BOWLS

By FORBES SPORTS AND REC CLUB

It's all happening on the greens for our mighty Bushrangers and it's great to see the greens full of our Bushranger uniforms.

PENNANTS

Our Grade Fours tried their hearts out in their final sectional game and produced the goods.

Playing Grenfell on our turf, the final scores, Forbes 83 defeated Grenfell 41.

Viv Russell, Shane Bolam, Brian Asimus and Scott Andrews took a little longer then some to get valuable runs on the board against Rod O’Neill, Terry Mulligan, John Cooper and Martin Betcher however when they did, they made an impact.

During this game there was strong encouragement from the team and some outstanding bowls played by Scott Andrews received the “Penguin Clap’’. Forbes won 22-16.

17 points difference between Forbes 30-13 over Grenfell. The score board was close at times then Clint Hurford, Jeff Nicholson, Bert Bayley and Mitch Andrews dug their heels in and set sail to cross the finish line against Matt Collins, Martino Lascala, Rosemary Walter and Warren Pain.

The biggest margin of all three games contributed to Forbes 31 win over Grenfell 12.

A late scratching meant Pat O’Neill stepping in and showing great form to lead Scott McKellar, Dan Tisdell and Robert Dukes in their victory over Ray Walter, Judith Mulligan, Kath Betcher and Kate Cooper.

Grade Four is now sitting on 20 equal points with Parkes Railway on our section ladder with 19 points the difference in overall shots.

Fours now need to wait for the results of Grenfell playing Parkes Railway next week to see what their final position will be.

Our Grade Seven’s are well rested and refreshed after having the bye this week and will travel to Parkes this weekend to play Parkes Bowling and Sports Club for their final game of in the sectional games.

The ladder shows Forbes trailing by 1 point on 19 with Condobolin just in front on 20 due to their results on the weekend against Parkes Bowling and Sports Club.

CHAMPIONSHIPS

Continuing to work their way through the Major Pairs draw, two games were played this week.

Our second youngest bowler, Joe Nicholson teamed up with Dad Jeff to take on Pat O’Neill and Mick Merritt.

Mick and Pat stamped their position early in the game with a 10-4 lead on 7.

The Nicho’s answered back on the 8th and started their comeback. Mick and Pat just held on to their 3 point lead 17-14 on 13 until the Nicho’s won the next 3 ends to hit the front. 19 to 18 going into the last end this game was anyone’s. The Nicho’s were able to pick up 1 point on the last and won the game 20-18.

Its great to see Peter ‘Bezzy’ Besgrove back on the greens when he paired with Phil Hocking coming up against Viv Russell Robert ‘Pooch’ Dukes.

Viv playing his 3rd game in 3 days had no impact on his stella performance in his and Pooch’s 23-8 win. 13-3 on 9 with no signs of taking their foot off the accelerator. The back end of the card, Phil and Bezzy won 3 of the 9 ends but couldn’t quite close the gap to win the game.

Women's minor singles: Kicking off the start of the Minor Singles draw were the two Sue’s. Sue Smith and Sue White.

Sue White picking up 1’s from the starting boxes, her luck then changed and started gaining 3’s, Sue was leading 13-6 on 12. Sue Smith was stuck on unlucky 6 for 7 ends whilst Suw White added another 3 points to her total. 31 ends saw Sue White come away with the win 26-18.

Bentick trophy: Games are being played left and right to get through our Bentick Trophy draw.

A twilight game on Friday afternoon/evening and just scraping in before the storm hit, Clint Hurford (handicapped at 10) and Viv Russell (handicapped at 12) had their battle. Viv led from the start with some unlucky bowls from Clint taking his own for Viv to gain multiples. Viv led 12-6 on 10, 21-15 on 20. Clint was not throwing in the towel just yet. A second card was needed and final score Viv won 29-21 over 30ends.

Playing their first-round game, Cherie Vincent (handicapped on 8) drew Lyall Strudwick (handicapped on 11). Cherie was leading 9-7 on then picked up 4 points on the next 2ends to extend her lead. 19-14 on 20, closing the gap was not out of reach for Lyall. Lyall hit the lead on the 28th ends 21-20 but Cherie answered back and crossed the finish line first, winning 25-23.

Also playing their first-round game was the battle between the girls, Kerry Roach (handicapped on 9) and Ange Dwyer (handicapped on 5). Kerry, no stranger to competition bowls or pressure, Kerry played on fire. 10-1 on 7, 15-3 on 12. Ange dug deep into her bag of tricks but was no match against Kerry’s 3’s and 4. Kerry’s overall score 30-6.

Our green keeper Phil Hocking (handicapped on 8) drew against Kelly Stringer (handicapped on 6). Phil 10-5 on 10, picked up a 4 and 2 to have a 10 point lead on 13. Phil kept his foot on the gas and steamed ahead. Kelly made it to double figures on the 20th but Phil did not slow down. Overall score, Phil won 27-19.

Terry Murphy (handicapped on 6) and the dark horse of the competition drew Nathan Suttie (handicapped on 0). Nathan has been on fire of late and he needed to bring that fire to the game. 11-6 on 10 in favour of Terry there was a long way to go. Terry held onto his lead 20-9 on 20 Nathan had a great comeback but Terry sealed the deal and the win 31-18.

SOCIAL BOWLS

Wednesday: Despite 50 plus mils of rain the day prior greens mower extraordinaire Phil Hocking had them up and running true and considering the condition reasonably fast. In a single word ‘excellent’.

Not a complaint from those who played with card draw winners Geoff West and John Gorton 17-13 in 21(?) ends over Bill Scott and Ross Williams. In a close game it was 7-all after nine then 15-13 with two ends remaining (on the card that is) where Geoff and John scored two, two’s. A lesson for all here, as reported they finished on an uneven end then two two’s had the score from 15 to only 17. What school did ‘we’ go to boys?

Runners-up were Richard Green and Pat O’Neill 20-12 in 20 ends over Peter Mackay and Billy Cowell. Interesting to note here was a game of triples was called before Pat arrived and an ‘injured’ Billy played making for the five games of pairs. Richard and Pat trailed 4-7 after seven before 11-all after 14. They dominated home 9-0 in the last five ends.

Also close had Phil Bayley and Paul Doust winning 18-14 over Cheryl Hodges and Lyall Strudwick in a game reasonably close over 20 ends. 5-all after eight then 11-9 with Cheryl and Lyall making a game of it to only trail by one, 14-15 before the last where they dropped a three.

An always helpful Gail McKay and ‘the greens’ Phil Hocking combined well to win 24-15 in 20 over Wayne Wright back from holidays supporting the unlucky Dragons and his skip John Kennedy. Gail and Phil jumped well leading 9-0 after only four before 12-all after 12 then 22-14 before a two on the last was the icing on the cake.

In the last, Bill O’Connell and Laurie Crouch won 22-17 in 22 over Irene Riley and Barry Shine looking like winners from the outset. But they never quite skipped away, 9-6 after 10, 22-13 after 20. Before they lost the last two ends 4-0. In-club winners Sue Smith and Peter Mackay.

Thursday: The steamy warm weather certainly played a part on Thursday afternoon with only 10 players taking to the greens.

Scotty McKellar led for Al Phillips in their touchup from Steve Turner and Wayne Burton. 11-10 to Steve and Wayne at the half way mark, Steve and Wayne kept their opponents to only scoring 3 points in the back 10ends. Steve and Wayne won 24-13.0

The triples game was played by Bobby Grant, Tara Shaw and Viv Russell verse Wayne Wright, Maynard and Glen Kearney. Glen’s well-oiled team banded together to lead from the start. 8-3 on 7, Viv’s team needed to get much needed points on the board. Viv’s team picked up 4 on the 13th to take the lead and a 3 on the last secured their win 17-12.

Resting touchers: Wayne Wright, Tara Shaw, Maynard, Viv Russell. Raspberries: Scotty McKellar, Wayne Burton and Bobby Grant.

Jackpot winner: Wayne Burton.

Sunday: With all the hype on the greens with Bentick Trophy games and Pennants in town, we had 16 players for Sunday morning bowls.

Two visitors, Linda and Wayne Erikson who last visited our club in 2024, returned to our club for social bowls and drew Dick Sharkey and Al Phillips. Linda and Wayne led by 2 at oranges 8-6 and hoped to hang onto their position following the break. Dick and Al added 7 points in the back half and won the game 13-12.

Trish Todd partnered with Lyndy Bokeyar when they played Juss Scifleet and John Cutler. The girls were on fire 7-2 on 8, Juss and John had to talk tactics during the break and bring their A game for the second half. Refueled and regrouped, Juss and John equaled the score board and took over to win the game 13-9.

Maynard and Steve Turner had a 7-point win over Eddie Gould and John Kennedy 17-10. Eddie and John only trailed by 2 points on 8 then equaled with the next end. Maynard and Steve took the next 3 for their hat trick and sprinted to the finish line 17-10.

Peter Langeveldt and Lyall Strudwick gave Al Hilder and Peter Mackay a lesson on their rink. Peter and Lyall led 9-1 at the break and didn’t slow down in the second 8. Peter and Lyall won 6 of the last 8 ends and the game 19-5.

Resting Touchers: Peter Langeveldt and Lyndy Bokeyar. Raspberries: Peter Mackay and Juss Scifleet.

Winning Rink: Peter Langeveldt and Lyall Strudwick. Losing Rink: Eddie Gould and John Kennedy.

Jackpot winner: Steve Turner.

Chicken raffle winners: Ange Dwyer, Jason Howell, Maynard, Billy Cowell, Alfie Andrews x 2, J Clarke, John Cutler, Cooke.