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On Saturday 2nd September, the Club held its Novices Competition which had been converted to a one-day event last season so that new members could take part in the season in which they joined. A “novice” in our Club means anyone who has never won a singles competition here (or elsewhere).
There were 12 entrants, 6 of whom had joined this season. They were split into 2 drawn Pools of 6 playing a round-robin of 5 games, 6 ends each. To speed up play, the rink was set up with 3 pre-marked jack settings, short, medium and long.
With the weather being perfect, the bowling started on time at 10:30am. The games were played without specified markers. With mats being placed close to the 2m mark and jacks on pre-defined spots, there was no requirement to centre the mat or jack. Fortunately, Kevin Browne, Jeanie Davies and Dave Wilson were on hand to monitor 2 rinks each and, where required, mark touchers or advise players about which bowl was shot etc. This seemed to work alright and didn't appear to cause any delays.
After the first 2 games, players drew breath with a cup of tea/coffee and a biscuit whilst Kevin collated the scores.
After the third game, participants had now played the equivalent of a full triples game (18 ends) but with 4 woods rather than 3 so they all deserved their lunch.
In the Blue Pool, Nigel Bridges and Peter Menhinick were starting to emerge as front runners as was Ramsay Adams in the Red Pool. However, in the Red Pool, second place was a close competition between Hylton Jenkins, Glynis Holland and Peter Goddard.
Game 4 started before 1:30pm and Game 5 followed swiftly on (although not all players were quite so swift at this point). With all round-robin games completed, scores were tallied and the top 2 in each Pool were as follows:
These top two then played a semi-final, again of 6 ends, with pre-set jacks. Peter Menhinick, played Hylton Jenkins and Ramsay Adams played Nigel Bridges. Both semi-final games were close fought affairs with Ramsay beating Nigel by 1 shot and Peter's and Hylton's game having to go to an extra end which Hylton won.
The final was then played between Ramsay and Hylton. The format was the same as the Pool games and the semi-finals and was won by Ramsay on the sixth and last end. The day was enjoyed by all with plenty of spectators. well done to Ramsay and Hylton and here is a picture of the finalists in action, Ramsay on the left and Hylton on the right.
