Our first event of the 2019/20 Season, the Club Championship Triples was away to a flying start on Saturday. Despite a few regulars still on holiday or a little under the winter weather, we still had a good turnout of players for the Mens Triples and to a large extent the weather played its part as well. As should happen in all good tournaments there was plenty of good bowling, some tight games and close finishes with the bonus of worthy winners. All played in the usual Beach Haven spirit of healthy competition peppered with some good-natured (or so your scribe was informed) sledging.
After a three round Section Play the finalists were The Young(er) Guns (Jason Blackmore/Gareth Towler/Dave Hunter) and The Old F---s (Garry Banks/Mo Pita/Richard Ponting) – note TOFs had three wins in the Round Robin. However, the weather intervened somewhat in the Final and The Young(er) Guns just held on to win by one shot in the 15-end final despite a spirited run for the line by TOFs.
Due to circumstances beyond the control of the Match Convenors the Ladies section had to be postponed for a later date (TBA) but those present plus one of our new members had a great impromptu coaching session from Gayle Melrose, (currently the Assistant Coach for the Black Caps) who was visiting family member Garry Banks and came to the Club on Saturday morning. Many thanks Gayle, the members were thrilled to have some of your expertise and inspiration.
Mo Pita has done a magnificent job with the green despite the weather conditions. It played very well considering it was the first open day of the season, and would have improved into the afternoon had it not been for the spell of light drizzle which plagued the Final. Given a week or so of good weather it will be as good as it was in May when it was playing at speeds we had rarely previously achieved.
Altogether a great start to the season!