Green claims Johny Woods crown

BOWLS Richard Green has been crowned the 2026 Johny Woods Bowls Tournament champion after a consistent performance across all three rounds. Green completed the tournament with an impressive overall score of 125 points to take first place. Viv Russell finished runner-up on 116 points, while Laurie Crouch secured third place with 99 points. In the final round, Phil Hocking and Jeff Nicholson claimed the winners’ honours, with Richard Green and Viv Russell finishing as runners-up. Cherie Vincent was named winner of the day, rounding out a great final day of competition. Congratulations to Richard on taking out this year’s tournament, and well done to all bowlers who competed across the three rounds. BOWLS TOURNAMENT Our next big bowls tournament is fast approaching, with The Legends Bowls Day to be held on Saturday 17 October. The special event will recognise and honour three of our great bowlers - Clive Herbert, Lindsay Wilding and Greg Parslow - and promises to be a fantastic day of bowls and celebration at the club. With only a couple of team spots still available, nominations are filling quickly. We’re looking forward to making The Legends Bowls Day another successful carnival for our club. Don’t miss out - get your team in now! T & M Tyres Following the long weekend, we’ll be kicking off the T & M Tyres Sunday Morning Bowls Tournament. Long-time and valued sponsors of our club, Helen and Tony Osborne from T & M Tyres, will once again sponsor this popular tournament, which will be played over three consecutive Sundays, commencing Sunday 11 October. The tournament will follow our normal Sunday morning bowls format, with names drawn to form teams and play getting underway at 10am. Get your name down on the nomination sheets at the club, or phone the club by 9.30am on Sunday morning to nominate. A big thank you to Helen and Tony for their continued and generous support of our club. We look forward to another great three weeks of bowls! CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS It was a busy weekend for Brett Davenport and the Minor Singles Club Championship games. Saturday was a nail-biter from start to finish in the Minor Singles, with Brett Davenport and Dale Scott locked in a tight battle and very little separating the pair throughout the match. With a place in the semi-final on the line, neither player was willing to give an inch. The pressure remained right until the closing stages, with Davenport eventually holding his nerve to claim a thrilling 26–24 victory. Backing up from his nail-biting win on Saturday to secure a spot in the Minor Singles semi-finals, Brett Davenport returned to the green on Sunday determined to keep his championship campaign rolling. Davenport faced Posso Jones in the second semi-final and carried his winning form into the match. After Saturday’s tough contest, Brett put together a strong performance, taking control of the game and going on to claim a convincing 25–12 victory. The win sees Brett Davenport progress through to the Minor Singles final, capping off an impressive weekend of bowls with two victories in two days and will now face Pat O’Neill in the final to crown the 2026 Champion for Minor Singles. MAJOR TRIPLES - There was plenty of action on the greens on Saturday, in the Major Triples, with Brian “Spro” Asimus, Shane “Bozza” Bolam and Scott “Scooter” Andrews combining for a hard-fought victory over Nathan Suttie, Christian West and Daniel Tisdell. The two sides battled it out over 25 ends, with neither team giving the other much breathing room. With the pressure on and every bowl counting, Spro, Bozza and Scooter managed to get the edge when it mattered and hold off their opponents to secure a 23–19 victory. It was all happening on Sunday for the Club Championships, with the greens filled with plenty of green and gold as the mighty Bushrangers battled it out for championship honours. In the Major Triples, Clint Hurford, Robert “Pooch” Dukes and Mitch Andrews took on Shayne “Shark” Staines, Ian Hodges and Bert Bayley in a terrific contest. Team Andrews led from the start, but Shark, Hodges and Bayley weren’t going away without a fight. They worked their way back into the contest, and by the 16th end the scores were locked at 17-all, setting up an exciting finish. From there, Andrews, Pooch and Hurford found another gear. They regained the momentum and finished strongly to secure a well-earned 29–21 victory. And now the stage is set for a family affair in the Major Triples final - father versus son! Clint Hurford, Robert “Pooch” Dukes and Mitch Andrews will battle it out against Brian “Spro” Asimus, Shane “Bozza” Bolam and Scott “Scooter” Andrews for the championship title. With Mitch and Scooter Andrews lining up on opposing sides, there’ll be more than just championship bragging rights on the line when father and son go head-to-head! It promises to be a cracking final and one the Andrews family - and the Bushrangers - won’t want to miss. Major women's singles - Sue White and Cherie Vincent went head-to-head in the Women’s Major Singles, battling it out over 21 ends in another great Club Championship contest. There was nothing separating the pair early, with the scores locked at 5-all after six ends. From there, Cherie found her rhythm and took off, building a handy lead and putting the pressure on Sue. But Sue wasn’t finished. She fought her way back into the contest and continued to chip away, refusing to give up. Despite Sue’s determined comeback, the gap proved too much to close, with Cherie Vincent holding strong to claim a 25–18 victory. SOCIAL BOWLS With our number one reporter off living it up on holidays, unfortunately, no results made their way to the news desk this week. We’re sure there were plenty of great bowls played, a few lucky shots claimed as skill, and no doubt plenty of friendly banter along the way! Thursday - There was a bit of everything on the greens for Thursday bowls - comfortable wins, a nail-biter and plenty of friendly rivalry. Sue Smith and Laurie Crouch enjoyed a strong afternoon, taking a 27–13 win over Eddie Gould and Posso Jones. The closest contest of the day belonged to Billy Cowell and Tim Everest, who scraped home by the narrowest of margins, 18–17, against Phil Bayley and Glen Kearney. One shot was all it took! Club regular Cagey Cowell teamed up with Viv Russell, and the pair certainly meant business, powering to a 26–8 victory over Paul Doust and Cherie Vincent. Finally, Tara Shaw and Wayne Burton must have been good at maths as they managed to exactly double their opposition’s score, defeating Maynard and Wayne Wright 28–14. No recorded resting touchers;. Raspberries: Wayne Burton and Glen Kearney (honorary raspberry). Winning Rink: Wayne Burton and Tara Shaw. Losing Rink: Phil Bayley and Glen Kearney. Jackpot winner of the day: Phil Bayley. Sunday bowls - With a big afternoon of Club Championship action scheduled to kick off at noon, you might have thought everyone would be saving their energy - not our Sunday bowlers! A keen 18 bowlers still took to the greens for a morning in the sunshine, squeezing in their Sunday bowls before the championship action got underway. Visitor Janette Pender teamed up with Lyall Strudwick, but they were unable to get the better of Juss Scifleet and Viv Russell, who collected a 17–10 victory. There was barely a whisker in the next contest, with Trish Todd and Cagey Cowell sneaking home by just one shot, 13–12, over John Simmonds and Terry Murphy. The biggest margin of the morning belonged to George Falvey, visitor Pacey Pender and John Cutler, who were in fine form with a 22–6 win over Chris Simmonds, Gill Taylor and John Kennedy. And one close finish game wasn’t enough for the morning! Our Mixed Pairs duo Joyce Gray and Scott McKellar also managed to scrape home by a single shot, defeating Darryl Burley and Al Phillips 13–12. Resting touchers: Al Phillips, Darryl Burley. Raspberries: Lyall Strudwick and John Simmonds. Winning rink: Joyce Gray and Scott McKellar. Losing Rink: Janette Pender and Lyall Strudwick. Jackpot winner of the day: John Kennedy. Chicken raffle winners: Joyce Gray, Pacey Pender, Ian Hodges, Alfie Andrews, John Kennedy, Lyall Strudwick, Peter White and George Andrews.