"Singles eh? You either love it or hate. Personally I enjoy it. It's all down to the individual and you cannot come off the green blaming, or congratulating anyone but yourself. It's also excellent practice for leads as it is basically a game of draw"
That quote is from my blog after the District singles and maybe it did something to encourage entries in the club singles which arguably had a stronger field than in the District playdowns.
As the club singles championships were getting underway on Saturday August 19th the sponsor of the men’s event, Martin Foxhall, was preparing to play for gold in the Canadian championships in Victoria. Martin is a member of the Ontario men’s fours team and after winning eight of their ten round robin games they qualified for the gold medal match. Unfortunately they lost that game and finished with the silver medal but it was still a great performance from the team in the week long championships. If he had been in Cobourg Martin would have been delighted with the most successful singles championships the club has had in years and also with the quality of the bowling.
Twelve men competed in four groups of three with each of the group winners proceeding to semi final games. The winners of each game were the first to 15 points with the final being first to 18 points. Three of the favourites, Bob Bates, Ben van Steijn and Carl Ferguson, were drawn in the same group, what sports writers like to call a “group of death” . Carl beat Bob in the opener and Bob then lost to Ben so the position was clear cut – win the last game and qualify for the semi final. Carl continued his fine form to beat Ben.
In the other three groups the surprise winner was second year bowler Wilf Stender who won both his games to qualify. Ralph Stoffers looked to have a relatively easy group but was given tough challenges by Steve Haslam and Mike Place before qualifying. Bill Arthur also had a favourable draw and won his two games easily.
In the first semi final Carl beat Wilf convincingly. In the second semi final long-standing teammates (and frequent combatants) Ralph and Bill played against one another with Bill winning out on this occasion. The final between Carl and Bill swung back and forth with Ferguson fighting his way back from 10-15 and 15-17 to finally win 18-17.
The ladies championship was sponsored by Reg Ward Insurance and eight ladies competed. Players were drawn into two groups of four and the two group winners qualified for the final. The clear favourite was Canadian junior silver medallist Baylee van Steijn and, true to form, she won her group undefeated. The other group was more closely contested but Donna Longman clinched her place in the final with a close win over Sarah van Steijn in her final group game. Donna played a fine game and the final was neck and neck for a long time before Baylee pulled away in the closing stages.
On Thursday August 17th we hosted an open mixed triples which was sponsored by Louisa and me. Eighteen teams competed and in addition to five home teams there were teams from Peterborough, Pickering, Oshawa, Bobcaygeon, Campbellford and Balmy Beach (Toronto).
The favourite from Bobcaygeon was the team of Steve Nelson, Anna Panton and Al Steffen and they won their first two games with the maximum possible points – a cumulative 36.
Going into final round of games the Cobourg team of Bob Bates , Pat Bylok and Helen Beaton were in second place and in third place was my team with Eve Gorringe at vice and and Louisa leading. Bob's team played the Nelson team in the final round and my team team played another two game winner, Rick Barnard’s team from Campbellford. Unfortunately for Cobourg both our teams lost and the Nelson team won the tournament with three wins and 52 points. Full results are on the results page and photos on the photo page
As I write this some of our juniors are playing in Oshawa and I'll let you know how they got on next week and will bring you news of the MVP Sports 4321 junior tournamnet which we are hosting next Sarurday August 26th.
Also on August 26th Carl Ferguson and Mike Place will be competing in the District 14 novices playdowns in Bobcaygeon as will Steve Haslam and Ken Bevan. We wish them the best of luck.
Good bowling
Bill Arthur
That quote is from my blog after the District singles and maybe it did something to encourage entries in the club singles which arguably had a stronger field than in the District playdowns.
As the club singles championships were getting underway on Saturday August 19th the sponsor of the men’s event, Martin Foxhall, was preparing to play for gold in the Canadian championships in Victoria. Martin is a member of the Ontario men’s fours team and after winning eight of their ten round robin games they qualified for the gold medal match. Unfortunately they lost that game and finished with the silver medal but it was still a great performance from the team in the week long championships. If he had been in Cobourg Martin would have been delighted with the most successful singles championships the club has had in years and also with the quality of the bowling.
Twelve men competed in four groups of three with each of the group winners proceeding to semi final games. The winners of each game were the first to 15 points with the final being first to 18 points. Three of the favourites, Bob Bates, Ben van Steijn and Carl Ferguson, were drawn in the same group, what sports writers like to call a “group of death” . Carl beat Bob in the opener and Bob then lost to Ben so the position was clear cut – win the last game and qualify for the semi final. Carl continued his fine form to beat Ben.
In the other three groups the surprise winner was second year bowler Wilf Stender who won both his games to qualify. Ralph Stoffers looked to have a relatively easy group but was given tough challenges by Steve Haslam and Mike Place before qualifying. Bill Arthur also had a favourable draw and won his two games easily.
In the first semi final Carl beat Wilf convincingly. In the second semi final long-standing teammates (and frequent combatants) Ralph and Bill played against one another with Bill winning out on this occasion. The final between Carl and Bill swung back and forth with Ferguson fighting his way back from 10-15 and 15-17 to finally win 18-17.
The ladies championship was sponsored by Reg Ward Insurance and eight ladies competed. Players were drawn into two groups of four and the two group winners qualified for the final. The clear favourite was Canadian junior silver medallist Baylee van Steijn and, true to form, she won her group undefeated. The other group was more closely contested but Donna Longman clinched her place in the final with a close win over Sarah van Steijn in her final group game. Donna played a fine game and the final was neck and neck for a long time before Baylee pulled away in the closing stages.
On Thursday August 17th we hosted an open mixed triples which was sponsored by Louisa and me. Eighteen teams competed and in addition to five home teams there were teams from Peterborough, Pickering, Oshawa, Bobcaygeon, Campbellford and Balmy Beach (Toronto).
The favourite from Bobcaygeon was the team of Steve Nelson, Anna Panton and Al Steffen and they won their first two games with the maximum possible points – a cumulative 36.
Going into final round of games the Cobourg team of Bob Bates , Pat Bylok and Helen Beaton were in second place and in third place was my team with Eve Gorringe at vice and and Louisa leading. Bob's team played the Nelson team in the final round and my team team played another two game winner, Rick Barnard’s team from Campbellford. Unfortunately for Cobourg both our teams lost and the Nelson team won the tournament with three wins and 52 points. Full results are on the results page and photos on the photo page
As I write this some of our juniors are playing in Oshawa and I'll let you know how they got on next week and will bring you news of the MVP Sports 4321 junior tournamnet which we are hosting next Sarurday August 26th.
Also on August 26th Carl Ferguson and Mike Place will be competing in the District 14 novices playdowns in Bobcaygeon as will Steve Haslam and Ken Bevan. We wish them the best of luck.
Good bowling
Bill Arthur