On Wednesday, June 24, we had 5 rinks of triples and 2 rinks of pairs with winners decided by Highest Winning Score. First place went to Billy Wilton, Pauly Naylor and Shorty Smart (skip) who returned to bowls this week in fine form to lead throughout for a good win against Don Caldwell, Scott Kennedy and Tony Cobcroft (skip). Second place went to Peter James, Jeff McCusker and Les Waldock (skip) who led 14 to 7 after 11 ends and continued to attack the jack to run out 24 to 15 winners over Mick Cavic, Ken Burrows and John Voytas (skip). Paul Read was his usual accurate self to produce a resting toucher at 12.24, well done Paul.

On Saturday, June 27, we had a great turnout with winners decided by Lowest Winning Margin. First place went to Neville Butt and Col Armstrong (skip) who had a close game throughout where they led 14 to 13 after 13 ends before they drew 23 all but won 13 to 12 on ends against Peter Dillon and Paul Read (skip). Second place went to Mick Clavic and Keith Pickett (skip) who were down 12 to 13 after 16 ends before they picked up the pace to runout 28 to 20 winners over John Redman and Peter McKay (skip).

We had a wonderful afternoon of bowls on Sunday with 28 bowlers enjoying another wonderful Narooma afternoon. Winners were decided by Lowest Winning Margin with first place going to Jan Rapkins and Barry Lymbery (skip) who led 13 to 9 after 13 ends and in a very close match they picked up 5 shots on the last 2 ends to take their match 19 to 17 against Mick Cavic and Darrell Goodridge (skip). Second prize, on countback, went to Lois MacGregor, Enid Brooker and Merrie Downie (skip) who were 9 all after 11 ends and in another close match they won the last 2 ends for a 15 to 13 win against Merran Pell, Cindy Newell and Bruce Rapkins (skip).

Men's Open Pairs Championship Final

The final in the Pairs Championship was played on Sunday after a 3 month wait to get back in competition mode. It was worth the wait as the match was an absolute cracker with both teams bringing their top bowls to the green. The contenders were Peter Dillon and Les Waldock (skip) and Jeremy Seaton and Dennis Maggs (skip) with both teams coming through some tough matches to earn their place in the final. Jeremy and Dennis jumped out of the blocks to lead 8 to 2 after 5 ends only to have Peter and Les reply to square up at 8 all after 8 ends. Jeremy and Dennis then edged clear to lead 19 to 13 after 18 ends only to have Peter and Les fight back to be down by one shot with one end to play. The famous words of Yogi Berra, 'It ain't over 'till it's over.' Rang true as the last end unfolded. The final end favoured one side then the other until, with one bowl to go, the position was Peter and Les holding 3 shots. Dennis stepped up to the mat for the final shot of the match and, after discussions with Jeremy, put down a weighted bowl that knocked out the two front opposing bowls and softly sat on the jack for shot and match. Jeremy and Dennis were triumphant 20 to 18 against a valiant Peter and Les, what a finish guys, congratulations to both teams for putting on such a great show. Well done to Jeremy and Dennis we will cheer for you in the Zone finals.

Singles Championship

Round 1 of the Singles was played over the weekend and the results were. Keith Pickett played Matt Dunn Keith pulled out the big guns to have an all the way 31 to 9 win. Clem Hochkins played Justin Bennett and Clem brought his A game to the green to record a 31 to 10 win. Kevin Mitchell played Graham Cummins and. in a match where Mitch led most of the way with Graham snapping at his heels, Mitch pulled out the big shots for a 31 to 26 win.

Coming Events: Second round matches in the Major Singles are due to be played on or before Sunday.

To ponder: seek to be worth knowing rather than well known.

Social Bowls Winners' Circle

Wednesday, June 17 - Oh what a feeling, happy faces everywhere as competitive bowls returned. We had 4 rinks of triples and 2 rinks of pairs on Wednesday with winners decided by Highest Winning Margin. First place went to Terry Lewis, Peter Hawker and Peter McKay (skip) who returned to bowls in fine form to lead throughout for a good win against Vince Stocks, Garry Evans and Paul Read (skip). Second place went to Don Caldwell, Scott Kennedy and Tony Cobcroft (skip) who led 18 to 15 after 16 ends but then really got their game humming to run out 32 to 15 winners over the formidable team of Neville Butt, Peter Tinson and Wayne Harmon (skip). Scott Kennedy had his eye in early to produce a resting toucher at 1.17, well done Scott. Warren Bender protested that quantity should beat timeliness and Peter Hawker rued what a difference 5 minutes can make.

On Saturday, June 20, we had a great turnout with winners decided by Highest Winning Score. First place went to Garry Evans and Paul Read (skip) who played great bowls as they led throughout to defeat John Redman and John Voytas (skip). Second place went to Leo Winter and Peter McKay (skip) who were down 10 to 15 after 13 ends before they picked up the pace to runout 27 to 20 winners over Mick Cavic and Wayne Harmon (skip).

We had a wonderful afternoon of bowls on Sunday, June 21, with 20 bowlers enjoying a wonderful Narooma afternoon. Winners were decided by Highest Winning Score with first place going to Olwyn Mayer, Pam Grant and Jeremy Seaton (skip) who had obviously been practicing in private and came out running to lead 13 to 3 after 7 ends before they motored home for a 26 to 11 win against Merran Pell, Sue Wales and Jean Voss (skip). Second prize went to Darrell Goodridge and Sandra Breust (skip) who jumped out early to a 14 to 8 lead after 10 ends then had a close second half before taking their match 23 to 17 against Cindy Newell and Kevin Callaway (skip).

Last Tuesday, June 23, was a day for 'new beginnings' on the green. Players monitored, social distancing, frequent sanitizing. It was wonderful to seize the day and bask in the sunshine, see happy faces and just enjoy being out there.

A Joe's Special allocated bowlers for three bowl pairs. 'Lucky rink' was drawn to decide the day's winners and that was rink two. Sue Sansom and Pam Grant (skip) were evenly matched against Cindy Newell and Aurelia Robison (skip) - their scores were level on six occasions, resulting in a 17 all draw. Well done ladies!

Another lucky winner was Heather McGourty who won the 50Club draw, then immediately followed up by claiming the meat raffle. Great result Heather.

Happy Birthday to all our ladies who celebrated their special day since bowls stopped in March - hope you managed to enjoy the day. A fond farewell to Mavis Hardy who has relocated to Victoria to be closer to her family. We wish you all the best for the future Mavis.

Ladies interested in learning to play lawn bowls are welcome to come along to Club Narooma at 10.00am on Tuesdays and meet our social group. Bowls is a great way to make new friends and learn a new skill while having fun. We hope to see you soon. Please contact Vicki Herman on mob. 0455 863117 if you require further information.

The extremely popular sport of croquet, in its various formats, was played out last Tuesday and Thursday by enthusiastic members of the Narooma Croquet Club in bright sunshine, on the beautiful greens of courts 1 and 2, at the Dalmeny Club.

Association Croquet

Tuesday, June 23

Tuesday's game of association croquet was a challenge match in the format of Ricochet Croquet between Janet Jones and Len Favier. The rules of ricochet croquet vary from that of standard Association Croquet in that after a roquet shot two further shots are allowed without a croquet shot being required. Initially Len got to a four shot lead of 12 to 8, but then he wilted under pressure and Janet got into stride, rounding up Len to win 26 to 14.

Golf Croquet

Thursday, June 23

A robust rollup of players presented for the regular matches of Golf Croquet on Thursday, with an extended program of fourteen singles croquet games being enjoyed by all. Janet Jones proved to be the top competitor with four wins, no losses and scoring a total of 28 points. Aurelia Robinson was second best with three wins and scoring 23 points; while Len Favier was third best with three wins and scoring 21 points. Highlights were a one-shot hoop on the fourth hoop by Janet Jones in game 9, plus an unusual and spectacular performance by Di Sims in scoring three hoops with jump shots to just fail to overtake Helen Stannard in game 10. Earlier Di Sims also just failed to hold out the masterful Janet Jones by one shot in game 8.

Details of the scores were as follows:-

Aurelia Robinson 7 def Di Sims 3

Louise Starkie 7 def Sally McGourty 2

Janet Jones 7 def Helen Stannard 3

Len Favier 7 def Fay O'Connor 3

Fay O'Connor 7 def Sally McGourty 4

Len Favier 7 def Louise Starkie 5

Aurelia Robinson 7 def Helen Stannard 1

Janet Jones 7 def Di Sims 6 (very close)

Janet Jones 7 def Aurelia Robinson 2

Helen Stannard 7 def Di Sims 6

Aurelia Robinson 7 def Fay O'Connor 3

Janet Jones 7 def Sally McGourty 2

Len Favier 7 def Helen Stannard 4

Di Sims 7 def Louise Starkie 4

Next Scheduled Association Croquet Games

Tuesday, June 30: Round 4 of championship handicap association croquet - Janet Jones vs Christine Stent (postponed from March) and regular round of association croquet - Pauline Wilcock vs Len Favier.

Friday, July 3: Round 5 of championship handicap association croquet -

Pearl Hanson vs Len Favier (postponed from March).

Bookings with Christine Stent 4476 3506.keeping to covid-19 protocols.

Next Scheduled Golf Croquet Practice Games: Monday, June 29, and Thursday, July 2.

Bookings with Fay O'Connor 0421 352 527 keeping to COVID-19 protocols.

PREVIOUS REPORTS

Croquet games were held under COVID-19 protocols limiting the number of players to 10 for the past weeks, commencing with "practice matches" in association croquet and golf croquet, and then playing competition matches from June 15.

Players were at first tentative, but the pace has picked up considerably recently.

Janet Jones and Pauline Wilcock have returned still as top competitors in association croquet, while there has been a more even competition in golf croquet with Aurelia Robinson, Janet Jones, Fay O'Connor, Len Favier, Sally McGourty and Louise Starkie taking turns to shine in golf croquet.

The following are the details of the games played.

Friday, May 29

Janet Jones, Christine Stent, Pearl Hanson and Len Favier competed in games of singles, association croquet with the scores being:-

Janet Jones 18 vs Christine Stent 14

Len Favier 16 vs Pearl Hanson 11

Tuesday, June 2

In bright, sunny weather Pauline Wilcock, Janet Jones, Christine Stent and Len Favier competed in two matches of singles association croquet with the scores being:-

Janet Jones 22 vs Pauline Wilcock 20 (very closely contested match)

Christine Stent 15 vs Len Favier 7

Tuesday, June 9

Starting with cool overcast conditions with warmer sun later breaking through, Pauline Wilcock, Janet Jones, Christine Stent and Len Favier played two matches of singles association croquet, the scores being:-

. Janet Jones 20 vs Len Favier 14 (slight improvement with coaching from Janet and given bisques when margin was 4 or more)

Pauline Wilcock 19 vs Christine Stent 11 (with bisques)

Thursday, May 28

A fun day of golf croquet was enjoyed by all with six games - three being very closely fought - having being played. Janet Jones won all her three games with Louise Starkie and Aurelia Robinson next best with two wins each. Full scores were:

Janet Jones 7 vs Len Favier 2

Louise Starkie / Aurelia Robinson 7 vs Pearl Hanson 6

Pearl Hanson / Janet Jones 7 vs Louise Starkie 2

Len Favier 6 vs Aurelia Robinson 7

Janet Jones 7 vs Aurelia Robinson 4

Len Favier / Louise Starkie 7 vs Pearl Hanson 3

Thursday, June 4

Games of golf croquet were enjoyed by five enthusiastic competitors under a clear, blue sky. Four games were played of which two singles challenge matches had nail-biting finishes, with Len Favier winning both these games and Pearl Hanson winning solo in a game against a doubles combination. Full scores were:

Pearl Hanson 7 vs Fay O'Connor / Sally McGourty 3

Len Favier 7 vs Jean Phillips 5

Sally McGourty / Jean Phillips 7 vs Fay O'Connor 4

Len Favier 7 vs Pearl Hanson 5

Thursday, June 11

A good roll up of eight players presented for golf croquet in bright sunny conditions, with twelve games contested. Competition was very tight and scores extremely close, with three players - Pearl Hanson, Fay O'Connor and Aurelia Robinson - coming out on top with three wins each. Full scores were:

Aurelia Robinson 7 vs Sally McGourty 5

Pearl Hanson 6 vs Jean Phillips 7

Janet Jones 7 vs Len Favier 2

Louise Starkie 4 vs Fay O'Connor 7

Len Favier 7 vs Louise Starkie 4

Janet Jones 6 vs Fay O'Connor 7

Aurelia Robinson 7 vs Jean Phillips 5

Sally McGourty 6 vs Pearl Hanson 7

Jean Phillips 4 vs Fay O'Connor 7

Janet Jones 7 vs Aurelia Robinson 5

Aurelia Robinson 7 vs Louise Starkie 2

Len Favier 4 vs Pearl Hanson 7

Thursday, June 18

Unfortunately, during the fourth week of competition there were absences due to committee meeting commitments, illnesses (not COVID-19) and holiday travel. Thus the number of competitors was limited to four keen golf croquet players on the Thursday, with a round robin competition. Seven games of singles golf croquet were completed, with Janet Jones winning all her four games comprehensively. Full details of the scores were:

Len Favier 7 def Louise Starkie 0

Janet Jones 7 def Helen Stannard 0

Louise Starkie 7 def Helen Stannard 3

Janet Jones 7 def Len Favier 2

Janet Jones 7 def Helen Stannard 2

Janet Jones 7 def Louise Starkie 2

Len Favier 7 def Helen Stannard 4

Leonard Favier