Windmill Tournament

It was not only the skill of the lawn bowlers  that was tested last week. With two tournaments in three days and with heat warnings in force it was their fitness and resilience that was also put to the test. On Saturday July 23rd an in club tournament was held and two days before that the annual challenge match against the Wilmot Creek club took place.
 
The club Windmill tournament was sponsored by On Site Computer Services of University Avenue West and by the Cobourg Short Mat Bowling Club. Short Mat President Ralph Hewitt was convenor and prize giver and was ably assisted by Fran Marsh.
 
Ten teams played three eight end games. In the first round four of the five winners  recorded big scores (Bill Arthur's team 12+6, Baylee van Steijn's team 12+4, Ann Tough's team 12+4 and Vince Tamburello's team 12+1). 

Bill and Baylee's teams met in the second round whilst Ann's and Vince's teams played one another. Dianne Lauder was also a first round winner and she  played the highest scoring loser from the first round, Carol Dewey. All three of those games were very close affairs. Baylee and Vince  both won and were the only teams with a perfect win record after two rounds so played one another in the final game to decide the overall winner. Vince built up a 10-4 lead but after winning six in one end to tie the score Baylee's team went on to win by 12-10. It was a fitting send off for Baylee who leaves for Vancouver next week to compete in the Canadian under 18 championships. On the winning team with Baylee were Pat Andersen (vice) and Wendy Wren (lead)
 
Click here for the full result and here for photos. 
 
Wilmot Creek

The venue for the annual challenge match between Cobourg and Wilmot creek alternates between the two clubs and this year it was our turn to host (which always means more work for the President)

Seven teams from each club played two games and as holders of the trophy we got off to a good start in the first session, winning four of the games. We increased the lead in the second session winning five of the seven games to retain the trophy by nine games to five.



​
 

​There was another high class field  on Wednesday July 13th for the Milligan memorial tournament. The tournament, an open triples, was sponsored by Sharyl Ann and Dan Milligan in memory of their parents Ron and Trudy Milligan who were stalwarts of the club for many years.

​ There were eight visiting teams from Peterborough, Campbellford, Oshawa, Pickering and Belleville in addition to six home teams. Despite good performances from the Cobourg teams, with two of them in the top four, it was an excellent team from Peterborough, skipped by Jack Waldie that won the tournament.

Each team played three twelve end games and in wall to wall sunshine and temperatures approaching 40C the play was hot in more than one sense! After the first round Jack Waldie’s Peterborough team was in the lead with 18 points. The leading Cobourg team was that of sponsor Dan Milligan playing with the club’s junior champions Baylee and Ben van Steijn. They were in fourth place with 13 points.

Waldie’s team consolidated their lead in the second round to give them two wins and 30 points. Close behind with 27 points was the team from Pickering, led by Frank Mayall. Dan Milligan’s team was in third place following their second win but they trailed the leaders by seven points. Waldie and Mayall played one another in the final round whilst Dan played another Cobourg team, skipped by Bill Arthur, which was in fourth place after the second round.

Waldie’s team ran out 11-9 winners to finish with 41 points and although Dan won 15-7 it was not enough to claim the trophy and they finished in second place, three points behind the winners.

​Full result is on the results page and click here for photos

On Saturday July 9th we held he  “Cut Throat” tournament and we  welcomed a new sponsor for this event - Hear More Canada. This is a singles game and it was a triumph for one of the Cobourg juniors Emmalee Smith.
 
In this version of the game there are 10 points available as each end is played. The four bowls nearest to the jack all score. The player with the bowl nearest the jack scores 4 points, the next scores 3 points, the next 2 and the fourth 1 point. The player with the highest cumulative score after 3 rounds wins the tournament. To ensure that no player gets an unfair advantage the leading scorers are placed into the same pool as the day progresses, hence the cut throat element as the leaders are matched against one another and others are dropped into a lower pool.
 
After the first round Chuck Chidley was in the lead with 51 points, followed by David Brister (50) and Carl Ferguson (43).

Chuck and David kept the first and second places after round two with 86 and 82 points respectively and they were joined by Ralph Stoffers, also with 82 points. At that point Emmalee was trailing with 54 points. However, in the final round of games she scored a magnificent 72 points (out of a possible 100) to take the trophy. Thanks to Gerry Childs for photos of the prize winners with drawmaster Pauline Hill. Click here for the full results

​

​The open ladies triples tournament for the Wicks trophy is the longest standing tournament that the club runs. On Thursday July 7th the tournament, sponsored by Mrs Catharine Wicks and her family was held for the 28th time. This is also an excellent social occasion with lunch being provided by the host club for the players and the club’s men running the kitchen (although the ladies did prepare the food).
 
Eight visiting teams from Peterborough, Oshawa, Pickering, Whitby and Belleville competed against six Cobourg teams.

The format for the tournament was two games of fourteen ends and the accumulated points would determine the standings. To stand any chance of success it was essential to get as many points as possible in the first game.
​
The favourite for the tournament was the Peterborough team of Anna Panton, Elaine Welch and Jan Young who won the tournament in 2015 and they got off to a flying start scoring the maximum points possible of 21. However close behind was the Cobourg team of Pauline Hill, Pat Gemmell and Kathleen Shirley with 18 points. Also on 18 points was the Oshawa team of Sharron, Sheila and Donna Morrison.

Pauline's team played Anna Panton’s Peterborough team in the second game and quickly built up a big lead. Although the Peterborough team staged a comeback it was too little too late and Pauline's team won 18-13 to finish with a total of 36 points. However it was not enough to take the title as the Morrisons from Oshawa had a big win to finish with 39 points.

For the full results click here and for photos of the event click here

The club Canada Day tournament is every bit as traditional as the Waterfront Festival and Canada Day Parade and is eagerly anticipated by our members. However Baylee van Steijn, Louisa Arthur and Pat Bylok had to miss the tournament as they were playing in Provincial events at opposite ends of the province.
 
Baylee and Louisa, having won the District 14 play downs were playing in the ladies pairs Ontario championship in Sarnia. Pat Bylok is  still registered in District 10. She was playing with her partner Cathy Larking from that District in a ladies pairs Canadian championship qualifier in Nepean.
 
Congratulations to Pat who won a bronze medal winner in her event. Baylee and Louisa nearly emulated that feat but just missed out on a medal. A round robin record of 2 and 1 on Day 1 was good enough to qualify them for the quarter final on day 2 and after a 20-6 win they were into the last four and the medal rounds. The semi final was a tight game but they lost by 15-19 and had to play off for bronze. Another tight game went down to the very last end but unfortunately went against them. However this was a hugely creditable performance from both players. For Baylee it capped a notable few weeks in which she won silver in the Ontario junior championships and for Louisa it was a personal highlight having never played in a provincial championship before. Click here for photos of the event. 
 
Back in Cobourg the weather forecast on Canada Day was a cause for concern and the drawmasters decided to change the format from three ten end games to three eight end games. That was a wise decision as shortly after the games ended the rain came down and the greens had puddles on them. 
 
Fourteen club triples teams competed for the Canada Day trophy which was sponsored once again by Thomas Buick GMC of University Avenue West.
 
After the first two rounds three of the teams had perfect records – the teams skipped by Carol Dewey, Ron Covert and Eve Gorringe. Eve's team had two very close wins but that meant they had a very low score of 14 points compared with Ron's 21 and Carol's 22. Ron and Carol  played one another in the final round and the winner of that game would be the trophy winner. The game could not have been closer and finished in a 9-8 win for Ron and his team won the trophy with a record of 3 wins and 29 points. Playing with Ron were Thelma Eastcott and Carl Ferguson. Click here for full results and here for photos.