It’s almost time for the annual Men v Women contest so please add your name to the list in the clubhouse if you haven’t already done so and would like to take part. Our Match Captain Diane and Club President Tom will be arranging the teams and hopefully everyone who signs up will play.

Also please indicate whether you’ll be stopping for the BBQ afterwards from around 5:30pm. Everyone is welcome – players, members, spectators, family & friends. We just need to know numbers by Wednesday to sort out catering. Further details from Nikki – tel. 07753 621039; email – d-morris2@sky.com.

Men v Women 2021

Unfortunately this week’s weather put a dampener on Tuesday’s Club Night and Thursday’s South Middlesex League game at Teddington. It reinforces how lucky we were with the competition finals at the weekend! A new date is being sought for the Teddington game and Club Night will roll on next week.

There is now a sign-up sheet in the clubhouse for our annual Presentation Dinner on 18th November. If you’d like to attend please add your name and menu choices.

Work has eventually started on the Disabled Toilets in the main bar area. We’ll endeavour to let you know when they’re finished.

Bar staff are wanted for the club. Please email the bar manager Chloe at sunburysports@outlook.com for further details.

 

The sun shone brightly on the last two matches of Finals Weekend to crown first-time winners in the Men’s and Women’s Championships. A delayed start due to damp conditions on both mornings was a small price to pay as we were blessed with fine weather over the weekend when all around suffered downpours.

In an enthralling encounter in the Men’s final, Bob Harvey came out on top against 3-times champion Dennis Morris. He avenged Saturday’s defeat in the Presidents Cup and his 2020 final loss and it made for a happy Harvey household as a little earlier, Anita got the better of last year’s defending champion Eileen Leatherby in the Women’s final.

Congratulations to all the winners (and finalists) but especially to those winning trophies for the first time. Alison Nabil in the Presidents Plate and Pat (Trish) Fletcher in the tightest of games over the weekend – a nervy 12-11 win in the Women’s Pairs.

Colin Edwards blazed the way for this season’s new bowlers with victory in the Junior Championship, the winners of which invariably figure in the following season’s finals. Another relative newcomer Tarun Singh may have lost both his finals but takes top marks for playing all his competition games despite taking an extended break during the season.

Bindley Smith may have missed out on making this season’s finals but takes 10/10 for effort with two of her competition matches lasting 29 ends – the longest of the season. Mind you, the weekend’s Mens Pairs final takes the crown for the longest match partly due to them opting for a lunch break half way through!

Thanks to the green keepers for all their hard work in preparing the green and grounds and many thanks to all who helped with the catering, especially Nikki and Karen for getting in the supplies and preparing refreshments. The markers did their bit too – Gary oozed positivity in marking his two games!

Lastly, thanks to spectators as it makes the Finals weekend all the more rewarding.

All the photos from the day are available here .. Finals 2022

Details of past finals and leagues are available on the Competitions pages.

Due to concerns over the green we have decided to delay proceedings on Sunday – the Mens Pairs will start sometime from 10:30am. The other matches will hopefully proceed as scheduled.

We had a delayed start to the Finals on Saturday due to a damp green but were subsequently treated to some fine matches. Despite swishing multiple times we had to rely on the sun to dry the green on Saturday before play could commence at 11am. Whilst parts of Ashford Hospital suffered floods we very lucky to miss the thunderstorms forecast for 1pm.

Here are the results thus far – a full report will be available after Sunday.

 

The last two semi-finals were completed today just in time for the finals this weekend. One in particular was a long one .. another 29 ends for Bindley , this time against Eileen in the Women’s Handicap.

The green was subsequently double-cut and the grounds prepared by the greenkeepers and helpers.

Just a reminder that sausage rolls, crisps, biscuits and cakes together with teas/coffees and squashes will be available during the day.

The schedule below is complete but obviously everything may not quite go to plan so please bear with. Please see some notes below particularly for competitors and markers.

Notes for competitors & markers

Please familiarise yourself with the schedule – it contains all the information required,  including rink number, marker (where required) and which player(s) are red & blue. This will all be available on the whiteboard by the side of the rink.

To help speed things along and identify the bowls for markers and spectators please attach the red or blue stickers to your bowls before the game(s). The player(s) with blue stickers will be recorded as top of the scoreboard and will be the challenger and will be asked to call heads/tails on the coin toss to decide who has the mat on the first end.

Two trial ends are expected to take take place before the match itself, unless otherwise specified.

For those players competing for the first time (and a reminder to others) feel free to ask your marker for information about the positions of the bowls in the head. Typically this may be  “who’s holding shot?”. Once at the head agree the score with your opponent or ask the marker to measure to confirm/decide.

The finals of this year’s Club Competitions are almost here and below is the schedule for the weekend – all timings are approximate.

The dress code for competitors is whites with club shirts preferred but not essential. After each match, or soon after, they’ll be a presentation of the trophy.

Teas/coffees/water/squash and some snacks will be available throughout the two days at the chalet.

Please get in touch with any issues/etc.. Good luck to all competitors!

It’s the final week before the climax of this season’s Club Competitions – this is the provisional schedule. Some semi-finals are due to be played this week and some folk may end up in multiple finals so please check back here over the coming days .. Finals 2022

It may have been a close finish to Friday Morning League with two teams finishing on the same points but Nikki’s team were decisive winners when overall shots were counted. Congratulations to Nikki, Dennis, Chris, Gary, Lynda, Yvonne & Colin. Thanks to Eileen for organising it and arranging the weather for us .. only one postponement and, unlike like last year, it wasn’t rain-related!

The penultimate team friendly of the season was played at Esher on Saturday 27th. We had 5 new bowlers representing Sunbury and they didn’t disappoint, in fact Sunbury won on 3 rinks and drew on the other. Thanks are due to BobH for his first time as acting captain and also to BobL for coming to Esher’s rescue as a late replacement for one of their players – it shows the true meaning of a friendly! The last team friendly of the season is Sunday 18th Sep at Chertsey but before that we have our last South Middlesex League match on Wed 8th Sep at Teddington. Please enter your names on the team sheets if you want to play in either. There is also a sign-up sheet for the keenly-fought Men vs Women match on Sat 17th Sep.

Looking ahead to the winter, Egham Bowls have a couple of open days for indoor bowling on 24-25th Sep anytime from 10am-4pm. If you attend and subsequently join, please mention Sunbury Bowls as we will receive a small payment via the sponsorship scheme they have set up. There are of course other indoor bowls clubs available in the area at Hounslow and Cambridge Park for example.

This week saw the last round of matches in the keenly contested Friday Morning League. It was a glorious day for bowls and spectators alike but somewhat sticky on the green initially after the recent rain and fog. There were nervy wins for both Nikki’s and Alan’s teams which means they tie on 12 points (6 wins) at the top. We await the official result after shots, etc. are counted up.

12 pts (6 wins) – AlanP; Nikki

10 pts (5 wins) – Diane; Eileen

8 pts (4 wins) – Alison; Karen

Team Friendlies continued this week with Sunbury visiting Cambridge Park on Wednesday. We enjoyed comfortable wins on 2 of the 3 rinks. Next up is a friendly at Esher today (Saturday 27th). Good luck to all, especially any bowlers making their debut.

It’s now one week to go before Finals of this season’s Club Competitions – the weather looks to be set fair for the coming week and, crucially, the weekend .. I only take note of the forecasts that give a positive outlook! The provisional schedule for the weekend will be published during the week – we have 14 finals split over the two days. Please do get in touch if you can help with marking – 10 matches will require markers. If anyone still has trophies at home from last year please could you return them to the clubhouse. The annual Presentation of awards etc. will be held in November at Fulwell Golf Club. Please take note of an orange sheet in the corridor of the clubhouse to specify preference for lunch or dinner.

The ever-popular Club Night will continue on Tuesday evening until the green closes in October. As the evenings begin to draw in we are requesting participants to roll up a little earlier at 5:30pm for a prompt start soon after.

It’s two weeks to go until the finals of the Club Competitions and the battle is hotting up to secure a place. Congratulations to Colin in reaching the final of the highly competitive Junior Championship – it has the largest number of entries by far! Congratulations also go to Liam (Men’s handicap); Anita (Women’s handicap); Karen (Women’s 2-woods); Pat & Karen (Women’s Pairs). They’ll be joined by others this coming week and next – good luck to all.

The Friday Morning League on 19th resulted in wins for teams captained by AlanP; Alison and Nikki which leaves it all to play for going into the last week.

10 points (5 wins) – AlanP; Diane; Nikki

8 points (4 wins) – Alison; Eileen; Karen

Last round of fixtures on Fri 26th – Alison v AlanP; Karen v Eileen; Diane v Nikki

We competed in the Bluewood Shield at Fordbridge Park on Saturday 20th. This is an annual 3-club competition between the hosts, Hampton and Sunbury. Unlike last year it was a glorious day to play bowls with last year’s winners, Hampton, taking the honours again by a couple of points. Sunbury came a creditable 3rd again with a fair few narrow losses during the day. There was no stopping top scorers Eileen & Karen who collected 7 points out of a possible 8 in the Women’s Pairs. Thanks to all supporters .. young and old!

   

No, not a reference to the yesterday’s downpours but a plea from the greenkeepers for help putting the green to bed over the weekend of 1-2 October. In order to give it the best possible chance for next season it needs some nurturing before the winter sets in – scarifying, top dressing, rolling and fertilising before erecting a fence around the green. The current plan is to commence works on Saturday 1st Oct so any help would be appreciated – more details nearer the time.

Before green closure though we have more bowls. Some of the club competitions are now at semi-final stage, including the deferred semi-finals from the day-long Presidents Cup. A match played this week must be a contender for longest match played this season –  Tracy and Bindley competed in their quarter-final of the Women’s Handicap over 29 ends .. well done to both and marker Barry!

In county competitions, Tracy & Eileen put up a brave performance at the Middlesex Women’s county finals at Cambridge Park but came off second to a strong pair from Bury Lodge. Sunbury can claim some kudos though as the eventual winner was Sarah Hall, and partner, who started her bowling here at Sunbury in 2017 before moving to Cambridge Park. The last representatives from Sunbury in county competitions this season is a mixed Fours of Nikki, Dennis, Karen & AlanP who recently won by a single shot at Bishop Duppas in their quarter-final of the South Middlesex John Gardner Trophy. The semi-final is due to be played at a neutral ground against Fordbridge Park.

Here’s how the rest of the month is looking ..

Fri 19th 11:00am – Friday Morning League – the penultimate round of games

Sat 20th 10:00am – Bluewood Shield at Fordbridge Park – a 3-club day-long competition

Tue 23rd 5:45pm – Club Night with coaching for some new players

Wed 24th 2:30pm – Cambridge Park v Sunbury team friendly

Fri 26th 11:00am – Friday Morning League – deciding round of games

Sat 27th 10:30am – Presidents Cup semi-finals – played to 75pts with 4-3-2-1 scoring

Sat 27th 2:30pm – Esher v Sunbury team friendly

Tues 30th 5:45pm – Club Night

NB: All fixtures and progress on competitions are available on the website.