Despite Sunbury Bowls being blessed with an abundance of rather good women bowlers, the men somehow managed to come out winners in Saturday’s annual Men v Women game. Perhaps it’s because they’re more suited to inclement weather or they’re used to taking a break, or shorter jacks, but whichever way you slice it the men won! Delving closer though it was vey tight as two of the men’s 4 wins were by only 2-shots. Thanks to Dennis & Nikki, and many others, for organising the teams, providing food and for help on the day. Despite the weather it was another resounding success for Sunbury Bowls.
This week saw the last of the season’s team friendlies, both away fixtures. Thursday at Teddington saw lots of rain and was looking like a repeat of last year’s abandonment but the clouds cleared in timely fashion and 14 ends were played in lovely sunshine. Two years ago the result was 59 shots each and, amazingly, this year’s result was 52 shots each!

On Sunday it was the turn of Chertsey and, inevitably, the weather played a big part again. Some rinks stopped play after 14 ends; others went the full distance. The rinks were shared 2-2 but Chertsey took the honours by 19 shots.

So that’s pretty much it so far as bowling is concerned for another year, apart from a couple of club nights and the SML Mixed Pairs final on the 21st. The annual club dinner and presentation of awards on 21st November will round up a pretty successful year for Sunbury Bowls and its bowlers. Unfortunately, our club captain, Dennis, will be absent so I’m sure you’ll join me in thanking him here for all his efforts over the last year. Managing teams alongside everything else he does is not an easy act, acknowledging the help he gets from Nikki. With that in mind we have the club AGM on 11th November. There is a list of nominations for those wishing to stand for committee on the noticeboard.

Tues 16th Sep 5:30pm – Club Night;

Sun 21st Sep 10am – SML Mixed Pairs final at Fordbridge Park;

Tues 23rd Sep 5:30pm – Club Night;

Thur 25th Sep – Green closes;

Tues 7th Oct 7:30pm – Winter social;

Tues 4th Nov 7:30pm – Winter social;

Tue 11th Nov 7:30pm – AGM;

Fri 21st Nov – Club Dinner & Awards;

Tues 2nd Dec – Xmas social

We rounded off this season’s campaign in the SML with a trip to Bishop Duppas on Sunday. The game was always going to be a lot closer than July’s home 10-0 win and so it proved with rinks shared 2-2. Overall shot count was just as close with Bishop Duppas nudging it 86-80 for a 6-4 points win. The 4 points gained by Sunbury though was just enough to move ahead of season-long rivals Stanwell into a very creditable 4th place in the league. Two friendlies will round off the season with visits to Teddington on Thursday, followed by Chertsey on Sunday.

The annual Men v Women game is this Saturday with the game starting at 2:30pm, followed by family BBQ at around 6pm.

It’ll be an early start for JenB & Nathan (and supporters) in their South Middlesex Mixed Pairs final on Sunday 21st. The timetable has been published and they start at 10am at Fordbridge Park against a Hampton pair.

The next update will include more information for those interested in competing in next season’s county competitions.

After a few cancellations, work on the summerhouse resumes this morning (Tuesday, 9th) from 9:30am. Finishing the roof is the priority. Thanks to anyone who can spare the time.

The SSA has been reviewing the policies around smoking on the club patio ..

At the last SSA Management Committee Meeting it was unanimously agreed to ban smoking anywhere on the patio. It has long been illegal to smoke in covered areas and the covered area of the patio is already subject to this ban. However, in the interests of the health and comfort of all members and to eliminate the litter caused by discarded cigarette ends, our ban will extend to the whole patio. We will establish two smoking areas: one at the end of the squash court and one at bowls club end of the pavilion by the flagpole. We will install suitable receptacles in each smoking area for cigarette ends. We would like to remind you that both smoking and vaping anywhere inside the pavilion is strictly banned – especially in the changing rooms. Please observe this ban and respond positively if you are politely reminded to smoke off the patio.

Thank you

SCC Committee

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.