I have to inform you of the death of Neil Thompson.
Neil played most of his bowls at the Botanic Bowling club but was a regular member of the Hesketh Kestrels in the Aughton Vets League.
Many of you will not know Neil but he was a loyal player to the Kestrels.
The funeral is at Southport crematorium on Wednesday the 18th of September at 3pm.
The sixth staging of the Hesketh Arms Open Singles competition took place on Saturday, when a full turnout of 32 bowlers battled it out for the title and the £200 first prize.
In the top half of the draw, Fergal Wright was in impressive form, reaching the final with convincing wins against Steve McManus, Darren Evans, Neil Gregson and in the semi-final, Paul Reardon from the Brownmoor Brooke club in Crosby. Paul had reached the last four with wins against Haydn Preece, Aaron Backhouse and Andy Fleming.
In the bottom half of the draw, Darren Edgerley reached the quarter-finals with wins against Dave Gordon and Brian Coleman. The quarter-final saw Darren win a close match against Liam Gregson from Skem Park Rebels 21-18, before an even tougher match in the semi-final against Andy Draper from the host club. This game could have gone either way but it was Darren who edged it 21-20.
The final saw Darren win the first two ends but Fergal then won 12 out of the next 13 to establish a 14-6 lead. Although Darren won five ends out of the next six, Fergal was able to maintain his excellent form to win a high quality final 21-11. This was Fergal’s first Hesketh Arms Open Singles title, having previously lost in two finals, including two years ago against Darren.
· Many thanks to BIRKDALE INSURANCE GROUP for their support in sponsoring this competition.
· Thank you to everyone who came along on the day and helped out with marking cards.
· Thanks also to our referees, Peter and Mary Fishwick, who provided invaluable help in ensuring that the event ran smoothly.
· Thank you to our greenkeeper, Andy Bate, for once again preparing an excellent playing surface.
· Finally, special thanks go to our Vice-President, Bill Bloor, who worked hard all day serving drinks and sandwiches and was on hand at the end to present the prizes.
We look forward to seeing everyone again in 2025 for our Open Doubles and Open Singles competitions.
FLOODLIT TROPHY
Congratulations to Chris Harding and Mike Milne on winning the Floodlit Trophy, with a 15-9 win in the final against Kez Adams and Darren Edgerley.
AUGHTON LEAGUE – HESKETH HAWKS
Congratulations to the Hawks on finishing as runners-up in Division 2 of the Wednesday afternoon Aughton League. Captained by George Hitchmough, the team won 14 out of their 18 games, to finish just four points champions Ainsdale ‘A’.
SOUTHPORT FEDERATION
The Southport Federation team’s final league match of the season resulted in an 18-14 victory against Bury. This saw them finish just two points behind Heywood to narrowly miss out on promotion to Division 4.
The home leg of the match was held at the Hesketh Arms and thanks go to all those members who came along to support the team and especially to those who helped out with marking cards, selling raffle tickets etc. The result of the home leg was a 9-3 win for Southport, which included wins for Chris Porter (21-11) and Andy Draper (21-5).
The away team travelled to Dobbies Sports & Social Club in Radcliffe, coming away with three winners and these were Kez Adams (21-13), Mark Wilde (21-9) and Mike Milne (21-18).
As a result of finishing second, Southport will remain in Division 5 and will be hoping to go one better in 2025.
The final league standings were as follows :-
PLAYED POINTS
1. Menai 4 87 points
2. Heywood 4 71
3. Southport 4 69
4. Doncaster 4 49
5. Bury 4 44
OPEN SINGLES – SPONSORED BY BIRKDALE INSURANCE GROUP
Members are reminded that the Club’s Open Singles competition will be held on Saturday 31st August. Although the competition is currently fully subscribed, we are taking names for a reserve list and anyone wishing to be added to this list should contact Mike Milne (07752352065) or Chris Harding (07761733024). The entry fee is £10.00 and total prize money for the event is £540.00, with £200.00 going to the winner. The first session starts at 10.00 am and help on the day with marking and measuring would be greatly appreciated.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Although the 2024 season will soon be reaching it’s final stages, there are still two club competitions to be played and it would be good to end the season on a high note with good turnouts for these events.
Sunday 15th September – Vice-Presidents Pairs Trophy (non-random doubles, no plate) 12.00 pm start.
Sunday 29th September – Last Chance Cup (random doubles with plate) 12.00 pm start.
FLOODLIT TROPHY
The next club competition will be the Floodlit Trophy, which will take place on Saturday 17th August, starting at 5.00pm. This will be a non-random pairs and the format will be decided once the number of pairs taking part is known. We have used a round robin / group stage format in the past for this event which guarantees all pairs more than one game. If possible, we will use this format again this year.
To enter, please register at the green, on the day, by 4.45pm
SOUTHPORT FEDERATION
The Southport Federation team play their final National League fixture of the season this Sunday, 11th August, when they take on Bury in a match they need to win to give themselves a chance of promotion to Division 4 of the National league.
We are pleased to be hosting the home leg of the match at the Hesketh Arms and the Hesketh will be represented by Andy Draper and Chris Porter. The start time is 2.00pm and support will be very welcome, along with help marking cards.
The away team will travel to play at Dobbies Sports and Social Club in Radcliffe and the Hesketh Arms’ players selected to play are Kez Adams, Darren Edgerley, Mike Milne, Mark Wilde and Fergal Wright.
The league standings going into the final round of fixtures are as follows :-
PLAYED POINTS
1. Heywood 4 71 points
2. Menai 3 59
3. Southport 3 51
4. Doncaster 3 45
5. Bury 3 30
OPEN SINGLES – SPONSORED BY BIRKDALE INSURANCE GROUP
The Open Singles competition being held on Saturday 31st August is now full. We are taking names for a reserve list and anyone wishing to be added to this list should contact Mike Milne (07752352065) or Chris Harding (07761733024). The entry fee is £10.00 and total prize money for the event is £540.00, with £200.00 going to the winner. The first session starts at 10.00 am and help on the day with marking and measuring would be greatly appreciated.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Sunday 15th September – Vice-Presidents Pairs Trophy (non-random doubles, no plate) 12.00 pm start.
Sunday 29th September – Last Chance Cup (random doubles with plate) 12.00 pm start.
CORONATION CUP
Andy Draper won his second singles title of the season last weekend when he won the Coronation Cup, having previously won the Championship Cup. After two comfortable victories in the early rounds, Andy had to come back from 20-15 down against Jim Halsall in the semi-final. His opponent in the final was Fergal Wright, who had enjoyed wins against Len Southworth (21-16), Alan Lloyd (21-13) and in the semi-final, Peter Croston (21-12). The final looked like going all the way with the scores level at 13 across but Andy took control of the match at this point, scoring 5 chalks in four ends to lead 18-13. Although Fergal scored two to close the gap to 15-18, Andy was able to win the next two ends to win the game 21-15.
A plate competition was held for players losing in their first game and this was won by Alan Hatton, with a 15-7 win against Len Southworth in the final.
OPEN SINGLES – SPONSORED BY BIRKDALE INSURANCE GROUP
The Club will be holding it’s annual Open Singles competition on Saturday 31st August. There is currently just one place available in the 10.00 am session. The entry fee is £10.00 and should anyone like to book this place or go on the reserve list for the other times, please contact Mike Milne (07752352065) or Chris Harding (07761733024). Total prize money for the event is £540.00, with £200.00 going to the winner.
LV LEAGUE HANDICAP PAIRS
Entries are now being taken for the LV Handicap Pairs. Qualifying rounds will be played at various greens on Tuesday 20th August, with a 6.30 pm start. The Finals Day will be held at Fleetwood Hesketh on Sunday 25th August, starting at 1.00 pm. There is an entry fee of £6 per pair and names need to be with the league secretary by Friday 9th August. To enter, please notify Chris Harding or Mike Milne. The competition is open to all registered LV League players who have played at least one league game this season
.CLUB COMPETITIONS – AUGUST & SEPTEMBER
Dates have now been set for the three remaining club pairs competitions. To enter any of these events, please register at the green at least 15 minutes before the advertised start time.
Saturday 17th August – Floodlit Trophy (non-random doubles)– format will depend on the number of entries. 5.00 pm start
Sunday 15th September – Vice-Presidents Pairs Trophy (non-random doubles, no plate) 12.00 pm start.
Sunday 29th September – Last Chance Cup (random doubles with plate) 12.00 pm start….
CORONATION CUP
The next club competition will take place this Sunday 28th July, when we will be playing for the CORONATION CUP. This is a singles handicap and a plate competition will be organised for players losing their first game. To enter, please register at the green by 11.45 am for a prompt 12.00 noon start.
BURSCOUGH LEAGUE PRESIDENT’S DAY
Congratulations to Darren Edgerley on winning the Burscough League President’s Day, hosted by the League President, Anne Brogden, at Hoole Village Hall.
LV HANDICAP PAIRS
Entries are now being taken for the LV Handicap Pairs. Qualifying rounds will be played at various greens on Tuesday 20th August, with a 6.30 pm start. The Finals Day will be held at Fleetwood Hesketh on Sunday 25th August, starting at 1.00 pm. There is an entry fee of £6 per pair and names need to be with the league secretary by Friday 9th August. To enter, please notify Chris Harding or Mike Milne. The competition is open to all registered LV League players who have played at least one league game this season.
SOUTHPORT FEDERATION
The Southport Federation team enjoyed an excellent 20-12 victory against Doncaster in their July fixture, which keeps them in contention for a promotion place to the National League Division 4.
The home leg was played at Scarisbrick NSC and resulted in a 9-3 success for Southport. Amongst the winners were Chris Porter (21-11), Fergal Wright (21-16) and Andy Draper (21-9).
The away team travelled to play at Tickhill Bowling Club and they came away with a creditable five winners. This included excellent wins for Kez Adams (21-14) and Darren Edgerley (21-17).
Southport go into their final fixture in 3rd place and a good win against Bury could see them claim a top two spot. Details of the team selection and venue for the match will be included in the August Newsletter.
BCGBA LADIES’ CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS
Congratulations to one of our Kites Parks League players, Chris McManus, who has qualified for the BCGBA Ladies’ Champion of Champions by winning the Lancashire Ladies’ Inter-Town Team League Merit. Good luck to Chrissy in this competition, which will be held at Owley Wood at the end of September.
NEWS UPDATE
CHAIRMAN’S SHIELD
Congratulations to Chrissie and Steve McManus on winning the Chairman’s Shield with a 15-8 win against Andy Draper and Alex Rimmer in the final. This competition was played using a group format, ensuring that everyone got a minimum of two or three games. The group runners-up were Debbie Barnes and Peter Croston and Jim Halsall and Brian Sutton. Well done to Chrissie in particular on winning her first Hesketh Arms’ club competition.
Thank you to our Vice-President, Bill Bloor, who was on hand to present the prizes.
LADIES’ DOUBLES
A full compliment of 32 pairs entered our now annual Hesketh Arms Summer Pairs Competition for the members of clubs who are in the Southport and District Ladies’ Bowling League.
Thank you to team captain Debbie Barnes, who along with Noreen organised the registration, order of play and rallied the Buzzards team into tidying the green, baking cakes & contributing generously to the raffle
We appreciated the support of the men who came, especially Brian Sutton for being Ernie the milkman!!! Also, Sue Davies for the extra support & new member Louise for arranging the sunny day.
Massive thanks to social members Shirley & Joyce who kept the tea flowing in the morning & Olive who once again exceeded our expectations selling raffle tickets
As to the bowling it was once again a challenging green & everyone was kept busy picking the bowls up out of the gully. Disappointingly due to long games we ran out of time to play to the final & it was agreed that all semi-finalists would share the prize money. We will re-think & would welcome suggestions for how we can speed up the games for next year, although it did not spoil anyone’s enjoyment as everyone complimented us on how well organised the event was & how much they enjoyed the day.
A big thank you to all who participated & supported us on the day & once again – thanks to the Buzzard team for show casing the club to a high standard & working hard.
Semi-Finalists
Ann Hall & Tess Newton
Paula Flaherty & Lynn Clinton
Elaine Johnston & Tina Walmsley
Debbie Herold & Carol Wilson
On behalf of the Committee :-
Further to the report above, the Club Committee would like to thank Debbie, the Buzzards players and all the other volunteers who helped make the day of this competition such a great success. The proceeds of the day contributed a superb £250.00 towards club funds. Many thanks to all involved.
SOUTHPORT FEDERATION
This coming Sunday, 14th July, Southport take on Doncaster in their third National League fixture of the season. The home leg is being held at Scarisbrick NSC and Andy Draper, Chris Porter, Mark Wilde and Fergal Wright have all been selected to play. The away team will be travelling to Tickhill Bowling Club and the Hesketh Arms will be represented by Kez Adams, Darren Edgerley and Mike Milne. Both legs will start at 2.00 pm and spectators will be very welcome to come along and support the team in a match crucial to Southport’s chances of gaining promotion to the 4th Division.
CHURCHTOWN CONSERVATIVE CLUB – B.J.P. O’MALLEY PRESIDENT’S TROPHY
We were pleased to host the Churchtown Conservative Club’s annual pairs tournament last weekend. Several of our own members took part in the random-doubles competition. The runners-up were George Hitchmough and John Charman but the winners were Noel Morgans and Mick White.
CLUB COMPETITIONS
The next club competition will be the CORONATION CUP which will be held on Sunday 28th July. This will be a singles handicap and a plate competition will be organised for players losing their first game. To enter, please register at the green by 11.45 am for a prompt 12.00 noon start.
There are still a few club competitions yet to be played and dates for these will be notified as soon as they are available.
CLOSURE OF THE HESKETH ARMS PUB AND CAR PARK
The Pub and car park will be closed from Monday the 8th of July until Monday the 5th of August.
Access to the Hesketh Arms Bowling club will only be available from the services gate on Botanic Road during this closure.
Please be aware that parking may be limited close to the green.
The gate will be locked with a combination lock. (Code Same a Clubhouse Door KEYSAFE)
Please ensure the gate is locked when
leaving the green.
JULY NEWSLETTERPRESIDENT’S CUP
The President’s Cup was held last weekend and was won by Steve McManus in a close final against Peter Croston. There were never more than two or three chalks in the match and although it was Peter who led out at 19 across, Steve was able to claim a double to win the game 21-19. The losing semi-finalists were Laurie Townson and John Unsworth.
The plate was won by Darren Edgerley with a 15-10 win against Mark Rowlinson in the final.
Our President for 2024, John Unsworth, presented the prizes at the end of the afternoon and many thanks to John for providing cakes.
CHAIRMAN’S SHIELDThe next club competition will be the
Chairman’s Shield, which will take place this Sunday, 7th July, starting at 12.00 noon.
To enter, please register at the green by 11.45 am.
This competition is a non-random pairs in which you can choose your own partner. Pairings will be handicapped by their combined individual handicaps being added together and being divided by two.
GREEN BOOKING
Members are reminded that the green will be unavailable on Saturday 6th July, as the green has been booked by Churchtown Conservative Club for their annual B.J.P. O’Malley President’s Trophy. Anyone who is a member of the Conservative Club is encouraged to support this event. Further details can be obtained from the Conservative Club.
CHAMPIONSHIP CUPCongratulations to Andy Draper on retaining the Championship Cup, winning the title against Steve McManus in a high quality final.
Andy and Steve had reached the final by overcoming Bill Bloor and Chris Harding respectively in the semi-finals. Steve started strongly in the final and appeared to be the favourite when leading 12-7 and playing well. At this point, however, Andy won five ends to take the lead at 14-12 and although Steve drew level at 15 across, Andy continued to play some excellent bowls to take the match 21-17.
The next club competition will be this coming Sunday, 30th June, when we will be playing for the President’s Cup. There will be a plate competition for players losing their first game
.PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS COMPETITON WILL START AT THE EARLIER TIME OF 11.00 AM – TO ENTER, PLEASE REGISTER AT THE GREEN BY 10.45 AM