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Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club

Perfect end doesn't always lead to a win

7/31/2022

 
In England the soccer season started on Saturday July 30th and I am pleased to say that my team, Blackburn Rovers were winners on day 1. Why am I telling you this? Well the start of the soccer season usually means that our lawn bowling season is coming to an end. Thankfully that is not the case this year (soccer started early because of a winter break for the World Cup) but it is surprising how quickly another week of bowling has flown by and a reminder that the summer is racing along.

This weekend we held the club Windmill tournament. It is called that because the short mat club used to sponsor it but now we have a new sponsor, Connect Hearing Canada. Their offices are on Division Street and they used to be Hogan's Hearing. We are very grateful to them for their sponsorship and for donating prizes for a prize draw.

The results were as follows:
Winners - Mary Salter and Hobson McMaster.
Second - Ken Bevan and Jan Skillen
Third – Kathleen Shirly, Vince Tamburello and Roy Martin
One game high – Ann Tough, John Saunders and Bozana Brick

Thank you to new members, Mona Attard and Ernie Sapinski who were convening their very first tournament.

Whilst that was going on at home, seven men from the club were competing at the Gold Cup in Oshawa. This is the premier men's fours event in Ontario with a great history to it.

Martin Foxhall was competing with his Ontario silver medal winning team and was in the top four, winning all his three games. I can't recall whether they were third or fourth.

Dave Shirley and John Hawryszko were late recruits to a Bobcaygeon team and had a good day winning two games and losing one.

The only all Cobourg team was Bob Bates, Bill Arthur, Carl Ferguson and Peter Stuart-Sheppard. They finished with a disappointing 1-2 record. However they did have the rare distinction of playing a perfect end by scoring 8 in one end in their first game. It meant they recovered from 13-2 down to 13-10 and made a game of it. But they still lost!

The Canadian national championships start on August 1st and we wish the best of luck to Jacob Hyatt in the under 18s and to Ben van Steijn and Emmalee Smith in the u25s.

Enjoy your week and good bowling wherever you are playing
Photos from club tournament

DISTRICT 14 MIXED PAIRS PLAYDOWNS

7/25/2022

 
You can never predict with certainty what will happen in this sport of ours and on Saturday and Sunday July 23rd and 24th events confirmed that statement.

We hosted the District 14 mixed pairs playdowns and six teams competed for the right o represent our District in the Ontario mixed pairs championships which will also be held in Cobourg on August 6/7th.

I was wearing one of my other hats for the weekend – District 14 Chair and convenor of the playdowns. There was lots of local interest. Carl Feguson and Nan Hendren played together. Peter Stuart-Sheppard was playing with Lynn Frost from Etobicoke, Baylee van Steijn was playing with Jake Masterson from Peterborough and Al Purcell was playing with Nicky Chamois of Oshawa. The other teams were Robert Steffen and Nanci Myers and John MacKenzie and Sue Logeman from Oshawa.
The format was round robin so each team had to play five games over two days. Ferguson & Hendren got off to a good start beating Stuart-Sheppard & Frost. Van Steijn & Masterson were hot out of the blocks with a big win over MacKenzie & Logeman (Oshawa) and one of the favourites, Steffen & Myers (Oshawa) beat Purcell & Chamois. Round two went very much to form although Ferguson & Hendren gave the Steffen team a tough time. Ahead for a long time they just fell short in the last few ends (did I mention each game was 18 ends?) It was a similar story for them in round three, doing well and then just losing in the last few ends. As Carl said, if they had been playing 14 end games they would have won all games on day 1.
At that stage it looked like the crunch game would be the van Steijn/Steffen game in round four but then there was another turn around in round three as MacKenzie & Logeman were ahead of Steffen & Mayers by six points with two ends remaining. Surely an upset on the cards? No, the Steffen team took six points in end 17 and two in 18.

At the end of Day 1 the top three teams were:

Van Steijn & Masterson 9 points
Steffen & Myers 9 points
Purcell & Chamois 9 points

Day 2 dawned with the threat of rain and thunderstorms but thankfully the forecast turned out to be wrong and, apart from some brief showers, the bowling weather Gods were kind to us.

And so to the match we all thought would be the title decider – van Steijn v Steffen. Not surprisingly it was nip and tuck all the way. After 17 ends van Steijn held a lead of one and had the final bowl. After Steffen's final bowl a long consultation took place between van Steijn and Masterson as they tried to decide whether or not they were shot. It really was very close and van Steijn was concerned that her final bowl may disturb the head so she elected not to bowl it. The tension went up several notches as the umpire was called to measure which bowl was shot. And the decision was ......... the bowls were equidistant so that meant a win for van Steijn and Masterson. Surely the title was within their grasp as a win against Purcell & Chamois would clinch matters.

But what did I say at the outset? Nothing is certain and Purcell & Chamois won the last round game.

We had a three way tie for first place with van Steijn, Steffen and Purcell all on nine points.
The tie breaker rules are quite complex and I won't try to explain them here. Suffice to say that the tie breakers were four ends each and Steffen was seeded #1 in the tie breaker. van Steijn and Purcell would play again for the right to play Steffen. Van Steijn beat Purcell convincingly and after two days it was down to a four end tie breaker between Steffen and van Steijn. After three ends they were tied and we had the drama of one end to decide the winner. Jake Masteron played some excellent lead bowls to give his team the advantage and Myers and Steffen were unable to respond. Van Steijn had the luxury of not having to roll her final bowls as Steffen's last bowl failed to get his team shot.
It was a fitting climax to a great weekend of bowling. Baylee van Steijn and Jake Masterson will be playing in the Ontario championships.

Finally some thank yous.

  • Mike Hendren and Carl Ferguson for preparing such wonderful greens
  • Sarah van Steijn, Sharyl Ann Milligan, Bill Rowe and Mary Salter for kitchen duties
  • Those members who came to watch and support the teams
  • Umpire Jan Bauer
And apologies if I missed someone.

​
I would urge all members, old and new, to spend some time at the Ontario championships to support Baylee and Jake and use the opportunity to watch and learn form Ontario's finest bowlers.

Bill Arthur




Catch-Up Time

7/19/2022

 
It has been a busy couple of weeks and your editor has been playing catch-up. So, with help from Bob Bates and Sarah van Steijn, this report should bring you bang up to date.

Lindsay at Cobourg – Friendly Match - by Bob Bates

Last year we were invited to go to the Lindsay Lawn Bowling Club for a friendly bowling match. We were still dealing with Covid and just getting into bowling again. We gladly took the opportunity to get in some action at another club.

This year we reciprocated by inviting them down to Cobourg for a return match on Sunday July 10. It was a popular event as the sign up sheet filled up quickly with 24 members making 8 teams.

The match was scheduled for 10am but half of the Lindsay contingent were already here close to 9am. They were anxious to get on the greens to pay us back for the slim victory we had over them last year. Luckily we had the coffee on early and snacks ready.

The bowling began & it was a pleasure to see the whole south green filled with teams . . a lot of them wearing their home club’s colours. We started out slowly in the first of the 2-10 end games and Lindsay took 6 out of the 8 games. We re-grouped during the lunch break and went out in the beautiful weather to try again . . . but the Lindsay teams once again took the majority of games. No worries as everyone was enjoying the day playing & meeting new bowlers from another club.

The Lindsay players I chatted with during the day all commented on how beautiful a club we had in a great location with nice greens. Congratulations to the Cobourg members who made them feel welcome.

In the end there was a small prize for the top Lindsay team & top Cobourg team. The honours went to:
  • Lindsay: Bob Guppy, Maureen Guppy & Paulette Walker (a first year bowler)
  • Cobourg: Peter Stuart Sheppard, Kathleen Shirley & Helen Beaton

Side note: The following Wednesday we held the Milligan Open Triples tournament. Through the luck of the draw these 2 skips came up against each other in the first game with Peter’s team coming out on top in a close match.

Thanks to all the volunteers & bowlers who made this a great day.

Milligan Memorial Tournament - by Bill Arthur
This annual open tournament, sponsored by Sharyl Ann and Dan Milligan in memory of their parents, was held on July 14th. Fourteen teams competed, including four from Cobourg.

Mike Mogan from Cosburn Park likes coming to Cobourg because he always seems to go home with prize money $$$

The top three teams were:
Mike Mogan, Ron Sellen Jr, Frank Hibbs 3 wins (45+3 for - 24 against) Dave Saliba, Don Northeim, Cara Booth. 3 wins (41 for - 25 against)
Rob Steffen, Alan Steffen, Nanci Myers 2 wins (41 for - 25 against
The best Cobourg team was Peter Stuart- Sheppard, Nan Hendren and Tom Bevan with 2 wins and 35 points.

All in all a fine day of bowling with good competition and plenty fun.
Finally thanks to Just Brew It for the coffee.


Click for photos
Anniversary Tournament 
On Saturday July 16th we held the anniversary tournament to celebrate 115 years of bowling in Cobourg, all in Victoria Park. Three, ten end games were played and that was followed by a BBQ. The occasion also marked the award of honorary membership to Harry Knapper and an award to Sharyl Ann Milligan to celebrate 50 years of bowling, The winners of the tournament were Baylee van Steijn, Vince Tamburello, Jen Wetherall and Brent Bayley (the latter two shared the day). Here's what Sarah van Steijn had to say on Facebook.

Happy 115th Birthday!
We bowled in the hot sun and then we ate hamburgers and sausages AND THE BIGGEST CAKE EVER!!! Thank you Foodland!!!
Congrats to the winners!

​
We celebrated Harry Knapper by making him an honorary member. Thank you Harry for all your hard work over the years.
We celebrated Sharyl Ann Milligan for 50 YEARS of bowling, coaching, and every thing else she does.
Thank you Sharyl Ann! For everything you do!
I am so tired..... good night to all!
Click for photos
And just to wrap things up Bob Bates and Pat Bylok were at Campbellford on July 15th and won  all 3 games in the Mixed Pairs tournament, finishing in 2nd place.

3 wins,  44 points for vs 23 against.
​Congratulations to them

Picture

Weekend Wrap July 9 & 10

7/11/2022

 
At club level we hosted the Lindsay club for a friendly tournament on Sunday July 10th. A report will follow but to whet your appetite here are a few photos courtesy of Michelle.
Bill Arthur was competing in the Ontario open singles championship at the Heritage Greens club in Kitchener. 40 men started the championships on Saturday July 9th and Bill won his group with 2 wins out of three. After a loss in the first game he won his next two and won the group because of his win against the other player with two wins.

The last 16 was tough and Bill lost 21-12 to David Anderson who ultimately won the gold medal. The format was double knockout and Bill ran out of steam losing 21-8 to David Jefferies who, at the time of writing is still completing for silver.

Canada Day

7/2/2022

 
There was an extra feeling of excitement in the air in Victoria Park as the Town of Cobourg celebrated Canada Day for the first time since 2019 And that feeling was reflected in the club as well with our traditional Canada Day tournament.

​Breakfast in the park for some of us was followed by preparation for the tournament and the mandatory Canada Day photo

Picture
And then the tournament began. We played 3 x 10 end games. The top teams after round 1 were Bob Bates's team and Dave Shirleys. In round 2 Bob beat Dave 12-6 to maintain the overall lead. Peter Stuart-Sheppard was in second place and those two teams met in round 3. The only other unbeaten team was Ann Tough.

Bob maintained his unbeaten record as did Ann, whose final game win took her into second place.

The full result was:
Winners – Bob Bates and Tom Bevan 3 wins and 42 points

Second – Ann Tough, Sarah van Steijn, Dale McMillan & Donna Longman (Dale & Donna shared the day – 3 wins and 34 points
Third – Peter Stuart-Sheppard and Jacob Hyatt – 2 wins and 34 points
One game high – Mike Place, Eve Gorringe & Anne Leahy with 29 points

​Bill Arthur


Click for winners photos

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