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OPEN SINGLES 2016

Sunday saw the Club host it’s first Open Singles competition and congratulations go to one of our own members, John Hughes, on being the winner of the inaugural event.

It was pleasing to be able to fill the 32 available places in the competition, which attracted entries from Liverpool, Hoylake, Broughton, Leyland, Kirkham and St.Annes, as well as good representation from local clubs.

John Hughes had started his progress to the final with a potentially difficult tie against Darren Evans from the Brooke Hotel but John won this game surprisingly comfortably, the score being 21-9. This was followed by John’s toughest game of the day against Jimmy Alty from Fleetwood Hesketh which he eventually won 21-19, having trailed 11-7 and 16-12. Having survived this close call, John was able to reach the final with wins against David Bradshaw from Croston Subs 21-13 and John Greenwood of Holmeswood 21-10 in the semi-final. John Greenwood had taken some notable scalps on his way to the last four, overcoming Roy Webster (21-19), Simon Thistlethwaite (21-18) and Steve Wilson (21-13).

In the other half of the draw, Andy Fleming from Kirkham Cons had started with a narrow 21-17 win against local player Bill Hefferan and followed this by defeating Thomas Lowndes from the Broughton and Bretton B.C. In the last eight, Andy faced tough opposition in Andy Draper from nearby Banks St.Stephen’s but was able to run out from 15-14 down to reach the semi-final. Andy’s semi-final opponent was another local player, Bill Roddan, from the Zetland Hotel.
It was Bill who was ahead all the way, leading 14-10 and 18-14 but Andy stayed in touch to eventually win 21-20.

In the final, John Hughes from the host club started strongly, winning 7 out of the first 9 ends to establish a 9-2 lead and although Andy fought back to narrow the gap to 9-14, john was able to use his knowledge of the green to maintain his advantage and eventually take the title, the winning score being 21-10.

At the end of the competition, the prizes were presented by Club Chairman Chris Harding, who thanked the Committee and members of the Club for supporting the first Hesketh Arms Open Singles. He particularly thanked all those who had helped out on the day with measuring and selling a football card to raise funds for the club. These included Jim Finnimore, George Hitchmough, Bill Nowell and Jon Roberts. He also thanked those who had helped with the refreshments, in particular Pat Southworth for providing homemade cakes.

The Hesketh Arms Bowling Club would like to thank all the bowlers who supported this event, especially those who had travelled some distance to take part. We hope they enjoyed their day in Churchtown and look forward to welcoming them back for future events.

CLUB NEWS 

JUNE ROUND ROBIN

The Club’s June Round Robin was held on Saturday and was won by Steve Lomas with an aggregate of +15. Mike Dunlop was in second place, just three points behind on +12 and third prize went to Ken Rimmer with a score of +2.

THE VICE-PRESIDENT’S PAIRS TROPHY

Members are reminded that the next event in the Club’s busy season will take place this Saturday and will be a random pairs competition for the Vice-President’s Pairs Trophy. Please report to the green by 11.45am for a 12 noon start.

CORONATION CUP 2016
Despite the unseasonal showers, a good turnout of 26 club members participated in the Coronation Cup on Sunday.
The top half of the draw saw Rita Stanley in fine form. Having overcome Alex Rimmer 21-11 in the 1st Round, Rita produced three excellent performances to reach the final by defeating strong players in Tony Wakefield (21-9), Richard Rawcliffe (21-16) and Jim Halsall (21-12).
Rita’s final opponent was to be Brian Sutton. Having beaten Steve Lomas (21-18) and Jim Finnimore (21-19) to reach the semi-final, Brian faced tough opposition in Sue Davies, who had progressed with good wins against Bill Nowell (21-15) and Wayne Graham (21-17). This semi-final proved to one of the games of the day and when Sue led 17-11 after 14 ends it looked likely that we would see two ladies contesting the final of a Hesketh singles competition for the first time. Brian had other ideas, however and produced fives 2s in six ends to book his place in the final with a 21-18 success.
Brian had to concede a handicap of 2 against Rita but was able to wipe this deficit out with singles at the first two ends. Although Rita won the third end, Brian proceeded to count at five out of the next six ends to take the lead at 12-8. Although Rita won the next two ends to close the gap to 11-12, Brian retained the form he had shown all day to win the next 7 ends. This was enough to secure the 2016 Coronation Cup, the final score being 21-11. This was third time lucky for Brian as he had previously lost in the Championship Cup finals of 2013 and 2015. Congratulations to both finalists for good performances throughout the day.

A plate competition was held for 1st Round losers and this was won by Ken Rimmer with a 15-8 win against Norman Simpson in the final.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

CORONATION CUP
Members are reminded that the next club competition will take place this coming Sunday, 12th June, when we will compete for the Coronation Cup. This will be a singles handicap and participants are asked to report to the green by 11.45am for a 12 noon start. A plate competition will be organised for those players losing their first game.

GREEN BOOKINGS
Please note that the green will be unavailable to members on the following dates :- SUNDAY 19^TH JUNE – OPEN SINGLES – 10.00am start (spectators welcome)

SUNDAY 3^RD JULY – CON CLUB PRESIDENT’S TROPHY (spectators welcome)

SATURDAY 30^TH JULY – LANCASHIRE INTER-TOWN LADIES MATCH – 10.00am – 1.00pm (spectators welcome)

SUNDAY 31^ST JULY – ALL DAY PRIVATE BOOKING

THURSDAY 1^ST SEPTEMBER – EVENING PRIVATE BOOKING

SATURDAY 3^RD SEPTEMBER – BERNARD O’MALLEY VICE-PRESIDENTS TROPHY – JUNIOR OPEN SINGLES 10.00am start (spectators welcome)

SPRING PAIRS 2016
The Club’s first pairs competition of the season took place on Saturday when 28 members competed for the Spring Pairs Trophy.
The random draw produced some interesting pairings, which included Peter Smith playing alongside the experienced Ken Rimmer, a recent recruit to the club. Peter and Ken survived a scare in their first game when they scraped home 21-20 against Bill Nowell and Laurie Townson. Their next game proved to be another tough battle against Wayne Graham and Noel Morgans but it was Peter and Ken who won through to the semi-finals with a 21-17 win. Their semi-final opponents were Jim Halsall and Margaret Langley, both previous winners of Hesketh Arms pairs titles. Jim and Margaret had accounted for the strong pairing of Fergal Wright and Connie Southern in the previous round but Peter and Ken continued their consistent form to progress to the final with another 21-17 success.
In the bottom half of the draw, Chris Harding and Janice Hobson also had to negotiate three tough games in progressing to the final, defeating Dave Bedford and Irene Nowell (21-16), Barry McArthur and Norman Simpson (21-17) and in the semi-final, George Hitchmough and Lynne Smith (21-18).
In the final, Peter and Ken got off to a flying start, winning the first four ends. This included two 3’s at the second and third ends which allowed them to open up a 13-3 lead and this would prove hard for Chris and Janice to overcome. Despite a late rally, which saw Chris and Janice score four 2’s, the first four ends proved to be the decisive phase of the game and Peter and Ken were able to secure the Spring Pairs title, the final score being 21-13. Congratulations to Peter Smith and Ken Rimmer on winning their first Hesketh Arms club competition.

A consolation competition was held for 1st round losers and this was won by Dave Bedford and Irene Nowell who defeated Steve Lomas and Kevin McCormack 15-13 in a close final.

 

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

SPRING PAIRS – SATURDAY 21st MAY

Members are reminded that the Club’s next internal competition will take place this Saturday, 21st May, starting at 12 noon. For the Spring Pairs, partners will be drawn randomly and players are asked to register by 11.45am to enable the draw to be made prior to the 12 noon start time.

SOUTHPORT V. DUDLEY – SUNDAY 22nd MAY

On Sunday, the Club has the privilege of hosting Southport’s second game in the National Crown Green Bowling Federation. This is a prestigious event and it would be appreciated if as many members as possible were able to support the team and be available to help out with marking, measuring, selling raffle tickets or providing hospitality.

The game will start at 2.00pm and the Southport team will be aiming to continue their good start to the campaign following an excellent 15-9 win against Airedale ‘B’ in the first round of fixtures.

ROSE BOWL 2016
Sunday saw 23 members compete for the Rose Bowl, the Club’s first competition of the season.
In the top half of the draw, Eagles’ player John Unsworth progressed to the final with wins against Steve Lomas (21-14), Margaret Langley (21-19), Janice Hobson (21-14) and Ray Sutton (21-18). This was a particularly impressive run as John was a conceding a minimum of four chalks on the handicap in each game.
The bottom half of the draw saw Kestrels’ captain Richard Rawcliffe enjoy comfortable wins against Noel Morgans (21-12) and Roger Van Beever (21-7) to reach the semi-finals. Richard faced formidable opposition in the last four in the form of Mike Dunlop and this turned out to be one of the best games of the day. Despite Mike being ahead in the early stages, Richard fought back well to take the game 21-20, reaching the final of the competition he won in 2012.
In the final John was conceding a handicap of +2 to Richard, who won the first end to lead 3-0. However, John won the next five ends, including three 2s to establish an 8-3 lead. Despite Richard counting at the seventh end, John hit back with two more 2s to establish a comfortable lead which he was able to maintain, eventually running out a 21-8 winner.
Congratulations to John on winning his first Hesketh Arms title and to Richard on a good run to the final.


A Consolation competition was won by Jim Finnimore

Please note the Green has been booked for a private function from 12.00 until 5.00pm on Thursday the 14th of July