Beautifully warm and sunny winter weather greeted bowlers at the Orbost Bowls Club last Thursday, driving a larger-than-usual crowd to the weekly social competition.
With the greens in excellent condition, the match committee arranged two fast-paced games of 12 ends. The ideal weather did not completely prevent errors, however, with three of the club’s most experienced players sending down wrong biases — much to the amusement of their peers, who delivered plenty of friendly courtside ribbing.
Two teams managed to win both of their matches on the day, with the trio of Ross O’Brien, Ron Hatcher and Beryl Dyce ultimately declared the overall winners on a countback.
The popular “Scroungers” format took centre stage for Sunday’s social bowls, drawing an exceptional turnout for the monthly fixture. Played under perfect skies, competition across the two 12-end games was fierce but friendly, especially with only one round left to play in the current series at the end of July.
Scott Farnell led the day’s scoring with a massive 61 points, followed closely by Ron Hatcher (57) and Greg Rankin (55).
The results have shaken up the season leaderboard, which sees Maurice Frank maintaining top spot with an aggregate score of 283. Jurgen Fichtner sits in second on 261, with Dennis McCann rounding out the top three on 242. When it comes to efficiency, Hatcher holds the highest average score per game with a dominant 63.5, while Farnell and Trevor Perry remain deadlocked on 61 points per game.
The next social bowls session will take place this Thursday, with players asked to arrive at the club by 11.30am for a prompt start.
DRILLS AND SKILLS
The club’s newly launched “Drills and Skills” program started on Saturday morning in sunny but crisp winter conditions, with temperatures steadily improving as the session progressed.
Club coach Ron Hatcher set three targeted exercises for the morning, all designed to force bowlers to concentrate heavily on their feel for weight and length.
The first exercise tested players on short ends, while the second stretched them to the limit on maximum-length ends, with both the mat and the jack positioned strictly on the “T”.
The final drill proved the most challenging of the day, utilising two jacks placed at alternating distances — one short and one long. Bowlers were required to switch targets with every single delivery, shifting from the short jack to the long jack and back again, requiring instant adjustments to their weight and release.
The next Drills and Skills clinic will run this Saturday morning, starting at 10am.
