HESKETH ARMS NEWSLETTER – MAY 2018
SPRING PAIRS
The next club competition will take place on Sunday 27th May, when we will be competing for the Spring Pairs Trophy. Please arrive by 11.45am for registration to allow for a prompt start at 12 noon. As usual for our doubles events, pairings will be drawn randomly.
NEW HANDICAPPING SYSTEM
From 2007 to the end of the 2017 season, the Club has run 64 competitions for club members. These competitions have produced 49 different winners – who will become the number 50?
During this time, the handicapping system was based on the team that a member played for in the LV League – the Club only had two LV League teams in 2007. As the Club’s membership has grown in the intervening years and the number of teams has increased to eleven across six local leagues, using this as a basis for the handicaps has become unfit for purpose and has resulted in some members being at a disadvantage. Also, some players were being handicapped for winning an event nearly ten years ago. For these reasons, it was felt that it was time to review the system used.
From the beginning of the 2018 season, the handicaps for the Club’s singles competitions will be :-
Ladies, male social bowlers and novices – +6
Male league bowlers – +4
Anyone winning a singles event will be deducted 2 points from their handicap. There will be no lower limit to the handicap but only the previous three seasons and the current season will be taken into account. Hopefully, over time, this will prove to be a fair system and more accurately reflect an individual’s performances.
For the doubles events, all pairs will play of +4. Hopefully, the random draw element will give everyone a fair chance of being successful during the course of the season.
SOUTHPORT FEDERATION
The Southport Federation team got their season underway on Sunday 22nd April when they took on Menai from North Wales.
The home leg took place at Fleetwood Hesketh, with Southport suffering a narrow aggregate loss with six winners to each side. Of the Hesketh Arms representatives there were good wins for Chris Porter (21-14) and Chris Harding (21-20).
Away from home in Caenarfon, there were some creditable performances from the Hesketh players, with narrow defeats for Alistair Adams (20-21) and Danny Harding (19-21). The man of the match for Southport was our new social member, Jason Wright, with an excellent 21-8 win. Overall, Menai won the match by 23 points to 9.
Southport now look forward to their next fixture on Sunday 20th May, when the opponents will be near neighbours Preston. The home leg will take place at the Sphynx, starting at 2.00pm and Alistair Adams, Kez Adams and Fergal Wright have all been selected to represent the Southport home team. Chris Porter and Mark Wilde have been chosen for the away leg at Fox Lane, Leyland. As ever, supporters will be more than welcome for what should be an interesting match.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Sunday 27th May Spring Pairs (Doubles – pairings to be drawn on the day) 12 noon start
Sunday 10th June Coronation Cup (Singles handicap) 12 noon start
Saturday 30th June Vice-Presidents Pairs (Pairings to be drawn on the day) 12 noon start
GREEN BOOKINGS
Please note that the green will be unavailable to members on the following dates due to green bookings.
Sunday 1st July – all day for a private bowling party
Thursday 9th August – all day up until 5.30pm for a bowling party
We apologise for any inconvenience caused.