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Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club

Canadian Short Mat Bowls Championships 2023

11/21/2023

 
The last three championships were held in Cobourg but this year there was a new venue, in Thorold at the Canada Games Park.
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 There were singles, Pairs, Triples and Fours events over 6 days from November 14th to November 19th   and this year the number of entries increased, partly because of the proximity of the location to a   number of clubs in South West Ontario but also due to a number of experienced lawn bowlers taking   up  short mat.

It was unfortunate that one of the top players, Martin Foxhall (Cobourg) was unable to participate  since  he tested positive for Covid a few days before the event started. This and a few other late  dropouts  meant changes to some of the teams. One such affected team was Nan Hendren, Brent  Bayley  and Jenn Wetherall. Brent and Jenn were ill but fortunately Nan hooked up with Laura Mounce for   pairs and the organisers were able to place her on a triples team with Wayne Harding (Ottawa) and  Fred Gundel (Burlington).
The following Cobourg members competed:

Bill McCollam
Peter Stuart-Sheppard
John MacKenzie
Nan Hendren
Terry Bradshaw
Al Bell
Laura Mounce
Louisa Arthur
Bill Arthur


Singles
There were 30 competitors in the singles including Bill McCollam, Five round robin games were played in each of the six groups and the top eight players qualified for the quarter finals. Al did not qualify and nether did Terry, although he was extremely unlucky not to qualify given that he had a 4-1 record in the round robin. There were a few players with similar records and it was not entirely clear why other players with the same record qualified but Terry did not. Bill McCollam's round robin record was 5-0 and he was the number one seed in the quarter finals but unfortunately did not progress.


Pairs
28 teams competed .Nan Hendren and Laura Mounce were in the same group as Louisa and Bill Arthur but neither of those teams progressed from the group. Terry Bradshaw and Al Bell qualified for the quarter finals but were knocked out in that round. Bill McCollam played pairs with Travis Anderson (Guelph) and won the silver award. John MacKenzie and Peter Stuart-Sheppard won bronze, Something that would become very familiar for Peter.
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Triples
18 teams competed. Bill and Louisa Arthur played with John MacKenzie; Terry Bradshaw, Al Bell and Laura Mounce played together; Nan Hendren teamed up with Wayne Harding (Ottawa) and Fred Gundel (Burlington); finally Peter Stuart-Sheppard and Bill McCollam played with Gary Pickering (Niagara). The Arthur and Hendren teams were in the same group and Nan's team beat Bill's in the round robin. However both teams qualified for the quarter finals with a 4-1 record. Terry's team did not qualify but the team of Gary, Bill and Peter did. In fact they were seeded number one for the quarter finals. As fate would have it Nan and Bill's teams were drawn against one another as the 4th and 5th seeds. On this occasion Bill's team reversed the result from the round robin and moved into the semi final where they played the number 1 seeds, Gary Pickering, Bill McCollam and Peter Stuart-Sheppard. So, five of the six players were from Cobourg and the all Cobourg team of Bill, John and Louisa prevailed to book a place in the final against the Burlington team of Tom Gwinnet, Peter Andersen and Don Rush. Four down going into the last end they could not make a comeback and had to settle for a very creditable silver. And Peter added another bronze to his collection with Bill and Gary.

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Fours
Ten teams competed but the only Cobourg interest was with Peter and Bill. Gary Pickering was with them again and the fourth member was Patrick Cote (Port Credit). Peter got his third bronze award of the week and Bill also picked up his third award.

World Championships (Belfast in March 2024)

The Canadian team for the world championships will be announce shortly by the CSMBA. Since gold and silver medallists are an automatic pick John MacKenzie, Louisa and Bill Arthur are assured of a place as is Bill McCollam. It seems highly possible that Peter Stuart-Sheppard will be picked but we have to wait and see.

You can check out the full results at www.canadianshortmat.ca/

Finally thank you Dave and Kathleen Shirley and Mary Salter for making a day trip to support us in the triples. Also Mike Hendren who was there every day.

District 14 Mixed Pairs

7/23/2023

 
Now that all the open Ontario Championships have been completed we move on to those championships requiring district playdown qualifiers for the Ontario Championships. The first of these, the Mixed Pairs, was contested in Oshawa on Saturday and Sunday July 22/23.

There were seven teams competing, including two from Cobourg, Carl Ferguson and Nan Hendren and Bill Arthur and Mary Salter. There was one group of four and one group of three. After round robin play in the group stage the top two in each group qualified for semi finals and finals on Day 2.

Unfortunately the two Cobourg teams were drawn in the same group. Both of our teams lost their first game and met in the second game. It was tight all the way through and after 17 ends  (I forgot to mention it was 18 ends of 3 bowl pairs) we were tied coming home. Carl and Nan were sitting two when I played my last shot and although I moved one of their bowls out it was not quite enough to move the second bowl which was about 1/4" nearer to the jack than ours. So, after two games Carl and Nan had one win and I had none. Carl lost his final game whilst Mary and I won ours. That meant three teams tied for second place, each with one win. I won't go into the details of how a tie breaker works in these circumstances suffice to say that Carl and Nan won their first four end tiebreaker and then played Mary and me. This time we were the victors and qualified for the semi final on Sunday morning against Arnie Markowitz and Janice Slobojan from Pickering.

Mary and I were fast out the gates and built up a good lead. After 11 ends we were still in good shape but a run of 6 ends without scoring meant that  we went into the last end 2 shots down. Mary played a fine shot, moving the jack to give us one point but I could not build on that to get the second shot we needed to keep the game alive. The final score was 18-19.

Bob Bates will recall a similar situation in the Ontario Seniors last year when we were two down against Arnie going into the final end but could only score one! Arnie and his team went on to win the gold medal at the Canadian Seniors.

At the time of writing I don't know who won the final of the playdowns, Rhys and Tracey Warren (Lindsay) or Arnie and Janice.

Thanks for the support from Dave and Kathleen Shirley on both days.

Bill Arthur
July 23rd

CSMBA Championships - Fours

11/26/2022

 
The final event of the championship week here in Cobourg on Friday was the fours and full details are below.

But first an update on the triples. You can watch the last few ends of the final on YouTube at https://youtu.be/rh5m7FJ5ChY

This is an unedited version so apologies for the production.

Now to the Fours. Eight teams competed in two groups of four. Winner of Group A played second in Group B and winner of Group B played second in Group A.

The results of the standings after the group stage and the results of the semi finals and finals are below.
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Winners - David Lleweelyn, Fred Wallbank, Steve McKerihen, Martin Foxhall
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Silver - Don Rush, Travis Anderson, Marion Brunton, Penny Heneke
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Bronze - David Anderson, Ian MacPherson, Eliane Houtby, Laura Seed

CSMBA Triples

11/24/2022

 
Quite the day in the CSMBA national triples championships. Some great games culminating in what is probably the best game seen at the championships since they started. The gold award went to Fred Wallbank, Martin Foxhall and David Llwellyn. They beat Travis Anderson, Marion Brunton and Penny Heneke in an extra end. Anderson came back from 2-8 after 9 ends to tie the game with a score of four in the 12th end, before losing in an extra end to a wonderful championship winning bowl from Fred Wallbank. Sheila Rogers, Fred Gundel and Pat Binnie beat Elaine Houtby, Laura MacPherson and Ian MacPherson to take bronze.

​Awards were presented by CSMBA VP, Elaine Houtby

Photos and all the results are below.
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Fred Wallbank, Martin Foxhall & David Llwellyn - Gold
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Penny Heneke, Travis Anderson & Marion Brunton - Silver
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Pat Binnie, Fred Gundel & Sheila Rogers - Bronze
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CSMBA Pairs

11/23/2022

 
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Gold - David Llewellyn & Martin Foxhall
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Silver - Penny Henke & Marion Brunton
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Bronze - Patrick Cote & Fred Wallbank
Awards were presented by CSMBA Director Bill Arthur

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

The Lindsay Challenge Match

8/11/2021

 
Didn’t we have a lovely time? (the day we went to Lindsay)
On Sunday August 8
th six triples teams travelled to Lindsay to take up a challenge from that club. We played two ten end games. So, how did we do? Not too bad is the answer. The top team was Carl Ferguson, Ann Tough and Donna Ball and second best team was Baylee van Steijn, Peter Stuart-Sheppard and Melanie Duras. A Lindsay team was third.

The morning session was not very successful with only two Cobourg teams winning but the afternoon session was much more successful with Cobourg winning four and tying one.

For some of the Cobourg members it was their first experience of playing away from Cobourg and that meant getting used to different greens which was probably why we did better in the afternoon. The greens were a good speed but one or two did have their own characteristics!
It was good to renew some old acquaintances and to have some competitive bowling against different people. COVID protocols were in place and I think everyone felt that they were in a safe environment.
To round off a good day for Cobourg Melanie Duras and Mary Salter were first and second in the 50/50 draw. And we enjoyed the ice cream bars after the game.
Oh, I forgot to mention. We had fun and at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about. I think this line from Big Spender sums up lawn bowling (and maybe a few other things!)
“Wouldn’t you like to have fun, fun fun?
How’s about a few laughs, laughs, laughs?
I can show you a good time”
In 2022 we will renew (friendly) rivalries with a return match in Cobourg.


The Merry Wives of Windsor

7/14/2019

 
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​It’s a long way to Windsor to compete in the Ontario Seniors Championships but it was all worthwhile for our ladies seniors team of Nan Hendren, Kathleen Shirley and Louisa Arthur (or “The Merry Wives of Windsor” as I have dubbed them). Accompanied by their support team and cheerleaders (Mike, Dave and yours truly) they finished fourth which is enough reason to be merry but there was also a hint of unmerriness as the result could have been better.

There were three groups of four and on Day 1 they played each other team in the group in a round robin. The top eight teams went forward to Day 2. In their first game they played a team from Walkerton and were tied coming into the last end and were down when Nan had her final shot. In good skip fashion she made the winning shot to claim victory 13-12.

The next game, against Grand Cove, was not their best and they got off to a bad start before picking up their game but it was too little, too late and they lost that game. However, they knew that a win in their final game of the day would get them into the last eight to play a quarterfinal on Day 2. They had a comfortable 16-11 win and over dinner and over dinner that night planned strategy for the next day with expert input from their husbands (OK, I might have made up that bit).

It was pretty hot on Day 1 but Day 2 threatened to be even hotter, and I don’t mean just in terms of the weather! Now the games were elimination games – lose and you go home – win the quarter final and suddenly you are in with a chance of a medal.

The quarter final was against Hanover and it was nip and tuck all the way and with a one point lead going into the final end hope was temporarily dashed when Hanover scored to tie the game which meant an extra end. Some excellent bowls from all our team in the extra end gave them three points to get them into the semi final. Win the next game and they would be in the gold medal game and book a trip to the Canadian Seniors.

There was a saying in England by a couple of soccer pundits (Saint and Greavsie may mean something to some of you) that “It’s a funny old game” and the same is true of lawn bowling. The semi final was against the Nepean team which had scraped into Day 2 with a tie break win on Day 1 but in their quarter final beat Milton (undefeated on Day 1) 16-14.

Our ladies got off to a slow start and it was clear that the main threat on the Nepean team was their skip who was an ex Team Canada member. Several times when Cobourg was sitting with multiple shots she would score and although the team bowled well they were four down going into the last end and despite scoring two they lost 13-11. That meant playing in the bronze medal game instead of the gold silver game.

After five games in two days in temperatures in the mid thirties the bronze medal game was played against the Windsor team on rink #1 right by the clubhouse and right in front of a partisan crowd. There was no doubt that the Cobourg team had better bowlers but the combination of being on an outside rink (which seemed strange) playing against a home team told early on and it took  over half the game before Cobourg got to grips with the rink and by that time they were trailing.

With five ends to go the score was 4-14. Not an impossible task, a score of two each end would tie the game. And they nearly did it. Windsor never scored again but it finished 12-14.

So that’s where the unmerriness came in but finishing fourth in Ontario is something that “The Merry Wives of Windsor” can be very proud of.
 
And I have to say that their husbands were also very proud of them.

​Bill

Baylee van Steijn wins Ontario Gold

7/7/2019

 
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The Ontario Singles Youth Championships were held at club on July 6th and 7th 2019.

 Age group for youths was 12-18 and in total twenty one youths from across Ontario competed. There were separate competitions for girls and boys. Nine girls and 12 boys competed.

The club was delighted to welcome MP for Northumberland – Peterborough South, Kim Rudd and   Councillor Emily Chorley representing the Town of Cobourg. During the opening ceremonies both of them spoke about the benefits of lawn bowling as a family sport and a sport for all ages. Representing the Ontario Lawn Bowls Association Director were President Philip Francis and Director, Steve Schucknecht.

In the girls section the local favourite was Baylee van Steijn of the Cobourg club. Baylee was a silver medal winner at the Canadian Championships last year and has previously won silver in the Ontario Championships. This is her last year as a youth bowler and the pressure was on her to perform well in front of her home club.

In the boys section Cobourg representatives Dean West and Hobson McMaster were pitted against older and much more experienced bowlers but both bowled well and performed admirably and were pleased with their performances even though they were eliminated after the round robin section on day 1.

In Baylee’s round robin group there was a three way tie with each of three girls winning two and losing one game. However, based on points difference Baylee was seeded first in her group which meant she advanced direct to the semi final stage on day 2.

In her semi final game she played Cori Millard of Lindsay who had beaten her in the round robin and who had won the previous three Ontario championships. In a very tight game Baylee won 18-14 and moved on to the final to play Adrianna D’Sa of Oshawa. That was an incredibly tight game as well with excellent bowling by both players and to the delight of the home crowd Baylee took the gold medal with an 18-15 win.
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Baylee will now represent Ontario at the Canadian Youth Championships in Juan de Fuca BC in August

Bowling in Burlington

7/29/2018

 
I was looking for a suitable title to use in this article about our three Cobourg ladies playing in the Ontario Senior Championships. A quick google search for film titles with three came up with such things as "The Three Stooges" and "Three Amigos" but I was too frightened to risk using those (particularly the first one). One of the results was "Three can play that game" (not a film that I'd ever heard of) but it is most suitable because the ladies really could play!

Pat Bylok, Louisa Arthur and Mary Thibault were acclaimed District 14 winners and were at Burlington on Thursday July 26th to play in the championships. The format was a modified double knockout which means lose two games and you are eliminated. That puts great pressure on the team in the first game and they had a tough draw against a Burlington team representing District 5. The home advantage told to start with as Burlington went into a 10-1 lead but as the Cobourg team got the measure of the green they staged a comeback. Unfortunately it was a bit too late and they lost 17-10.

After that the pressure really is on - another loss and you go home. Next up was Ridgetown representing District 1 and this was a relatively easy win for Cobourg by 19-11.

The third game was against Elora Rocks (District 7B) and what a nail biter that was. The teams were neck and neck throughout the game and going into the final end Cobourg was one down (10-11). After the final Elora Rocks bowl they were sitting one but Cobourg had second, third and fourth bowls. If Pat Bylok could remove the shot bowl it would be a win for Cobourg. However, as Pat walked down the green to look at the head play was suspended because of  a thunderstorm. After an hour's wait play resumed but the rule is that in this circumstance the end has to be replayed and unfortunately Elora Rocks took one to win 12-10

To put the Cobourg performance into context both the Burlington and Elora Rocks teams finished just out of the medals, tied in fourth place

Click here to see a You Tube video of the championships

And finally on a different tack here are the up to date jitney scores. Ken Bevan leads the night time standings and Marjorie Jones the day time.

Good Bowling
Bill
jitney_results_summary.pdf
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