Welcome to the latest edition of our club newsletter, with news about our club competition finals weekend and arrangements for the rest of the season.
Club Finals
The finals of the club competitions were held over the weekend of the 17th / 18th September and we were very fortunate with good weather. Three members – Sheila and David Bowler, and Terry Doe – starred, winning all three of the finals in which they competed. There can’t be many clubs who can claim to have Mr and Mrs Bowler as their men’s and ladies’ singles champions! It was also nice to see Darren Saunders, one of our newer members, winning the men’s handicap singles with some excellent bowling. Darren has recently moved to Lincoln and we will miss him, but wish him all the best for the future.
The winners of the individual club competitions were –
Ladies’ Singles Championship Sheila Bowler
Men’s Singles Championship David Bowler
Ladies’ Handicap Singles – Sheila Bowler
Men’s Handicap Singles Darren Saunders
Ladies’ 2-woods Singles Sheila Bowler
Men’s 2-woods Singles Terry Doe
Junior Singles Rhys Lewis
Veterans’ Singles David Bowler
Ladies’ Pairs Jackie Robinson & Maureen Lovell
Men’s Pairs Barry Brennan & Terry Doe
2-woods Pairs Ann Burnham & David Bowler
Mixed Triples Liam Murphy, Pauline Dinner & Terry Doe
We send our congratulations, not only to all the winners, but to the other members who reached the finals, and also our thanks to all those members who came along to watch the finals and support their colleagues and friends. It was particularly good to see Mary Goodman, one of our Life Members, being wheeled in to see the finals by her grandson, wearing her new club jacket. Many thanks are due to Rhys Lewis, the club’s Competitions Secretary, for organising the competitions throughout the season and the finals weekend, including the excellent weather!
Aussie Pairs
The Aussie Pairs competition, postponed from the 4th September, will be played on Saturday 25th September, starting at about 10.30am. All players are asked to arrive by 10am. In order to produce a feasible schedule we will have to limit the competition to 32 players. We currently have 35 names on the provisional list of competitors in the clubhouse, but I am reasonably sure that at least 3 of those will not be able to play. If you would like to be placed on a reserve list and contacted if someone decides they cannot play, please contact me (John Abson). All pairs will play at least 3 games and the whole competition, including the final, is planned to be completed by about 3.30pm.
President’s Day
The final event of the season – President’s Day – will be held on Saturday 2nd October, starting at 2pm. All members, including Associate and Social members, are invited to come along. We hope that the weather will be fine and enable us to play a number of games of bowls in the afternoon. These will be followed by a buffet and the presentation of the trophies for our club competitions and leagues. Please put your name on the list on the competitions notice board if you are able to come along, so that we know the numbers for whom we need to cater. The whole event is expected to finish by about 6.30pm.
St Albans & District Finals
Our ladies enjoyed particular success this year in the competitions organised by the St Albans & District Bowling Association. Sheila Bowler was crowned the Champion of Champions winner, the competition open to the previous season’s singles champions from each of the associated clubs in the district. Sylvia Hobden (playing as a substitute for Ann Burnham), Maureen Lovell and Ann Mason reached the final of the triples competition, losing narrowly in the final. Well done to our ladies, who have enjoyed a very good season, including their success in the Herts County League.
Finchley & District Open Week
Many of our members took part in the Bowls Week organised by Finchley & District, with David Bowler again enjoying success by winning the Singles competition. It certainly has been a great few weeks for the Bowler family!
Day Cup
Our teams, including a number of our new members, have won the Day Cup competition. This is played between four clubs – Barnet, East Barnet Valley, Potters Bar and Oak Hill – and it is great to see our team enjoying success again.
Open League
The Open League organised by Gordon Greenfield on Tuesday mornings has progressed smoothly, with just a couple of matches having to be cancelled due to poor weather. The league concludes on the 28th September, with a buffet lunch following that morning’s matches. The prizes for the league will then be presented by our sponsors. We are very grateful to the work by Gordon organising the league and our thanks go to the sponsors. The league is likely to produce a profit of about £2000 for our club.
Progressive Bowls Afternoon
Many thanks to Tom Hobden and Brian Burnham for organising the Progressive Bowls afternoon on the 9th September, and to those ladies who provided the buffet afterwards. The respective winners for the afternoon were Diane Poletti (lead), Liam Murphy (no 2) and Terry Lovell (skip).
Club Shirts and Jackets
The latest order for club shirts and jackets has now arrived safely from Aceit. Please see John Abson if you have placed an order for one of these items or if you require an additional shirt or jacket. The shirts cost £27 each and the jackets £38 each. (Our previous order was discounted by £1 per item because of the quantity of items ordered).
Potters
A number of our members and friends will be enjoying a trip in October to the Potters resort in Norfolk, the venue for the World Professional Bowls Championships. We are very grateful to Janice Ford for continuing to arrange this visit and send her our best wishes for her continued recovery from her recent operation and treatments.
Clubhouse
Matters continue to progress in our plans to build a new clubhouse on the site of the current building. We have formally appointed our preferred provider – MGA Design & Build – to proceed with the pre-planning process, producing detailed plans and submitting them to Barnet Council. We have a meeting arranged with MGA on the 21st September to discuss these plans further. We also have a meeting planned for the 24th September with representatives from Barnet Council, to progress our plans to apply for funding for the project from major providers. We will keep you informed of future progress.
Committee Nominations for 2022
We are already making plans for next year, including the project with East Barnet school. The AGM of the club is planned for the morning of Saturday 4th December, when we will be presenting reports for the past season, details of the clubs finances, and our plans for the future. At this meeting we also elect the club’s officials for next season. A form for nominations is on the main notice board outside the kitchen in the clubhouse. If you wish to nominate someone for the committee and the other officials, please ensure that the nominee signs to approve their nomination.
Looking forward to 2022
These last 2 years have provided challenges for the club and for all our members, largely through the Covid pandemic, but also through the health issues that a number of our members have faced. The cribbage and bridge clubs will continue to meet during the close season and there are plans to arrange various informal social activities throughout the autumn and winter. Details will be given via the WhatsApp group and by email.
For those of our members who will be playing indoors, at Glebelands and the Lawns, we hope that they will have an enjoyable season. We wish all our members a healthy autumn and winter and look forward to us all enjoying a wonderful season in 2022.