Bowler numbers are holding firm at the Orbost Bowling Club despite the arrival of winter, with a beautiful, sunny afternoon playing its part for Thursday’s social fixture.
Thursday marked the first winter social bowls afternoon under an earlier 12pm time slot, introduced so players can finish their games before late-afternoon shadows creep across the green.
The format was set as two-bowl triples across two games of 12 ends. Emerging as the day’s clear winners with a win and a draw was Jurgen Fichtner’s team, alongside Ross O’Brien and Narelle Shorten.
Unfortunately, the pleasant weather didn’t hold for Sunday’s rink. Playing conditions were challenging, dominated by overcast skies and a very chilly breeze.
The winter elements did little to deter the club regulars, however, who stepped up for two games of 10 ends. Uneven attendance numbers saw the match committee adapt the format to a mix of fours and triples.
Determining the overall victors proved a straightforward task for organisers, with only one team managing to win both of their games. Top honours for the day went to the combination of Hayden Lancaster (skip), Jurgen Fichtner, Greg Rankin, and Steve Shorten.
The next social bowls day will be held this Thursday. Players are requested to be at the club no later than 11.30am to allow teams to be drawn ahead of play.
DRILLS AND SKILLS
Accuracy was the core focus of last Saturday’s Drills and Skills session, led by club coach Ron Hatcher.
Hatcher put the attendees through their paces with several precision-based tasks. The first exercise required bowlers to draw directly to the jack, while the second challenged them to execute a yard-on shot to displace an opponent’s bowl and stay in its place.
The final and most difficult task required players to trail a jack trailing close to the boundary line without running their own bowl out of bounds.
As has become the norm, the standard of bowling steadily improved as the morning progressed.
The next Drills and Skills session is scheduled for Saturday at 10am. Bowlers are welcome to arrive early for a roll-up to test the speed of the green.
