Our weekly Club draw games provide an important benefit to the club. They allow newer bowlers to bowl with more experienced bowlers and pick up tips from them.  Also it is a social venue for members to meet other members in a low key type of game and encourage the new bowlers to get to the point of feeling comfortable entering tournaments.  

In an effort to increase draw game participation, the board has voted to implement a few changes on a trial basis: 

1.  All draw games (Wednesday, Friday. and Sunday) will start at 12:30 pm. Having the same start time will, of course, be easier to remember.  We also hope to recruit a few more bowlers to help with summer afternoon spot watering of the green.  

2. The draw game will be conducted as follows:

Name tags are placed on the table by players wanting to participate in the draw game with a 10-minute deadline prior to start time of the game. Two game participants volunteer to organize the draw.  If any player has a preference regarding position, they notify the volunteer game organizers before the draw.

The two volunteers determine the mix of Pairs, Triples, Roving Lead and Cutthroat games based on the number of players available. If the number of players indicates a Cutthroat game, players are asked to volunteer for it. These players are not included in the draw.

The volunteers assign the roles of skip, vice and lead and place the draw tokens upside down in the wooden box based on the type and number of games being played. Players will then randomly draw a token from the appropriate section of the wooden box which will determine their rink, type of game and team.

3.  The draw games will have priority for center rink usage.  On the occasion club members may wish to play a separate game during normal draw game times, such as practice for tournaments, or individual practice. These games must be announced to prevent confusion with the draw game.  

These changes go into effect for the Friday, May 2 game next week. For those of you who drive, you will avoid the monthly parking ban on Acton Street, which is in effect on some Fridays until noon.

After a few months, we will assess how it is all going and whether to make the changes permanent. We welcome your feedback. 

With an enthusiastic audience of family, recuperating members, and our first-rate hospitality team – augmented by a few curious neighbors and dogs – cheering them on, twenty bowlers took to the Green on Saturday for our club’s first tournament in way too long.

Ten pairs, made up of randomly-matched Skips and Leads with team handicaps ranging from zero to seven, faced off in three, ten-end games with an uncapped differential to determine two finalists. Despite having no handicap points, Hugo Deaux and Luis Zapata steamrolled their way through the preliminaries, emerging as the day’s only undefeated pair.

Three teams, however, finished with 2 and 1 records, but only one could advance. Needing not to lose their last match to Rob Hoey and Leslie Engler by more than two points, Jim Corr and Bernie Chan found themselves down three as the last end was drawing to a close. Unsurprisingly, Jim was able to nudge the jack just close enough to one of Bernie’s well-placed bowls to cut the deficit to two, thus ensuring their place in the finals.

After a slow start against Hugo and Luis, the Corr/Chan duo quickly found a higher gear and cruised to victory, ending the scheduled twelve-end match after only eleven ends. Jim has been on a roll this month, and Bernie showed us all the upside of persistence and lots of practice. Congratulations to you both for a well-deserved win.