On Sunday 30th August, the Social Bowling Competition finals were held, and the quality of the bowling did not disappoint the crowd!
But let’s have a look how the finalists got there first.
Sixteen participants were divided into 2 groups of 8 bowlers, and each one would play every other player in the group once, at a time convenient to both players. Once all games were concluded at the end of July, the results were analysed, and the top two in each group would go forward in the competition.
In the first group, Rose Yates, Adele Thompson and Andrew Hill had all won 5 out of their 7 games, but Adele and Rose had higher aggregate scores, giving the two ladies places in the semi-finals.
In the second group, Dave Thompson had only lost one of his games, so was the winner of the group. In second place, with only 2 game loses was Lyn Roughley, who just pipped Dave Williams (also only 2 losses) to second place with her higher aggregate score.
The semi-finals and finals were held in front of a small crowd made up of competition participants and other supporters, and luckily for the participants, the weather conditions were favourable.
The talented finalists lined up before the semi-finals.
Dave Thompson would play Rose Yates, and Adele Thompson would play Lyn Roughley. As you may have spotted, there was a possibility of a Thompson-Thompson final, but they both had to survive their semi-finals first.
In the game between Dave and Rose, Rose got off to a flying start, winning the first 4 ends to lead 6-0. Dave fought back soon after to make the game 4-8, but for the remainder of the game he was always on the back foot, with Rose putting up good bowl after good bowl in an impressive display. The game ended 21-14 to Rose.
In the other semi-final, it was Adele that took the lead initially but Lyn brought it back to 5-5. After another run with the jack, Adele again went ahead, and seemed to be taking the upper hand as the game progressed. Lyn had a good spurt near the end of the game, taking 6 points in a row, but Adele finally took back the jack, making it to all-but with Lyn on 15. In a dramatic last end, Lyn’s last bowl ran into the back of Adele’s, knocking Adele’s wood nearer to the jack and sealing her fate. Adele won the game to 15.
The crowd were eager for more, and with a Rose-Adele final lined up, they were promised another good game.
The social bowling competition has been an incredibly friendly and fun competition, and the final was no different. Rose and Adele lined up on the start line and hugged before they began.
Adele started by taking the first end, but Rose then took the next 6 ends, gaining an 8-1 lead. Adele fought back taking the next 3 ends but again Rose bowled some fantastic woods to stretch the lead to 13-5.
Rose’s high standard of bowling was consistent, and she continued to take 2 or 3 ends for each one Adele took, leading to an impressive winning score of 21-10.
Adele was incredibly happy for her Thursday afternoon team mate and congratulated Rose by taking her for a spin, which Rose appeared to come out of a little disorientated!
The quality of the bowling on display in all games was truly excellent, definitely worthy of a final in any competition. Rose will certainly be one to watch next season!
Club chairman, Peter Carr, watched the games and gave a short speech at the end before presenting the prizes. He noted what a success this first year of the Social Bowling Competition had been and thanked everyone for their participation.
Semi-finalists Dave Thompson and Lyn Roughley first went up to collect their prize money.
Losing finalist Adele was then presented with her prize money.
And lastly, our Social Bowling Competition Trophy winner for 2026, Rose Yates, was presented with her prize money and the all important trophy! Well done Rose, you played amazingly well!
We will be running the social bowling competition again next year, so look out for details at the start of next season – we hope many of this year’s new members will take part and enjoy it as much as this year’s bowlers did!
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