August Happenings...

August has been a big month so far, and still has plenty of bowls action to come in the remaining weekends of the month.

We'll start with the Under 18's, where four of the Mid North Coasts finest young guns have travelled to Forster to represent Zone Fourteen in the annual Seven a Side event.
Corey Wedlock, Ben Watson, Josh Forbes and Josh Hicks performed admirably, finishing fifth out of the sixteen zones. The event is unique in that Singles, Triples and Pairs are all competed in during each match. Zone champion Josh Forbes was the best performed over the five matches played with pairs team mate Jai Whelan, the duo claiming four wins and a draw.

The best in the open's also represented the Zone in past weeks, competing at Port City in the annual Pat Geary Shield against zones 6, 2 and 15.
The weekend proved tough going for the local zone, losing overall in each match, and only claiming six rink wins out of a possible eighteen.
There were some good signs to come out of the weekend, with many rookies stepping up in their first outings as zone players. West Coffs Corey Wedlock (still a junior), and Martin Wilson, along with Park Beach's Steve Plumb all made the cut to earn the right to compete at the State Inter Zone championships at Nelsons Bay in September, in their first year in the side. Only two other MNC players managed to make the sixteen man side, rep veterans from Park Beach Ric Southam and Cory Daley will provide plenty of experience for the newer capped players to learn from.
Sawtell's Paul Bartholomew was selected as a reserve and was considered unlucky by many not to be in the starting side.
And for the record, Newcastle (Zone 2) won the shield, adding to their impressive record in the event.

Last weekend saw John Bain continue to add to his growing list of titles when he finished the only unbeaten player in the MNC Champion of Club Champion singles event hosted by Park Beach.
With players having to win their club singles this year just to be eligible, the field was always going to be strong. Bain reached the final at his home club by defeating Martin Wilson 31-17 in the penultimate match. The other semi final went down to the wire, with Nambucca Heads champion Tony Urquhart outlasting Macksville's Paul Ward 31-26.
Bain proved to be the more determined in the final claiming the win over Urquhart 31-12 in a match where the scores' didn't reflect the closeness of the battle.
Bain was also the winner of this event in 2009 and will compete in the zone final later in the year.

Finally, Sawtell hosted the annual Mike Blewitt Major/Minor Pairs carnival which was filled to capacity. The event ran perfectly with plenty of visitors, in particular a number of Armidale teams competing in the popular tournament. Game six on Sunday afternoon had to be scrapped due to mother nature flexing her muscles and bringing showers and lightning down upon the area, leaving the winners to be determined on the results of the first five matches. Park Beach's Rod Farmer and Steve Kennedy claimed the winners purse including free hire of a luxury car from Mike Blewitt prestige motors for a weekend of their choosing. The event will be sure to fill to capacity early again next year.

This weekend will see the annual Park Beach open pairs carnival, (call the club for details) and the MNC Champion of Club Champion Pairs event being contested at West Coffs....

Til Next Time.....

Chippy