Despite biting cold temperatures and overcast skies, Orbost Bowling Club recorded a strong turnout for its weekly social bowls and training sessions last week, with competitors braving the winter elements to hit the greens.
The club’s match committee trimmed last Thursday’s social session to two games of 10 ends due to the freezing conditions. Two teams managed to finish undefeated across both games of two-bowl triples, but it was the high-scoring combination of Beryl Dyce, Dennis McCann and Ron Hatcher (skip) that claimed the day’s top honours.
Threatening rain clouds thinned out Sunday’s regular crowd, leaving six hardy bowlers to battle it out in a single, 18-end game of three-bowl triples. To keep the contest engaging, teams rotated player positions every six ends, ensuring everyone had a turn at lead, third and skip.
A sudden heavy downpour forced a premature end to play on the 15th end, sending the slightly drenched competitors retreating to the clubrooms. Following some friendly debate over how the truncated game should be scored, the final 20–10 scorecard stood, declaring Jurgen Fichtner, Steve Shorten, and Maurice Frank the winners.
The scoreboard belied how close the tactical match truly was; if judged purely on ends won, the victors only edged out runners-up Geoff Lynn, Narelle Shorten and Dennis McCann by a narrow margin of eight ends to seven.
The club’s next social session is scheduled for this Thursday, with players requested to arrive by 11.30am.
Meanwhile, Saturday morning’s ‘Drills and Skills’ clinic started with a distinct nip in the air, yet pulled one of the largest attendances of the season. As the sun broke through and temperatures rose, players discarded their winter coats to focus on weight control under the guidance of coach Ron Hatcher.
The opening drill challenged bowlers to cluster all four of their bowls tightly together at the far end of the rink without the aid of a jack to aim at, isolating their feel for length and grass. This was followed by a precision exercise requiring players to land two forehand and two backhand bowls at identical lengths on either side of the jack.
The session concluded with an interactive competitive drill. Operating with three players per rink, each bowler was required to publicly announce their tactical intention before sending their bowl down, aiming to out-position the previous delivery.
The next junior and senior development session will run this Saturday morning from 10am.
