It was a grand day out for Sunbury Bowls at Fordbridge Park on Saturday 19th. Competing in the 3-club day-long Bluewood Shield with hosts and local rivals Hampton, we won by 6 points from last year’s winners Hampton. The teams of Men’s, Women’s & Mixed Pairs and two triples all contributed magnificently to the overall point score with 2 or 3 wins out of 4 over the course of the day. It’s 6 years since Sunbury last tasted success in the competition so acting captain Dennis and the team were quite rightly rather chuffed. Thanks are due to Fordbridge Park for great organisation and hospitality .. and for helping take some vital points off Hampton!

 

       

Following the Lionesses success the main club will be showing Sunday’s final.

We’re aiming for a very prompt start for tonight’s (Thursday 17th) rearranged SML game with Staines at 6pm. With 18 ends and two trials to play we’re hoping to get it wrapped up before sunset at 8:20pm.

On Saturday 19th we head to Fordbridge Park for the annual Bluewood Shield against Hampton and the hosts. It’s a series of mini-games starting from 10am.

Club Night continues on Tuesday 22nd at the usual time of 6pm.

Congratulations to Charlie .. fresh from his success with his team in the Presidents Plate, he qualified for the Junior Championship final two days later. Along the way he saw off three of the clubs most promising women bowlers whose time will surely come.

The semi-finals of the Presidents Cup (75pts) were played on Sunday, delayed from the competition proper on 1st July. Both games were keenly fought with Eileen and Alan just getting the better of Dennis and Tracy, respectively, in the last few ends.

The annual Presentation Dinner and Awards has been set for the evening of Friday 17th November at Fulwell Golf Club. A sign-up sheet is on the noticeboard in the clubhouse, together with a dinner menu.

We entertained Chertsey in the latest team friendly at the weekend. It was nip and tuck for most of the afternoon and we just fell short in the end with Chertsey winning on two rinks to Sunbury’s one.

Other activities at the main club ..

Saturday’s President Plate saw two new faces reach finals – congratulations to JenB and Keith, and also to two “oldies” Charlie and TonyH who haven’t featured recently. And not forgetting the other key members of each team – Colin and Tarun. The top three teams took games off each other but only two could go through. Overall there were some very close games with 10 of the 16 being decided by 2 shots or less. Every team tasted some success and it’s fair to say we were very lucky with the weather which saw cups and hats flying across the green at times! Thanks to everyone for making the last of our day-long competitions such fun and especially Nikki, for sorting out refreshments whilst juggling with playing for most of the day.

In other competitions we have our first finalist in the Mens Championship. The losing finalist for the last two years and three times champion Dennis got the better of Jon, who made it tough going at times. Just a reminder that our finals are now three weeks away!

The first silverware of the season was won on Friday in the last round of games in the Friday Morning League. Diane’s team cemented their top finish with yet another win to finish 4 points clear of a trio of teams. Congratulations to the team of Colin, BobL, Terry, TonyH and of course, captain Diane.

Final positions .. 14pts – Diane; 10pts – Alan; Eileen; Karen*; 8pts – Alison; 6pts – Nikki*

* Karen’s and Nikki’s teams finish with one game unplayed.

Earlier in the week Sunbury Bowls hosted a special day of bowls for the Greenwood Centre of Hampton. Organised by Gary and ably assisted by David & Cassie and Dennis & Nikki the guests enjoyed some bowling followed by lunch. By all accounts a good time was had by all.

The sun’s out and with it plenty of bowls to look forward to. In the Club Competitions, congratulations go to Richard who is our first finalist in either the Men’s or Women’s draws. He sneaked past Simon by one shot to take his place in the final of the Men’s 2-woods. Most draws are now at semi-final stage with a few exceptions .. I have a handle on those that are behind schedule but ultimately may have to take a proactive step if holidays and other things get in the way. Finals weekend is just over 3 weeks away!

On a balmy Wednesday evening at Ashford we played the latest of our SML games. Like at the weekend against Stanwell, we shared the wins 2-2 on rinks and just fell short of an overall win losing on total shots by 3 for a 6-4 loss. It just goes to show that even when losing on a rink and you feel there’s no way back, every shot can count towards the overall result! The result maintains our 6th place in the league between Ashford and Stanwell, with two games left to play.

Fri 11th 10:30am – Friday Morning League .. final round of matches

Sat 12th 10:30am – Presidents Plate (series of short games played in triples)

Sun 13th 11am – Presidents Cup semi-finals (75pts and 4-3-2-1 scoring)

Sun 13th 2:30pm – Sunbury v Chertsey (friendly match) .. 3 triples

Tues 15th 6pm – Club Night

Thurs 17th 6pm – Sunbury v Staines (SML match) .. 4 triples

The rain put paid to this week’s Club Night and a few games in the club competitions but the sun is now doing it’s best to dry all those worm casts so that we can get back on the green. Club Night will resume next week at 6pm.

Today is the last day for entry into Saturday’s Presidents Plate. There have been a few changes to the playlist so please get in touch asap if you want to play. The start time is 10:30am with refreshments (& lunch) available. Further details will be sent to competitors in due course.

Playlist – Alex; Alison; Bindley; Charlie; Chris; Colin; David; Dennis; Eileen; Gary; Jen; Jenny; John; Keith; Liam; Nathan; Neil; Nikki; Richard; Roger; Sandy; Tarun; TonyH; Tracy

Before that we have the last round of matches in the Friday Morning League. Diane’s team took a big stride towards taking top honours after a 2-shot win over Alan’s team last week, but both Alan’s and Karen’s teams could finish top if results go their way.

12pts – Diane; 10pts – Alan; 8pts – Alison; Eileen; Karen*; 6pts – Nikki*

* Karen & Nikki have a game in hand

Last weekend’s SML match against Stanwell finished with both teams winning on two rinks but Stanwell had the better shot count and took the match 6-4. This keeps Sunbury just above fast-improving Stanwell in the league table with 3 games left to play. Next up is a mid-week match at Ashford on Wednesday 6pm.

In the county competitions, at least one of our pairs progressed into the last-16 of the Middlesex Mixed Pairs .. Alan & Karen enjoyed success at Ashford, but unfortunately Bob & Anita had less joy at Hampton. In the more local South Middlesex Mixed Pairs competition, Nikki & Dennis joined Alan & Karen into the semi-finals with a good win at a rather damp Ashford on Tuesday.

August is here and our club competitions are edging towards the semi-finals in quite a few of them. All the finals take place over the weekend of 2-3Sep but before that we have the last of the season’s day-long competitions, the Presidents Plate on Saturday 12th. It’s the only competition we play in triples and is played as a series of short games with the best two teams going through to Finals weekend. Below is the list of players so please get in touch if I’ve got it wrong or you’d like to enter.

Alex; Alison; Bindley, Charlie, Chris; David; Dennis; Eileen; Gary; Jen; Jenny; John; Keith; Liam; Nathan; Nikki; Richard; Roger, Sandy; Tarun; TonyH; TonyL; Tracy

Following the Presidents Plate we are completing the unfinished Presidents Cup semi-finals on Sunday 13th from 11am .. Eileen vs Dennis and Alan vs Tracy.

This coming weekend we have two team matches – a friendly at Byfleet on Saturday and an SML game with Stanwell on Sunday. There is a shortage of players so please sign up on the sheets in the clubhouse or contact captain Di if you’d like to play.

A little further ahead is the Bluewood Shield hosted by Fordbridge Park on Saturday 19th August. This is competed between Hampton, Sunbury and the hosts over a series of games – Mixed Pairs, Men’s Pairs, Women’s Pairs and two Triples. Sunbury has traditionally come third so it’d be nice to improve on that this time. Please see the sign-up sheets in the clubhouse.

In other news , in the county competitions,  Anita did amazingly well in her quarter-final match of the Middlesex Women’s Champion of champions. Up against someone she’d lost to previously she came back from 20-16 down to take the match 21-20 after 30 ends. Rain has been her nemesis before and so it proved to be in her semi-final ending up second best and rather bedraggled! Next week she and Bob and Karen and I play our next rounds of the Middlesex Mixed Pairs. In the South Middlesex Mixed Pairs, Nikki & Dennis will be aiming to join Karen and I in the semi-finals after we won our quarter-final game at Ashford with a narrow 16-15 win.

It was yet another great turnout for this week’s Club Night. At some point soon the starting time will need to come forward in order to beat the light so watch this space.

There is a shortage of players for this Wednesday’s team friendly at Walton so if you can make it please put your name on the sheet in the clubhouse or contact our captain Diane.

This week’s Friday Morning League saw wins for the chasing pack, narrowing the gap to the top two teams. The teams captained by Karen and Nikki have a postponed game to play.

10pts – Alan; Diane; 8pts – Alison; Karen; 6pts – Eileen; 4pts – Nikki

In the Middlesex Women’s 2-woods pairs at Bishop Duppas on Saturday, it was a case of what might have been .. Eileen & Karen lost on an extra end but Tracy & Jen went one better making it into the next round.

On a sour note there was a recent theft from a car parked by the fence near the driveway during a busy time, so it’s a timely reminder for us all to be vigilant.

We enjoyed a midweek friendly at the rather quaint Oatlands Park, losing 2-1 on rinks but winning overall on shots, and, crucially, beating most of the rain! It’s nice to see that Oatlands continue with the old traditions of men wearing ironed shirts and ties and with a tea break half way though the match! Our next team match, the SML game against Ashford on Saturday, has been postponed as most of their women are unavailable. So next up is a friendly at Strawberry Hill on Sunday, followed by another at Walton on Wednesday. Many more games are coming up so please do consider signing up for them on the sheets in the clubhouse.

After last week’s bumper turnout at Club Night, this week broke records again with 38 players! Folk like playing triples but with these numbers it’s inevitable some games will be played as fours so please bear with us.

On the county scene, Anita continues to put Sunbury on the map beating a friend and ex-Sunbury player at Cambridge Park in her Women’s Champion of Champions game and qualifying for the quarter-finals to be played this Sunday. Elsewhere we wish Karen & Eileen and Tracy & Jen all the best in the Middlesex Women’s 2-woods Pairs at Bishop Duppas on Saturday. Jen is a new bowler to Sunbury but not new to bowls, and hopefully not to be confused with our other rather good Jen, or Jenny, who’s progressing well as a brand new bowler! On the Mens side (one half anyway!) Alan & Karen and Bob & Anita play their next rounds in the Middlesex Mixed Pairs this coming week against opposition from Ashford and Hampton.

In our Club Competitions the line up for the semi-finals for the Women’s Handicap is now complete. Others are progressing well with only a couple of games behind schedule. Thanks again for making my life pretty easy and getting games played .. the enthusiasm easily matches that for Club Night! Lastly, some advance notice of the last of our day-long club competitions – the Presidents Plate on Sat 12th August. This is played as a series of short games played in triples, so everyone is involved for the best part of the day with two teams progressing to Finals weekend. I’ll be asking folk to check their entry or sign-up in the week before but do get in touch with any issues.

Saturday’s SML match against Staines was a victim of the bad weather which hit most of the country. Some of their players enjoyed the catering before venturing home in a break in the rain! A new date will be arranged. We had better fortune on Sunday at Fordbridge Park, at least with the weather if not the bowls .. we lost 10-0!

Please check the sheets in the clubhouse and sign up for team matches – there are quite a few friendlies and SML games coming up. If you’ve never tried a team match before now’s the chance to give it a go before the end of the season.

On Friday there were good wins for teams captained by Diane, Karen and Nikki in the Friday Morning League leaving the table nicely balanced ..

10 pts – Alan; Diane

6 pts – Alison; Karen*

4 pts – Eileen; Nikki*

NB: Karen and Nikki have a game in hand.

Just a reminder to book a rink when playing competitions or roll-ups. There is a regular cut to the green at 5pm Friday and ad-hoc cuttings at other times so being able to see gaps in play makes for happy green-keepers! If you have trouble making a booking I’m happy to do it for you .. just get in touch via txt/whatsapp.

The annual Men v Women match takes place towards the end of the season on Sat 16th September. We’re keen to get an idea on numbers for a BBQ after so please sign-up on the sheet. Everyone’s invited .. players, family, friends .. etc..