Believe it or not, the Eastwood Cup this year was not run by humans alone. With 10 entries into the Eastwood Cup, Janice turned to Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help her design a suitable competition format for 10 players. AI not only decided that a round robin with 2 groups of 5 players would be a good fit, but also generated the required spreadsheets to run the competition with!
The players were drawn (by human hands) randomly and placed into the 2 groups, with handicaps added as it was seen fit, giving the following line up for the day.
The day got underway with 2 games from each group on the green, and as one game finished, the person sitting out from that group would take their turn on the green, playing one of those who’d come off.
Once half the total number of games had been played, a welcome break for lunch was taken. Participants had contributed various goodies to the food table, and this was enjoyed by all in the sunshine.
Janice entered the scores into the AI-generated score tables, and the half-time number of wins, losses and aggregate scores auto-magically appeared.
After lunch, the remaining games were played out, and the scores entered into the spreadsheet, giving the following two group results.
In group A, Dave Williams won all his 4 games, so was automatically through to the semi-finals. The runner up in that group based on aggregate score was Chris Dover.
In group B, no one won all 4 games, but Gill Johnston and Dave Thompson had the best aggregates so went through to the semi-finals too.
A short interlude to draw the raffle gave the thirsty semi-finalists chance to get a drink and prepare for their next games. Thanks to everyone who brought prizes and bought tickets, this helped to raise a bit of extra money for the club.
The sun continued to shine as the semis got underway, and both games were closely fought. In the first game, Dave Thompson took Dave Williams corner to corner on the green, gaining several points this way. Dave Williams fought back with shorter marks but in the end Dave Thompson won out 15-10.
In the other semi-final, Chris Dover took an early lead, but Gill eventually got back in and the game became very close. At 14-13 to Chris, Gill had a bowl on the block and Chris’ bowls were short and wide. But as Gill’s second bowl rolled towards the jack, it clattered into the back of Chris’ short bowl and knocked it on, handing Chris the game!
The final saw Chris Dover take an impressive early lead over Dave Thompson, using his familiar round peg by the clubhouse mark, and Dave struggled to get his bowls close enough for a while. But at 11-0, Dave finally won an end and made sure to take Chris far away from his favourite mark, sending the jack long, over to the opposite corner. Dave gained a few points back but Chris soon landed back in his favourite spot, and took the game 15-6 in the end.
Gill Johnston, this year’s club president, gave a speech on the green, commenting on what a lovely day everyone had experienced, and thanked everyone for taking part and helping out on the day.
Chairman, Peter Carr, also gave a speech, reiterating appreciation for those who’d played, organised and supported the day’s events. He thanked Geoff Eastwood for again sponsoring the competition and couldn’t resist remarking on how lucky we were with the weather yet again.
Prizes were handed to semi-finalists Dave Williams and Gill Johnston.
Next, the first-time finalist and runner-up Dave Thompson was handed his prize. It’s only a matter of time until Dave Thompson steps up to take a trophy we think!
Finally, the winner of the Eastwood Cup, Chris Dover, was presented with his prize. Geoff Eastwood came on the green to present the trophy and the winner’s prize he so kindly donated.
This was Chris’ second consecutive Eastwood Cup win, and he will again have his name engraved onto the trophy.
Well done and a big thank you to everyone for supporting the cup day, whether it by playing, marking, bringing food or prizes, or simply washing up! It was a thoroughly enjoyable day. And with the introduction of AI-designed spreadsheets, there was less work and more fun to be had for the organisers, Janice and Dave. Win-win.
We hope to see even more of you at the next cup day, which will be the Tony Brogden Cup on Sunday 14th June 2026. New members and social bowling members are also welcome to take part in these competitions, and if needed, handicaps will be assigned to level out the playing field a little, so to speak. So don’t be shy 🙂
I’ll leave you with the final spreadsheet of the day.
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