age 16 he will have one more year in this category in which to defend his title. The results were especially impressive given the wet and difficult conditions on the second day and both Ben and Baylee can be proud of their performances which are a result of many years of practice and help and advice from the club’s junior coach Sharyl Ann Milligan.

We wish them all the best in Saskatoon.

The annual 4-3-2-1 cut throat tournament sponsored by Rona Cashway was held on June 27th. The bad weather forecast caused some concern about whether the tournament would be completed but it was, although it was slightly curtailed with only five ends in the third round..

After the first round Steve Haslam was in the lead with 44 points, followed by Peter Kurita (42) and June Bowman (41). However the situation changed after the second round with David Brister, who would go on to win, posting a very impressive score of 58 to move into the lead with a total of 97 points. Peter moved up to second with 85 and Steve was third with 80. 

In the third round David, Peter and Steve played against one another and David kept his lead to take the trophy with 120 points. Congratulations to him. The full result is on the results page.

This tournament is normally run by David and Kathleen Shirley but they were unable to do it this year so thanks must go to Pauline Hill and Pat Gemmell for stepping in and convening their first Cobourg tournament. They are pictured after presenting David with the trophy.

There was a great sense of occasion about the 25th running of the James Gordon Insurance open men’s pairs tournament on Saturday June 20th. The background of the Highland Games in Victoria Park; the number of spectators watching from the park; the maximum number of entries; and a beautiful day all added to the occasion. 

It was also a special occasion because we were honouring Jim and Ruth Gordon for over forty years of service to the club and although they are no longer members they continue to support the club through sponsorship of this tournament. To mark their contribution they were presented with a Certificate of Appreciation and a bouquet of flowers on behalf of the club.

We had strong teams from Peterborough, Oshawa, Whitby, Port Hope, Campbellford, Agincourt and Willowdale. Eight teams from our club completed the maximum possible number of 24 teams. 

Each team played three twelve end games with points being accumulated throughout the tournament. Given the number of entries there would be three teams with undefeated records so the deciding factor would be points scored. There were several close games in the first round and the Cobourg teams of Steve Haslam/Ralph Hewitt and Dave Shirley/Bob Tough were particularly unlucky in that both teams had tied games but lost on an extra end tie breaker. Dave Carleton and Ben Van Steijn had a narrow 11-10 win and the other Cobourg winner in the first round was Ralph Stoffers and Bill Arthur with a 9-5 win. Unfortunately the two winning Cobourg teams were drawn against one another in the second round. Ralph and Bill won that game but they had the lowest points total at that stage (20) which reduced their chances of winning the trophy. The six undefeated teams after the second round were separated by only eight points so it was all to play for in the final round and ultimately there was only one point between the top two teams of Al Handlechner/Bob Reynolds (Peterborough) and Gord Terwillegar/Jim Butler (Oshawa). 

In the final round Ralph and Bill had a very tight and tense game which was decided in their favour by an extra end tiebreaker. That gave them third place. It’s always nice to have a home team amongst the prizes. Dave Shirley and Bob Tough were the next highest home team with 2 wins and 41 points, just losing out on prize money by nature of Al Purcell’s 41+7 points.

The full results are on the results page and photos from the day are on the photos page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The junior tournament on June 14th was held to give junior bowlers in the District some competitive action prior to the Junior Provincials in Lindsay on 27th and 28th June.

Eight teams from Cobourg, Lindsay and Oshawa competed in a tournament of three ten end games sponsored by Cobourg Buy and Sell. The forecast for the day was not good but the games were completed just as the rain started in the afternoon.

After three games two teams had perfect records of 3 wins; the Cobourg team of Ben Van Steijn and Braden Saunders; and the Lindsay team of Travis Bruce and Braedon Bain. Both teams won their final game but Ben and Braden actually scored the maximum points possible with 45, easily beating the Lindsay team by 8 points.

Baylee Van Steijn and Danielle Goodall finished in third place with 2 wins and 31 points.

Good luck to all the juniors when they compete in Lindsay.

How lucky the club was with the weather for the latest in-club tournament sponsored by Spectacular Water Systems. The last two times this tournament has been held it has been wet and last year some of the greens were unplayable. The portents were not great on Wednesday with thunderstorms passing through but on the day of the tournament, June 11th, the sun shone throughout and it was perfect weather for lawn bowling.

Twelve triples teams competed for the trophy in a tournament of 2x12 end games. This format is more of a sprint rather than the marathon of a three game tournament and it is essential to get off to a quick start and to get a high score. That is exactly what Carol Dewey’s  team did with a 17-7 win in their first game. Ralph Stoffers  team was close behind with a 15-3 win and those two teams  played one another in the second game. Carol’s team came out on top with a 14-11 win to give them a total of 31 points.

Helen Beaton’s team was in third place after the first game having won their game 13-11 and in the second round they played Geoff Montgomery’s team which had a close 12-11 win in the first game.

Helen ran out a relatively easy winner in that game by 17-9 and that gave her team a total of 30 points which meant that Carol’s team took the trophy by one point. Eve Gorringe’s team took third place with 2 wins and 24 points.

Playing with Carol were Jo Carleton (vice) and June Bowman (lead). Ron Covert was Helen’s vice and Ken Wren her lead. Eve’s vice was Marilyn McMillan and her lead was Pat Andersen. The full result is on the results page and there are photos of the prize winners on the photos page. Members from the winning teams are pictured on the club veranda with Carol in the centre with the SWS trophy.

The club would like to record thanks to the sponsor, Spectacular Water Systems and thank Karen Kuehn for presenting the prizes.