Melbourne Cup morning dawned clear with a fantastic turnout of 33 keen bowlers in bright spring-time outfits (covered by warm jackets) who hoofed it out onto the turf to try their luck. 

Twelve ends of blue-ribbon play saw Sue, Rosemary and Joe accept the laurel and cash for the first gallop.

Dazzling bowls in the Diamond League of Game 2 by Rhona, Fran and Darryl, out-classing the field to take the win and cheque.

Catering in the Birdcage was in full swing –many thanks to Sandy and Lea and allthe helpers who took a turn.

As Cup time drew closer, Gary conducted an entertaining auction of saddle cloth numbers, much to the amusement of punters and onlookers! Well done Merilyn, scoring the best result for a small outlay. Thanks to Rhona for the fabulous raffle prize. Lucky Bob Freeman tucked that in his saddle bags!

The best of luck to our triples team, Jan, Marja and Liz, contesting the playoffs of the District Triples in Forbes tomorrow.

The final of the club Minor Pairs will be played next Tuesday: K Craft/L Ryan vs C Curteis/L Baker 

By Lea Orr

Tuesday morning dawned bright and sunny and attracted 17 ladies to the Parkes Bowling & Sports Club for a social roll up.

We welcomed a couple of new belles to our very social group. Thanks to Joe D, Judy Chambers and Judy Nobes now know the basics of lawn bowls! Lynn Ryan and Lea Orr followed up the training, combining with the newbies in a friendly game of pairs. Hope you enjoyed yourselves, girls, despite the caffeine withdrawal at 11am!

The Grade 3 Pennants ladies teamed up for some extra practice in preparation for the State playoffs next month. Brenda Davies/Di Howell/Maureen Miller/Liz Byrne came away with the win against Marja Iffland/Heather Harvey/Rhona Went after playing some impressive close ends.

A well-matched game of triples resulted in Gwenda Carty/Maureen Baillie/Rosemary Mitchell just going down to Frances Charlton/Kay Craft/Joan Simpson on rink 2.

Maureen M, Marja and Judy C each pocketed cash in the 100’s club (that should entice Judy back to cover her next green fees)!

Next Tuesday, 1st November is our Melbourne Cup Spring Carnival for a 10am start. Mixed 2-bowl triples, 2 games of 13 ends. Teams will be drawn after this Saturday, so please put your names down at the bar! $20 covers lunch, green fees and bubbles. Non-players lunch $10. Wear Spring mufti and join in all the excitement of cup day. Sweeps are already available at the club.

Looking ahead, the final of the Minor Pairs Championship will be contested on 8th November, between K Craft/L Ryan vs C Curteis/L Baker. Good luck to each of you. Social Roster: Rose Mitchell

By Lea Orr

Gary McPhee is the 2022 Minor Singles champion.

The final of the 2022 Minor Singles was played on a heavy green at the Parkes Bowling & Sports Club on Sunday.

Mick Simpson, who has taken the bowls scene by storm this year, played last year’s runner-up Gary McPhee. Gary has been in scintillating form of late and was the favourite for the title, which was played in front of 20 spectators under humid conditions.

The first 7 ends belonged to the underdog, as Mick didn’t hold back, leading by 10 shots to 5, helped by a classy 4 on the second end. Gary held his nerve, picking up a 4 on the ninth end to bring the match to level scores, as both bowlers delivered, and then defended draw shots and their shots near the jack.

Gary eventually regained the lead and was leading by 18 to 15, after which he was never headed, demonstrating his experience in the big moments, and won the title by 25 shots to 16.

Both Bowlers played great bowlers and it was unfortunate that there had to be a loser in the final. Congratulations Mick Simpson on a great singles campaign in majors and minors grade this year.

Last Thursday’s social bowls were washed out again, and on Saturday only 10 social bowlers took the punt on bowling a few ends and they managed to reach the jack occasionally, before the next rain event swept across the greens. 

By Marthy Tighe

Colin Hayward played social bowls last Thursday.

ZONE SENIOR PAIRS

Darryl McKellar and Gary McPhee have won their way through to the Zone Senior Pairs finals after winning both of their matches on the weekend, defeating the highly fancied Orange City team on Sunday. Tony Riordan and Mal Porter had a draw and a win on Saturday to play in the sectional play-offs on Sunday, however despite playing well, they were just beaten. Congratulations to all four bowlers on a great weekend of playing high quality bowls.

SOCIAL BOWLS

Last Thursday, 20 bowlers took advantage of the rare non-rain day to play two games of social triples and two pairs games. 

The in-form Rob Irving and Brett Frame played Ray Jones and Warwick Parker in a tight game of pairs, which eventually saw the ‘Organiser’ and the Greenkeeper prevail, winning 19 shots to 17.

The new life member, John Carr, led brilliantly for the latest member and skip, Chris Harrison surging to a lead of 21 shots to 12 after 17 ends, and won 22 shots to 20.

The first of the triples games resulted in a win by 27 shots to 17 for Mike Valentine, Alan Affleck and Gary McPhee over Ron Hornery, John Niddrie and John Wright.

Graham Barby was back on the bowling rink, leading for Bob Freeman and John Ward against Tony Riordan, Jim Blake and Colin Hayward. Team ‘Bomber’ Ward led by 19 shots to 4. A pep talk from skip Hayward had the desired result as Col fired up Tony and big Jim, winning the remaining 7 ends, picking up 12 shots, to just lose by 2 shots.

The two bowling greens were full on Saturday as 16 social bowlers played on the top rink.

By Marty Tighe