Month: April 2026

Sunday 26^th April saw the club hold it’s annual open doubles competition, playing for the Bernard O’Malley Trophy in honour of our late Honorary Vice-President. The event attracted a full entry of 32 pairs and as well as local bowlers, we had pairs travelling from Preston, Liverpool, Wigan, Wales and the West Midlands to take part. 

The top half of the draw saw Paul Reardon and Kevin Wilcox (Brownmoor Brooke / Skem Park) reach the final following an extremely close semi-final against Chrissie McManus and Fergal Wright (Hesketh Arms / New Brighton Quarry Vikings), the score being 21-19. Their opponents in the final were Andy Carr and Neil Rigden (Bretherton), who had overcome the home pair of Andy Draper and John Hughes 21-16 at the semi-final stage. Their closest game on route to the final was a 21-20 win in Round 2 against previous winners Ian Grady and Tim Hodge.

 
In the final, Carr and Rigden established a comfortable 12-6 lead by winning five consecutive ends and a 3 at the tenth end extended their advantage to 15-7. Although Paul and Kevin won the next two ends, including a four to close the gap to 12-15, Andy and Neil won five out of the next six ends to win the final 21-13. Congratulations to Andy and Neil on being deserving winners of the Bernard O’Malley Trophy and well done to Paul and Kevin for reaching the final, having played well all day. 

The Hesketh Arms Bowling Club would like to thank everyone who supported this competition by taking part or by helping out with marking cards and measuring. In addition, we thank the following : –

• Gill for providing the sandwiches and to Lynne Smith for serving hot drinks during the day.
• Our referee for the day, Keith Andrews.
• Our greenkeeper, Andy Bate for preparing the green.
• Birkdale Insurance Group for their generous sponsorship. 

We now look forward to staging our Open Singles later in the season. Full details will be posted as soon as the date has been confirmed. 

Spring Pairs Competition.

A total of 24 members turned out on a lovely spring day to compete in our first competition of the season. The draw for the competition resulted in several interesting partnerships. which produced some very competitive bowling.

Some partnerships received a bye into the second round, and every pairing had the opportunity to play 2 games.

Following some excellent competitive bowling we ended up with the final featuring Jill Lloyd and Kevin Leddy against Darren Edgeerley and Peter Croston.

Jill and Kevin reached the final by winning 21:16 against Chrissie McManus and John Hughes, 21:19 against Tony Wakefield and Len Southworth and 21:15 against Alex Rimmer and Colin Edge in the semi-Final.

Darren and Peter won 21:9 against Sue Davies and New Bowler Bobby Rothwell, 21:12 against Mike Stevens and Liz Morrisey another new bowler and Andy Draper and Alan Lloyd 21:14 in the semi-Final.

The final was won by Darren and Peter 21:9. Jill and Kevin competed well but the longer games played in getting to the final finally told.

Congratulations to Darren and Peter on winning our first competition of the year.

The plate final was won by Derek Wignall and Gareth Taylor defeating Sue Davies and Bobby Rothwell 15:3

Thanks to everyone who supported the first competition of the season

SPRING PAIRS

The first club competition of the season will take place this coming Sunday, 19th April, when we will be staging the Spring Pairs. This is a random doubles event, with pairings drawn out on the day. There will be a plate competition for pairs losing in their first game.

This competition is being organised by George Hitchmough and Peter Smith. 

To enter, please register at the green by 11.45 am in time for a prompt 12 noon start.

OPEN DOUBLES 2026 – BERNARD O’MALLEY TROPHY

sponsored by Birkdale Insurance Group

We have a full entry of 32 pairs for our annual open doubles competition, held in honour of our late Honorary Vice-President and generous supporter of the club, Mr. Bernard O’Malley.

The competition is being held on Sunday 26th April and help will be required on the day with marking and measuring, especially in the early morning sessions, the first of which starts at 10.00 am.

Spectators will be welcome for what should be great day of top-quality bowling, with pairs travelling from Preston, Liverpool, Wigan, Wales and the West Midlands to take part.  

BLOWICK CUP – CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS

The Club will be staging the Blowick Cup for the sixth time on Sunday 7th June. This is a Champion of Champions event for those members who won a club competition or team merit during the previous season. Spectators will be welcome.

The qualifiers for the 2026 Blowick Cup  are :-

Debbie Barnes ; Sue Davies ; Andy Draper ; Darren Edgerley ; Steve Goulding ;   

Jim Halsall ; Chris Harding ; Alan Hatton ; Alan Lloyd ; Pat McArthur ;                 

John McCabe ; Steve McManus ; Mike Milne ; Chris Porter ; Peter Smith ; Fergal Wright

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Sunday 10th May – Rose Bowl. This will be a singles handicap, with a plate competition for players losing in their first game. Registration from 11.45 am for a 12 noon start.

Saturday 23rd May – Random Doubles – This competition will be open to bowling club members and Churchtown Conservative Club members. Pairings will be drawn out on the day. 12 noon start.

Sunday 7th June – Blowick Cup Champion of Champions – see above for further details. 12 noon start.

We are currently working on dates for the rest of the Club’s 2026 programme of competitions but would like to involve more members in planning and running our events. If any member(s) would like to assist by running one of the competitions or has any ideas for different formats, please contact : –

Mike Milne (07752352065 / michael.milne1966@outlook.com 

GREEN BOOKINGS

Saturday 13th June – Churchtown Conservative Club B.J.P.O’Malley President’s Trophy – this competition is open to members of the Churchtown Conservative Club.

Sunday 19th July – Finals Day of L.V. Individuals competition – spectators welcome.

NEWS UPDATEEASTER ROUND ROBIN

The Club’s first internal event of the season took place on Sunday when 16 participants played in an Easter Round Robin. This was a joint Bowling Club and Conservative Club event and it was pleasing to see several people new to bowling taking part. It is hoped to arrange more of these joint events as the season progresses. 
In joint fourth place, with a score of +7 were Bobby Rothwell and Derek Wignall ; Tony Baldwin was third on +11 ; 2nd place went to Mike Stevens with +14 but the clear winner with an impressive aggregate of +21 was Mal Green.

 SPRING PAIRS

The first internal club competition of the season will be held on Sunday 19^th April, when we will be staging the Spring Pairs. This will be a random doubles event, with pairings drawn out on the day. A plate competition will be held for pairs losing their first game.
To enter, register at the green on the day by 11.45 am for a 12 noon start.

SOUTHPORT FEDERATION

The Southport Federation team’s first match of the season will take place this Sunday, 12^th April, when they take on Flintshire in Division 6 of the National League. 
The home leg will be held at Hesketh Bank Bowling Club and the Hesketh Arms’ players selected to represent Southport are Kez Adams, Andy Draper, Darren Edgerley, Bill Roddan and Will Roddan.
The away team will travel to play at Aston Bowling Club in Queensferry and Mike Milne and Fergal Wright will be part of the team. 
Both legs will start at 2.00 pm and any support would be greatly appreciated for this important opening match of the Federation season.