This year’s club finals weekend was rounded off superbly with one of the best games we’ve witnessed in the Women’s Championship with neither competitor deserving to lose. Congratulations to Anita though  whose experience saw her through to lift the trophy for the 2nd time. Andrew made up for missing out in the Junior Championship final by storming through to take the Men’s Championship.

The weekend saw rain for the first time in many years, which is rather ironic considering the sunny summer of bowls we’ve enjoyed; Sunday was much kinder if somewhat gusty, so much so it blew competitors hats off a couple of times!

We had a bumper number of entrants, so thanks to all 51 of you who entered. It certainly made it tough going at times for the 13 folk who were lucky enough to lift the 14 trophies.

Particular congratulations to Charlie in probably setting a very unique record .. being a first-time winner in their 90’s! Having come close a couple of times in previous finals he won the Men’s Pairs alongside Keith, who’s developing a growing reputation in pairs and triples. Congratulations also to the other first-time winners, Neil and Verena, who played their part alongside Nathan in lifting the Presidents Plate.

As well as Nathan, Sandy also lifted three trophies, capping a superb season.

After losing two singles finals last year, Tracy finally converted her good form in county games to pick up her first singles title – the Junior Championship. She also contributed magnificently to the two closest games of the weekend .. losing the Presidents Cup on an extra end and then losing the Women’s Championship by one shot.

Thanks to everyone who helped or contributed to the weekend – the greenkeepers, early morning swishers, caterers, cake-makers, markers, umpires, trophy presenters, the list really does go on.  A special thanks to all the supporters, some of whom will, hopefully, be future finalists themselves.

Photos from the weekend are available here Club Finals 2025.

Next year’s finals weekend will be 5-6th September – I’m afraid a requirement of entering the club competitions is that you must be available on one of those days. Entries will begin soon after sign-up in March and I’d urge everyone to enter at least some and perhaps the Junior Championship, especially as there’ll be no Tracy, Sandy, Andrew, et al, in the draw .. they are no longer eligible!

Injuries from playing bowls are rare and we wish JenB well and for soldiering on with a damaged finger over the weekend. Her and Nathan recently qualified for the final of the SML Mixed Pairs to be held at Fordbridge Park on 21st September .. I’m sure they’ll receive some great support in representing Sunbury Bowls.

Just another reminder that Tuesday’s Club Night will take place at the earlier time of 5:30pm for the remainder of the season.

Lastly, I missed someone’s significant birthday earlier this month so here’s a shout out to Paul, especially as he’s not been well of late and was unable to support Linda in her finals game on Saturday. Take care Paul!

Sunbury hosted two team games last weekend – a friendly with Esher and an SML game with Hampton. The friendly was played in great spirit with longer jacks restricted on at least one rink. That’s as far as the bonhomie went though with Sunbury taking the honours on all rinks, reinforcing our healthy record against Esher.

On Sunday, Hampton made their intentions clear .. arriving on a high after beating Stanwell 10-0 the previous day and keen to avenge  their loss at the Bluewood Cup. At half time it looked fairly rosey for Sunbury but, unfortunately, by the end we were limping to a draw on just one rink for an overall 9-1 loss. That probably cements the SML league title for Hampton so congratulations to our nearest neighbours.

This season’s Club Competitions come to a head this weekend with all 14 finals due to be played. As ever, sorting out a schedule has been tricky, especially with 9-10 players in multiple finals. Timings are subject to change .. any major amendments will be forwarded on the usual communication mediums. From a spectators perspective please bear in mind that the first named player(s) will always be on the top (home score) of the scoreboard. If competitor’s bowls have similar colour/markings then red/blue stickers will be applied. Also, markers will be asked to update the scoreboards after each end. Refreshments will be available and lunch too, if required. It’s ironic that after a bumper summer we may see some rain, but the show will go on unless the heavens really open up. Good luck to all and enjoy!

The season will be over in just over a month’s time – green renovations are booked in for Thurs 25th Sep. So far as team games are concerned we have three more friendlies and two SML games remaining, starting with this weekend against Esher and Hampton. Both are at home. It’s quite refreshing to see Sunbury still lying in 2nd place in the SML table, albeit with some teams having games in hand!

Throughout the season two Sunbury teams battled away on Thursday evenings in the North West Surrey (NWS) Mixed Fours league. Due to the geography of Surrey this inevitably involved away trips south of the river to such clubs as Byfleet, Oxshott, Ember, Addlestone, Horsell, et al, but also to fellow northerners Bishop Duppas!

Eileen and Keith did a grand job managing the teams in division 2 and 3, respectively, with some rather good results. The division 2 team just missed out on promotion finishing 3rd. Having started with two resounding wins the middle part of the season saw some mixed results but picked up again towards the end. The division 3 team went one better and secured 2nd place after winning 9 of their 12 games. This secures promotion and will see both Sunbury teams in the same division next season. Each team contains a squad of around eight players so congratulation to all involved.

Our Club Competitions final weekend is almost here .. Sat 30th & Sun 31st. There are a few games outstanding but the schedule is taking shape and will be announced in due course. Both days will start at 11am and continue through to sometime around 5-6pm, according to how many multiple finalists we end up with. The Men’s and Women’s championship finals will be played in their traditional spot of Sunday afternoon, hopefully on rinks 1 and 2/3.  Having mixed it up last year we are reverting to the more customary direction of play from carpark to paddock for this year. Of the 14 finals we will need 10 markers so please get in touch if you’re happy to help. The dress code for players and markers is club shirt (or white top) with dark blue (or dark coloured) bottoms. After each final is finished, or soon after,  the winner will be presented with the trophy by our club Captain, President or Secretary and photos taken. If you have any trophies at home please could you return them to the clubhouse this week and, preferably, polished! More details on the weekend will follow.

Construction of the summerhouse resumed this week – thanks again to everyone who’s spared some time to help.

The annual end of season Men v Women game is also fast approaching on Sat 13th Sep at 2:30pm followed by family BBQ from 6pm. It’s been contested for the past 7 years with the score standing at 3-3 after a dubious draw last year! The sign-up sheet is available in the clubhouse. All family and friends are also welcome.

Sunbury retained the Bluewood Cup for the third consecutive year on Saturday.

Superbly hosted by Fordbridge Park and also involving Hampton the day contained a series of short games played in Pairs (Mens/Womens/Mixed) and two triples. It was a good all round team effort with Sunbury gaining 25 points to Fordbridge Park’s 18 and Hampton on 17. Our captain Dennis extends his thanks to everyone involved including the great support we enjoyed  throughout the day.

It was a sunset finish to our latest SML game at Ashford on Wednesday. A 6pm start, 18 ends plus two trials meant for a gloomy finish now we’re half way through August! The game itself was brighter and rather close in the end with Sunbury taking wins on the last end on two rinks. Ashford took the overall shot count by 4 and the game 6-4.

Club Night will continue at 6pm for the next couple of Tuesdays but switch to an earlier start of 5:30pm from 2nd September.

We’ll soon be into the last two weeks of our club competitions with pretty much only semi-finals remaining before the silverware is decided at the end of the month.

The sign-up sheet and menu choices for the annual dinner and presentation of awards on 21st November is available on the noticeboard in the clubhouse.

 

The summerhouse arrived on Thursday and construction begins today,  Friday. Thanks to everyone who can lend some help.

Thanks also to those who’ve cleaned the walkways and bowls mats .. it’s made such a difference.

 

Our midweek friendly at Wraysbury brought a first for some and a reminder of indoor bowling for others .. an artificial green! Despite losing on rinks 2-1 most folk enjoyed the afternoon and would be pleased to see it on the calendar again next season. We followed this up with another friendly on Sunday, this time at home to Chertsey, where we again won on one rink out of three.

The Friday Triples league came to a climax this week with wins for teams captained by Diane, Karen and Nikki, who cemented the top spot.

14pts – Nikki; 12pts – Diane; 10pts – Alison; Eileen; Karen; 4pts – Alan;

Well done to everyone who participated and our organiser Eileen. One unusual feature this season was no cancellations due to the weather. Congratulations to the winning team of Chris, Keith, Neil, Pat, Paul and their captain Nikki, who’s now won it twice in the four years it’s been contested.

The last of our all-day club competitions, the Presidents Cup, was played on Saturday in the more usual hot dry conditions we’ve come to expect over the years. It attracted a bumper attendance of 34 players, with everyone playing at least 3 short games over the course of the day. There were some close games and even a draw courtesy of Chris and Keith. Three of the semi-finalists were a repeat of last year – Alan, Keith and Tracy; and they were joined by Colin. Both semis were close and decided on the final end – but it was Alan and Tracy who came out on top and will contest the final in just under three weeks time. Thanks to everyone who helped with the preparation of the green, setup, catering and organisation – too many to mention but special thanks to Dennis, Gary and Nikki.

The lineup for the Junior championship has been decided. Commiserations to Sandy and Simon who missed out to Andrew and Tracy. The other club competitions will have finalists soon and certainly in the next three weeks! Best of luck to everyone still competing.

Looking ahead ..

Tues 12th 6pm – Club Night;

Wed 13th 6pm – Ashford v Sunbury;

Thur 14th – Summerhouse arrives;

Sat 16th – Bluewood Cup at Fordbridge Park;

Sun 17th – Beer, Gin & Music festival

This Saturday we have the last of the season’s day-long club competitions – the Presidents Cup. It’s a bit different to other bowls formats in that the scoring is 4-3-2-1 regardless of who’s holding shot bowl. We’ll play a series of short games using a swiss system (not knockout) until we have four semi-finalists and then two finalists. The weather forecast is good, maybe too hot for some but don’t worry, we expect to have plenty of rest periods due to an unprecedented number of entrants. We’re aiming to start the first set of games at 10:30am so please report from 10am ready for the draw. We expect to finish around 4pm, although some may wish to bow out before that. Nikki is kindly arranging pizza for lunch and will be taking any orders on the morning. If you’re expecting to play please check you’re on the list below and let me have any changes asap.

Playlist – Alan; Alison; Andrew, Andrea; Anita; Barry; Bindley; BobH; ChrisSh; Christine; Colin; DavidP; Don; Eileen; Gary; JenC; John; Julia; Karen; Keith; Linda; Mike; Nathan; NeilF; Nikki; Pat;  Peter; Richard; Roger; Sandy; Simon; Tracy; Viv; Wade.

In the season-long club competitions, the Junior Championship has produced the first finalist. Congratulations to Andrew who had to battle through three rounds before beating Sandy in their semi-final, but only just and by winning fewer ends too!

Thanks for the response to help building the summerhouse on the 14th. We’ll let folk know when the delivery time is confirmed.

This week’s Friday Triples saw wins for teams captained by Alison, Nikki and, yes, Alan’s team! It was far from plain sailing though when the head was disturbed when measuring for a crucial shot on the last end .. a harsh lesson for those involved. Nikki’s team is in pole position going into the final week but could be caught by one of three other teams. The final showdown is this coming Friday.

12pts – Nikki; 10pts – Alison; Diane; Eileen; 8pts – Karen; 4pts – Alan;

Saturday’s friendly at Byfleet was shared on rinks 2-2 but the hosts did better on shots. Thanks to everyone who put their names down to play at one of the furthest trips we have. The weekend was rounded off with an SML game at home to Stanwell. It was 2nd vs 3rd in the table and it proved to be quite close with rinks shared 2-2 but with Sunbury scoring more shots for an overall 6-4 win. One unusual feature of the game was the sight of two sets of orange  bowls being used on the same rink and both by skips too! So we’ve now played three well-established clubs in the space of a week – Walton who celebrated their centenary three years ago; Stanwell did so last year; Byfleet’s centenary will be next year. Congratulations to them all .. let’s hope Sunbury make it too one day .. in 2068!

This coming week sees an interesting friendly at Wraysbury, a new venue for us and a new surface too .. an artificial green! The match is on Wednesday afternoon, following regular Club Night on Tuesday. Last week saw a bumper turnout of 36 players  with all six rinks occupied playing the favoured triples format. Please do bear in mind that it won’t always be possible and fours and even pairs may have to be played. Also if you find yourself on a rink where the majority of bowls are black, please consider attaching stickers to help identify your team’s bowls. There are plenty of red and blue stickers available in the clubhouse.

Jen, Nathan and Karen all compete in county games this week. Jen & Nathan compete at Ashford on Monday in the main Middlesex Mixed Pairs and Karen continues her quest in the SML 75pts competition on Tuesday. Good luck to all three.

This week, Jen, Nathan & Tracy came unstuck when facing yet another triple at Staines in the SML Mixed Triples. In the SML Mixed Pairs Jen & Nathan followed up a win at Fordbridge Park by beating our own Nikki & Dennis to progress into the semi-finals. Unfortunately Karen & Alan failed to join them after running out of steam against a pair from Hampton.

Lastly, the summerhouse has been ordered and is due to be delivered on Thurs 14th August. We’re not sure of timing yet but anyone who can spare some time to start the build on that day would be very welcome.

We may have come second in this week’s friendly at Walton but it was good and enjoyable afternoon of bowls. Sunbury were on top on all rinks at half way but the home team put the pressure on in the second half winning on all rinks by the end, albeit only just. Overall Walton took the game by 11 shots. It was sad to hear more about their woes of losing the bowls green at the end of their lease in 2028. We added our names to the petition – do a search for “Walton Bowls closure” or click here to see more about their fight to save the bowls club.

To the lucky few who are still going in our club competitions .. the play-by deadlines are suspended. We’re in a good position with a whole month before finals and just a few quarter-finals outstanding. For some a semi-final is their only game and we want to ensure that the game is played on a date both players are comfortable with and without pressure to squeeze games in. This is due in no small measure to all those who’ve arranged and played their games in good time throughout the season, so many thanks – it really has made the Competitions Secretary’s job an easy one!

As for the competitions themselves the lineup for the Women’s Championship semi-finals is complete. In a very long game, Tracy battled past current champion JenB in their quarter-final and will face Karen (2023 winner); the other semi-final sees Anita (2022 winner) play Pat.

The Men’s championship semis has defending champion Alan v Brian (finalist 2018 & 2019) and Keith (finalist 2024) v Andrew.

A special mention for Don for the determination he showed on Friday, losing to Richard and then Tarun but then winning Men’s Pairs on the final end .. all in the same day!

More names have been added to the playlist for Presidents Cup on 9th Aug. If you’d like to play too just get in touch.

Playlist – Alan; Alison; Andrew, Andrea; Anita; Barry; Bindley; BobH; Charlie; ChrisSh; Christine; Colin; DavidP; Don; Eileen; Gary; JenC; John; Julia; Karen; Keith; Linda; Nathan; NeilF; Nikki; Pat; Paul; Peter; Richard; Roger; Sandy; Simon; Tarun; Tracy; Viv; Wade.

The summerhouse project took another step forward last week with the concrete base laid. Thanks to those who did a great job levelling it.

After last weekend’s 8-2 loss at Fordbridge Park in the South Middlesex League (SML) we returned to winning ways on Sunday with a 6-4 win at Strawberry Hill. The day was wrapped up pretty quick in order to catch the lionesses battling past world champions Spain in the Euros. The midweek friendly with Oatlands Park was reduced from 4 to 3 triples in which Sunbury won on one. On Wednesday we visit Walton with 4 triples, hoping it’s not the last time we do .. sadly, Walton are under threat of closure.

The club competitions are hotting up with some players moving into form at the right time. More games are planned for this week so good luck to all and thanks again to everyone who offers to mark. The last of the season’s day-long competitions is the Presidents Cup on Saturday 9th August. This is a singles tournament ideal for those of us who may get close to the jack but not necessarily hold shot. The four nearest bowls get awarded points from 4 through to 1 regardless of whose bowls they are. It’ll be contested over a series of short games to determine the two players who progress to finals weekend. We currently have over 30 entrants so they’ll be ample opportunity for rest for some and to enhance those marking skills for others! Please let me know if you can no longer make it or wish to be added.

Playlist – Alan; Alison; Andrew, Andrea; Anita; Barry; Bindley; BobH; Charlie; ChrisSh; Christine; Colin; DavidP; Eileen; Gary; JenC; John; Julia; Karen; Keith; Nathan; NeilF; Pat; Peter; Richard; Roger; Sandy; Simon; Tarun; Tracy; Viv.

There are just two weeks left in Friday Triples and it’s very tight at the top after latest wins for teams captained by Eileen, Karen and Nikki; Alan’s team have safely secured the wooden spoon but may have a big say in who wins!

10pts – Diane; Eileen; Nikki;  8pts – Alison; Karen; 2pts – Alan;

As we head into the final third of the season, the worms are doing their thing and the worm casts and dew may need removing before play. The switchers are kept in the chalet above the door .. thinking positively, it can be viewed as a gentle warm-up for bowling!

The date of our annual Club Dinner and presentation of awards has been booked for Friday 21st November at Fulwell Golf Club. Apologies for pre-empting an earlier date.

Finally, a shout out to a few of our members celebrating significant birthdays this month .. congratulations Charlie, Keith & Pat!