Rochester and district sports notes

There was an air of competitiveness, combined with lots of banter, in quite warm conditions.

The winners for the day were Elaine Hall’s team consisting of Alan Williams, Leanne Pickens and Kim Wright – congratulations on their win and a draw.

Unfortunately, the jackpot did not go off and will roll over to next Friday, October 2.

Those wishing to play are requested to ring the office between 8.45 and 9.15am.

Ladies match committee

The committee invites all lady bowlers to enter the ladies championship event.

The first round will be played on Saturday, October 10.

If you can’t get into the club house to enter, contact a match committee member – Kathy Williams, Joan Limbrick, Bev Hetherington, Glenda Bancell or Roz Keech.

Men’s events

Entry forms for the championship, B-grade and C-grade are all available in the foyer. Entries close in a couple of weeks.

Pennant training

All bowlers playing pennant this season are invited to attend pennant training every Thursday at 10am.

Coaching

Thursday at 10am. Contact Marg Knight if interested on 0407 093 848.

Weekend pennant practice

There will be an opportunity for bowlers to practice in their teams on Thursday, October 1, commencing between 4 and 4.30pm.

Selectors will select teams on Monday evening.

These will be made available by email on the Tuesday.

60 and over - Dave Murray’s report

We played at Mathoura on Wednesday, September 23 on good greens in the best weather conditions we’ve had so far.

All the greens were full, but one Echuca team didn’t turn up, meaning three teams ended up with byes.

There were three teams that won all their games.

Ivan Hicks' Echuca team came third with three in the yardstick while M. Tenace's Ky team also had three in the yardstick, but had the closest bowl and therefore came second.

The winners, with five, were Barry Tinning's Tongala team.

Next week we are at Moama for an 11am start.

Umpires

If you are at all keen to undertake your umpire’s accreditation, please contact Leigh Milgate.

The club will take the responsibility of payment for the course.

Bar duty

Monday – Thursday: 5 – 6.30pm

28 – 1 Oct - R. Dennis and Octavia.

5 – 8 - M. Ellis and K. McCormack.

12 – 15 - F. Keech and R. Feuk.

Lockington Bowls Club

Club members are preparing for another assault on the forthcoming Campaspe area weekend and midweek pennant competitions.

There has been plenty of practice and talent on display through club games and local club tournaments. Great to see the enthusiasm shown.

Last Tuesday the social bowls attracted a quality field.

The winning team comprised Mary Thomas, Annette Brereton, Pauline Humbert, and Terrill Westwood (s) in a boil-over 10-6 victory over Donna Hart, Lorraine Appleby, Margaret Dowie, and skipper Denise Gilmore.

On the grand final holiday Friday, members joined in a full scale club practice match which revealed several passages of brilliant bowling from many.

The results over the course of the day favoured the Steve Peter skipped rink, showing off Mary Thomas, Lorraine Appleby, and Graeme Wood, running out a comfortable 23-14 win against Margaret Dowie, Allen Sharpe, Sharon Smith, and Phillip Cunngton (s).

The other match-up provided some excellent bowling by each individual, which created a close and exciting game of bowls.

The winning rink included Ashley Dobell, Jim Harris, Shane Felmingham, and skipper Dave Thomas with a scoreline of 20-18, narrowly defeating the promising talent of Rod Fiedler, Kim Ray, John van den Bosch, and Leanne McInnes (s).

The game was highlighted by some extraordinary battles between each opposition member.

Thomas and McInnes were instrumental in producing magnificent draw bowling, while the two opposing leads Dobell and Fiedler provided an equal display for their respective teams.

Next week is the beginning of the Campaspe pennant, with division three travelling to play Deniliquin away.

Best of bowling to all kindred clubs and trust that all enjoy some success and friendship throughout the season.

On Friday evening, the club will hold the opening day with pennant practice followed by a 6.30pm meal.

Members are to bring a shared casserole, with the club champions rolling the first kitty and delivering the first bowl.

The popular Tattslotto first supplementary number competition will hopefully begin this coming Saturday evening. See Cindy Felmingham for details.

The club members are mourning the sad passing of Harry Janson last week.

Harry was a willing helper at the club and controlled the club bar on major tournament days.

Sincere condolences to the immediate Janson families.

60 and Over

The Campaspe and District 60 and over bowls Group held their weekly bowls at Mathoura on a mild Spring day.

There were 28 teams of four, that’s 112 bowlers competing for a chook.

There were three three-game winners.

Ivan Hicks team from Echuca just missed out with three bowls near the Jack.

The runners-up were Garry Salomons team from Kyabram with three bowls in the head and the closest bowl near the jack.

The Kyabram team consisted of Garry Salomon lead, Murray Bosulood second, Colin Hayes third and Murray Tenace was their Skipper.

Noel West’s team from Tongala were the winners with five bowls near the jack.

The team consisted of Geoff Tinning lead, Noel West second, Lindsay Vallance from Mathoura a fill in third and Barry Tinning was their Skipper.

Both teams players won a chook each.

Next Wednesday is at Moama starting at 11am.

The contacts for next week are Brian Kirk on 5482 2526 or John Ryan on 0488 005 333

Good bowling to all.

Rochester Golf Club

On a nice sunny day, 117 played at our best MND Charity Ambrose Golf field since its inception in 2015, and some great scores were recorded last Friday.

Long-time visitor and supporter of our club, Mat Jean, rode his posse into town, consisting of Darryl and Will Harrison and Lockington's Kevin Humbert.

They shot an incredible 11 under 60 off the stick to easily win the main event; Humbert accepted the prize on behalf of his team and was last seen heading west into the setting sun.

Handicap winners were the popular team of David Harris, Tony Griffiths, Grant Robinson and James Anderson, having their best individual day of seven under 64, net 52.5.

The Broucek family of Frank, Shane, Will and Noah were runners-up with 66 (53.5).

Next best were the teams of Paul and Harry Condliffe (Mitiamo), Ian Maddison and David Vanstone with 61 (54.75), Rochester's Louise and Wayne Williams and Kyabram's Karen and Dick Ballantyne 65 (54.88), Leisa and Paul Evans, and Barbara and Brendan McCarty 65 (56.5).

Other good scores were recorded by Bruce Bryant and David Gebbie, Ray Brereton and Leon Laffy (56.5) and Brent Sweeney, Troy and Jaimie McInnes and Neil Coghill (56.88).

Nearest the pin winners on the day were Louise Williams on 5 and 8 (women’s), and the men’s were Gary Morris (8) and Lockington's Ian Maddison (16).

Elmore's Tanya Niven won the ladies' straightest drive on the 10th, and visitor Bruce Richards was the men's winner.

The 15th long drive went to ladies captain Barbara McCarty and Harry Condliffe hit a monster to easily win the men's section.

Thanks go to our many visitors, including Australian Paralympic swimmer and medallist, Col Pearse, and a special mention to the major sponsors, Rochester Sportspower and Nutrien Ag Solutions, and to all our workers who contributed to make this such a successful fundraiser towards a worthwhile cause.

Wednesday 9-hole social golf was played on the back nine.

Once again there were many wonderful scores.

Les Hedington finally hit form and won with 27 points; runner-up was an unlucky Tim Quinlan with 25 points.

Other good scores were recorded by Kevin McCormick (23), and Bruce Bryant and Allan Campbell (22), with Campbell closest to the 12th hole.

On Saturday, a small group of surviving golfers played Stableford before the AFL grand final.

Once again, Shane Bywaters and Andrew Cassin fought it out; however, Bywaters got the job done with 37 Stableford points over Cassin's 36 points.

Nearest the pins: David Fuller on 3, 8 and second shot to the 18th, David Gebbie on 5 and Troy McInnes on 16.

Next Saturday is the start of the Stableford Challenge.

It is the best three rounds out of five, and Friday night golf is scheduled to start on October 23.

Lockington Golf Club

September 24

For their last hit for the season, the ladies played a Stableford event for the Mary Robins Trophy, and Jenny Holt was in sparkling form to score 35 points and win the trophy and the Lockington Foodworks Player of the Day voucher.

Angela Bacon was the runner-up with 29 and also won the Secret 9 competition with 15 ahead of Pauline Humbert, who finished with 14.

September 26

The men’s last hit for the season was a three-man Ambrose event.

Winners of the Lockington Foodworks Players of the Day vouchers were Terry Thomas, Trav Mancer, Steve Holt and Gary Milligan, who finished with 62-5.13-56.88.

Runners-up were Ash Portwine, Stuart Newton and Ian Maddison with a super 64-4.83-59.17.

Nearest the pins: 16th – Phil Stanford; second shot 5th – Gary Milligan (0-12 hcp), Ian Maddison (13-19 hcp), Graeme Carnie (20-47 hcp); 3rd – Ash Portwine, Trav Mancer; 7th – Steve Holt, Neil Maddison, Graeme Carnie; second shot 18th for the six-pack smack – Neil Maddison.

Spike’s Longest Drive on the 14th, sponsored by Hot ‘n’ Cold Plumbing – Grant Humbert, Trav Mancer, Jeff Carnie.

The Echuca Hip Pocket Eagles Nest on the 3rd wasn’t won, but Captain Grant’s yardstick on the 16th was won for the first time all season, with Phil Stanford unleashing a super shot to win the money.

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