Hesketh Arms Bowling Club

Chairman’s Report August

As the bowling season enters August and the nights draw in there is still a lot of bowls to be played. For all our teams it is getting towards the business end of the season with so much that still can be won and lost in the coming weeks. I have always enjoyed bowling in August and September and I am looking forward to the last two months of the season.

There has been a lot going on in July and early August with the highlight being the Club’s President’s Day, hosted by Bill Nowell. Congratulations to Mike Dunlop on winning the main competition, defeating Joe Parker in the final. I would like to pass on my thanks to Irene Nowell, Pat Jones and Betty Plant for their hard work in organising refreshments, a raffle and a whisky roll. On the day, £136.00 was raised towards Club funds. The most recent event was The Chairman’s Shield pairs competition and this was won by Dave Bedford and Mike Milne.

We have asked for all members that are interested in playing for a second men’s team in the Parks League and a new afternoon Ladies team to come forward.  Some of you have but those of you that are considering joining one these teams now is the time to make yourselves known.

The Round Robin on Tuesday mornings run by Jim and his helpers has become a real feature of the club. It is pleasing to hear that this has given some people their introduction to bowls and it has gone on to generate a number of new members. I would like to pass on my gratitude to Jim and everyone else that supports this event.

Please keep your eyes open for a number of forthcoming events. These can be found on the website, Facebook and emails sent by our Secretary. If you prefer please see me or phone me on 07761733024.

Thanks

Chris Harding

In the top half of the draw Eagles players Dave Bedford and Mike Milne were paired and made comfortable progress to the final with wins against Janice Hobson and Brian Jones (21-12), Jim Halsall and Pat Jones (21-11) and Judith Farrell and Fergal Wright (21-14). Their opponents in the final were Kevin Leddy and Alex Rimmer, both of whom have enjoyed success in this season’s earlier doubles events. Kevin won the Vice-Presidents Trophy with Don Parish and Alex reached the final of both the Spring Pairs and Vice-Presidents Trophy with Jim Finnimore, only to miss out in the finals on each occasion.
Kevin and Alex reached the final with good wins against Colin Mckenzie and John Stennett (21-9) and Bill Nowell and Harvey Wright (21-17) but unfortunately ran out of steam against Dave and Mike who ran out comfortable winners in a one-sided final. This was the second time Mike has won the Chairman’s Shield, having previously won it with Eileen Curtis in 2010. Congratulations to Dave Bedford on winning his first Hesketh Arms title.
Many thanks to all those members who supported this competition and to Club President, Bill Nowell, who made the presentations at the end of another successful afternoon.

Congratulations go to the winners Mike Milne and John Tomlin who won 15-8 in the final against Chris Harding and Steve Pursall.

On Sunday, a record entry of 38 took part in the President’s Cup, including several guests of our President, Bill Nowell.
The top half of the draw saw Joe Parker make progress to the final with wins against new member Wendy McLoughlin (21-10), Jim Finnimore (21-16), Dave Bedford (21-16), Tony Wakefield (21-14) and Mark Eustace (21-4).
Joe’s opponent in the final was Mike Dunlop who reached this stage with wins against Colin McKenzie (21-9), Phil Kitchen (21-13), Bob Mitchell (21-17) and Kevin Leddy (21-17).
This was Mike’s first Hesketh singles final since winning the Coronation Cup in 2011, while Joe has yet to win a singles title, having being runner-up in the 2012 Championship Cup. Joe had played particularly well to reach the final, beating some strong opponents on the way and looked a likely winner as he led 13-9 in the final. Mike is an experienced campaigner, however and found his best form to win 9 consecutive ends to win the final 21-13. Congratulations to Mike on winning the 2014 President’s Cup.
A consolation competition was held for those who lost their first game and this was won by Jim Halsall who defeated Richard Rawcliffe 15-9 in the final.
Thanks go once again to Irene Nowell, Pat Jones and Betty Plant who provided refreshments and organised a raffle and whisky roll. In total £136.00 was raised towards club funds. Congratulations to Bill Nowell on another successful President’s Day.

20 competitors turned out for our Round Robin on a gloriously sunny Saturday 5th of July
The competition was organised by Jim Finnimore in place of Mike Milne who away having a day out at the races.
Their was some good friendly competition and many cups of tea during rest periods.
The day was eventually won by Mike Dunlop with + 15 with joint Second place going to Eileen Rawcliffe and Alan Bond with + 13

The next competition is the Presidents Cup on the 20th of July.
This is Bill Nowells final year as President and we would hope you all support him at this event.

GREEN BOOKINGS

Please note that the green will be unavailable for use by members on the following dates as it has been booked by private parties :-

Saturday 2nd August & Sunday 17th August

The Committee apologises for any inconvenience that this may cause.

VICE-PRESIDENTS TROPHY 2014
The Club’s second pairs competition of the season, The Vice-Presidents Trophy, took place on Saturday 28th June and fortunately the rain stayed away on an overcast afternoon.
As usual, the pairings were drawn randomly and by a remarkable coincidence, Jim Finnimore and Alex Rimmer were drawn to partner each other for a second successive pairs event, having been finalists in the Spring Pairs held earlier in the season. Jim and Alex were clearly intent on going one better this time and progressed to the final in the top half the draw with wins against Kyle Dawes and Pat Jones (21-12), Mike Milne and Harvey Wright (21-13) and Jim Halsall and Geoff Rimmer (21-16).
Their opponents in the final were Kevin Leddy and Don Parish who had survived a scare in their first game, narrowly overcoming Irene Nowell and Fergal Wright 21-19. This was followed by another impressive win against Luke Dawes and Mike Dunlop, the final score being 21-14.
The final was expected to be close but Jim and Alex had had to play an extra game and this proved to be a disadvantage as Kevin and Don cruised to a 21-4 victory with Kevin leading the way with some excellent bowls, ably supported by Don.


A Plate competition was run for those pairs losing their 1st game and this was won by Irene Nowell and Fergal Wright with a 15-11 success in the final against Brian Jones and Margaret Langley.

June Message from the Chairman

I have been delighted to hear all the positive feedback from our members and visitors about the excellent condition of our green and the tidiness of the surrounds. It is the committee’s priority to maintain these standards and with the continued support of everyone involved in the green maintenance I am confident we will do this.
At the AGM it was announced that the club were looking into the possibility of providing floodlights. I am under no illusion that this will be a testing project with many logistical and cost issues. We have received quotations and that has given us a clear indication of what we can achieve. Mike Burrill is in the process of putting together a planning permission application which he couldn’t start until we had the quotes from the floodlight companies. I will keep you all updated on the progress.
The competitions and round robins are receiving impressive turnouts. Congratulations to Eileen Rawcliffe and Joe Parker for winning the Spring Pairs.
Talking of competitions the club are holding a photography contest. We would love to see your photos of anything that is connected to the bowling club. The best 3 will receive a prize at the awards night and some of entries will be shown on the website and Facebook. It is very simple to enter just email your pictures to secretary@hesketharmsbowlingclub.co.uk
In last month’s message I asked any ladies that wanted to form an afternoon team to come forward. Some did, so there will be a list going up on the notice board.
There are plenty of activities coming up so please visit our website, find and like us on Facebook, email the Secretary ‘secretary@hesketharmsbowlingclub.co.uk’ or phone me on 07761733024.
Keep up the good work.

Chris Harding