Four months of intense competition came to a head at the weekend with the finals of our Club Competitions 2024. The weather on Saturday was a little cooler than expected but some of the games certainly helped warm up players and spectators alike. Sunday was more like a usual Finals weekend .. hot and exhausting.

The 14 trophies were won by 12 players but, pleasingly, we had two first-time winners. Congratulations to Nathan, winning two trophies, including a very hard-fought Junior Championship; and Sandy who won the Women’s Pairs, alongside Eileen, by one shot after nearly 3hrs play .. the longest match of the weekend. Another game won by a single shot and with a remarkable comeback was in the Mixed 2-woods where BobH was behind after every end until the last one!

In the Men’s and Women’s Championships, the unlucky Keith and Jenny came up against a couple of in-form players in the shape of AlanP and JenB, who were determined to put right earlier losses in the weekend to Karen & Pat, respectively.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to making the weekend go so smoothly .. from preparing the green & grounds, on the day catering and associated logistics, help with the setup & close; markers; umpires; spectators and supporters .. it’s all greatly appreciated.

More photos from the weekend are available here .. Finals 2024

For info, next year’s Finals weekend is scheduled for 30-31Aug 2025.

As sunset is now well before 8pm, the start time for Club Night will be 5:30pm from now until the end of the season (there’s no announcement on green closure yet!), so please endeavour to register by 5:15pm.

Things are taking shape for our Club finals this weekend .. we’ve ordered some good weather, the grounds have been spruced up and the green will receive a special cut on Friday. For those of you new to finals weekend, or needing a refresher here are some pointers as to how it works.

The key to the weekend is the playing schedule. The first games will start promptly at 11am and continue throughout the day, but bear in mind that the later games may start a little later than scheduled.

The dress code for players and markers is a white shirt, preferably a club shirt (new/old).

The first named player is known as the challenger and is named first in the scoresheet and is top of the scoreboard. The challenger calls the toss for the mat. Each game has two trial ends before playing for real.

Soon after the completion of each match there will be a presentation of the trophy to the winner and a photo taken with the losing finalist. In the absence of a President, the trophy will be presented by either our Club Secretary (David) or Club Captain (Dennis), according to who’s available. All photos will be available on the website at some later point.

Spectators are very welcome and there will be refreshments available throughout the weekend with lunch around 1pm on both days. Just be aware what’s happening on the green and avoid walking across the head when players are bowling. Walking along the side or behind them is fine.

There’s been an abundance of offers for marking so please don’t feel too upset if you’ve been omitted, it’s not deliberate. The names currently earmarked can easily be changed so please feel free to negotiate accordingly.

If any issues arise on the green or markers need clarification please feel free to ask any of the more experienced club members .. David, Cassie, Eileen, Roger, Dennis, Nikki for example.

The best of luck to those playing and thanks to everyone else for their support in whatever capacity.

Here’s how we arrived at the weekend .. Competitions 2024

This week’s team friendlies were cancelled due to the visitors in one case and a washout in the other. Fortunately the SML game with Hampton went ahead on Sunday with plenty of sun on show. The rinks were shared 2-2 but Hampton gained more shots due to some rather loose final ends by the home team and took the match 6-4. This means Hampton look untouchable at the top of the table whilst Sunbury maintain  6th place, just ahead of Bishop Duppas. This should make for an interesting couple of remaining games as both are against Bishop Duppas .. Sunbury have never finished above them in recent history!

Let’s hope the weather forecast comes true and we’re blessed with yet another dry and sunny weekend for Club Competitions finals. The playing schedule will be published very soon and, as always, the aim is to have an even spread of games over the two days and especially for those lucky enough to be in more than one final. Nathan was the fourth first-timer to make it into finals this week, and reflects the growing strength in depth of the club and augurs well for next season. For the 4th year in a row we have a husband and wife both competing in the Men’s and Women’s Championship finals .. this time it’s the turn of Keith and Jenny. When it comes to competing against each other there’s been a few husband vs wife finals down the years and this time it’s the turn of Karen v AlanP in the Open Handicap.

After this weekend we’re into September with a couple of team friendlies and then the big one .. Men v Women on Saturday 14th 2:30pm. Since it’s inception the women won it three straight years but then the men have done the same over the last three years, so it’s all to play for! There will be a BBQ following the match from around 6pm .. everyone is welcome including family & friends. The sign-up sheets for both are in the clubhouse.

Finally, good luck to Nikki & Dennis who play in the South Middlesex Mixed Pairs semi-final on Tuesday evening at neutral ground Bishop Duppas. They won through two rounds to reach the semi-final and there’s no pressure as they’ll be the underdogs going up against an Ashford pair containing this season’s Middlesex county Men’s Singles champion.

The culmination of the season’s Club Competitions is now less than a fortnight away on Saturday 31st Aug and Sunday 1st Sep. The finals will be split evenly over the two days so seven games on each day starting from 11am. The Men’s and Women’s championship finals will be held on the Sunday afternoon.

We will need a few markers for the weekend, so please get in touch if you can help .. it guarantees a close-up view of the action!

If anyone has trophies from last year please could you return them to the clubhouse.

Good luck to those of you competing in semi-finals this week (and in some cases, next week), please remember to book a rink to avoid any ad-hoc green cuttings.

Competitions 2024

Before that we have a run of four team games at home – two friendlies, followed by a couple of SML matches; as well as the regular Tuesday Club Nights and ad-hoc roll-ups.

Tue 20th 6pm – Club Night

Wed 21st 2:30pm – Sunbury v Cambridge Park (friendly)

Sat 24th 2:30pm – Sunbury v Esher (friendly)

Sun 25th 2:30pm – Sunbury v Hampton (SML)

Tue 27th 6pm – Club Night

Thur 29th 2:30pm – Sunbury v Bishop Duppas (SML)

Finally, the idea of having a box containing all the items required for each rink has generally been well received. Some of them now contain a measure and chalk .. if used, please ensure you don’t walk off with them!

Sunbury followed up last year’s success at the Bluewood Cup by retaining the trophy on Saturday. After a series of 7-end games played across Men’s, Women’s & Mixed Pairs as well as two Mixed Triples, Sunbury ended the day on 26pts, with Hampton on 20pts and hosts Fordbridge Park on 14pts. Every team contributed magnificently with at least 2 wins, with last year’s top team of Karen & Eileen winning all their four games .. yet again! Thanks to all the supporters and reserve players and the hosts for a superb day.

The last round of Friday Triples saw wins for teams managed by Alison, Eileen and Nikki. This confirms the runners-up spot for Alison’s team who came strong again in the end after setting the pace early on. Eileen and Karen share 3rd spot with AlanP ahead of last year’s winning captain Diane. The season played out well with only one wet Friday this time .. during Wimbledon! Congratulations again to the winning team of Cassie, John, TonyH, Tracy, Viv and captain Nikki, and to our chief organiser, Eileen.

1st – Nikki (16 pts)

2nd – Alison (12)

3rd – Eileen (10); Karen (10)

5th – AlanP (8)

6th – Diane (4)

In the Club Competitions this week it’s congratulations to Sandy as another first-time finalist, qualifying in the Women’s Pairs with Eileen. She joins Andrea and Viv in the finals at the end of the month with chances for a couple more first-timers to join them. Competitions 2024

Last weekend’s team friendly with Chertsey saw a refreshing change with the opposition fielding two youngsters, 11 and 13 yrs old. By all accounts they contributed well to their team winning on two rinks to Sunbury’s one.

Who thought outdoor bowls was a night-time activity .. the midweek SML match with Ashford had a very murky finish, in the dark on a couple of rinks! Sunbury actually completed the double over Ashford although only just, sharing the rinks but winning by 3 shots overall for a 6-4 win.

Friday Triples concludes this week and then Sunbury defends the Bluewood Cup on Saturday at Fordbridge Park, no doubt against a very hungry Hampton team.

The SSA is looking for more bar staff. Anyone 18yrs+ will be considered with some weekend work involved and training provided. Please contact Emily on barmanager@sunburysports.org or Dave Smith on dave54.smith@yahoo.com.

Congratulations to Anita on becoming Middlesex Women’s Unbadged Singles champion. Her final was played at Cambridge Park on Saturday and unlike in her previous rounds it didn’t go down to the wire, winning 21-16. It caps off a great week for Anita fresh on the heels of her son’s wedding.

The green watering system has been fine tuned by the greenkeepers  .. perfect timing as the temperature is due to crank up over the weekend and into next week!

The women are leading the way in the Club Competitions with three finalists now decided in the women’s draws. Top billing and many congratulations goes to Viv, winning through to her first final in the Women’s 2-woods! In the 4-woods, this year’s Womens champion will be contested between one of our newest and youngest playing members (?) JenB and last year’s losing finalist Jenny.

All draws are pretty much on schedule and I’m quite relaxed for semi-finals to be completed a week after the 18th deadline, if required. Competitions 2024

In the penultimate round of Friday Triples there were wins for teams captained by AlanP, Alison & Karen. This decides the top honours and wooden spoon placings, but all is to play for in the middle in next week’s final round of games.

Nikki (14 pts); Alison (10); Karen (10); Eileen (8); AlanP (8); Diane (4)

It was a good weekend of bowls for Sunbury. On Saturday we visited Byfleet for a return friendly and after sharing the rinks 2-2 we won overall by a rather close 5 shots. We nipped the home fixture back in June by an even closer margin of 2 shots, so you could say the clubs are pretty evenly matched. On Sunday it was the turn of an SML game hosting bottom side Stanwell. At half time Sunbury had comfortable leads on two rinks and it was all to play for on the other two. The day ended with wins on 3 rinks and on overall shots to cement an 8-2 win, putting some daylight between us and bottom placed Stanwell.

There was a close finish in the latest round of Friday Triples. The league leaders captained by Nikki played 2nd placed team captained by Eileen, and with two ends remaining it was 14-14 and anyone’s game. A fine finish by Viv, TonyH and Tracy saw them through and take the title for Nikki and the rest of the team, Cassie and John. In the others games there were wins for teams captained by Alison and Karen.

Nikki (14 pts); Alison (8); Eileen (8); Karen (8); AlanP (6); Diane (4)

Particular congratulations to Nikki for her second win in three years, and TonyH for being a member of the winning team two years’ running.

In our Club Competitions, JenB becomes our first finalist in the Women’s Championship but, boy, did she have to dig deep .. coming back from a long way down against the unfortunate Tracy. All the draws are up to date here .. Competitions 2024

Congratulations and well done to Anita who received her Middlesex county badge this week, playing in a winning team match against Berkshire. Fingers crossed for one last push in her final of the Middlesex Women’s Unbadged Singles on Saturday 10th at Cambridge Park.

The Sunbury team got back to winning ways on Wednesday in the latest friendly against Walton .. recording wins on all 4 rinks, albeit some closer than others! This completes the first double of the season after we beat them narrowly in May, on a similarly hot day.

Next up is another round of games in the Friday Triples league and then team games on both Saturday and Sunday.