The final Zone 5 championships for the time being, the singles, were played last weekend at Austral Bowling Club.

In the Open singles Gerard Beath defeated Keith Sargent (Bargo) in the first round by 31-23 and then had a tough match in very trying conditions in the semi-final against Rodney Crean (Lawson) before winning 31-28.

Gerard tells me that the wind was so strong and unpredictable in this match that he actually twice played his first bowl out-of-bounds - what hope do we mere mortals have?

In the final Gerard met Trent Whittingham (Penrith) who had defeated Lee Stinson (Orange City) 31-19 in his semi-final (both of these bowlers are also currently Zone skips).

In another very tight match with the scores tied at 28 all before Gerard scored a three to take his second Zone 5 title for the year 31-28, having previously won the Zone triples with Graham Amery and Charlie Bryant - congratulations Gerard!

In the Senior singles Barry Jones was defeated by Jim Lord (Penrith) 31-20 in round one and in the President's Reserve singles Mark Hubber went down to Terry Reid (Lawson) 31-19, also in round one.

Club Championships

There were no matches played over the weekend with the next matches listed being the first round of the handicap pairs on Saturday August 2 and the mixed pairs final on Sunday August 3.

Listed Matches

Handicap pairs matches for Saturday August 2 2014, 1.00pm start; Clyde Draper and Ralph Morgan (7) versus Jack Nobes and Luke Nobes (9); Jack Martin and Mike Elfert (15) versus Norm Egan and Shane Egan (8); Mark Hubber and Noel Hubber (8) versus Trevor Pullen and Col Neilsen (12); Nick Wass and Ray McLeish (19) versus Jason Temple and Terry Peterswald (9); Bruce Holland and Allen Castelli (12) versus Alan Baker and John Penyu (7); Terry McGrath and Nev Connor (6) versus John Burns and Charlie Browne (7); Tom Downing and Brian McDonald (14); versus Joe Burgin and Tom McSorley (12); Bruce Oliver and Steve Treasure (11) versus Phil Boyd and Ian Nelson (17); Kevin Webb and Dennis Sargent (15) versus 'Tiger' Brown and Brian Duff (16).

The mixed pairs final between Kristie Denison and Gerard Beath against Jill Turnbull and Ralph Morgan has been tentatively listed for Sunday 3 August at 1.00pm.

4 Rivers and 4 Creeks

This coming weekend the annual 4 Rivers and 4 Creeks sides championship will be held in Zone 8, with Temora Bowling Club the host venue.

With the withdrawal of Zone 7, the four sides taking part this year will be the ACT, Zone 5 and two sides from Zone 8.

Zone 4 will return to the competition next year.

Local players selected in the Zone 5 side are Gerard Beath, Graham Amery and Steve Galvin in the open teams and Blake Bradtke in the Under 21 team.

Membership

Members are reminded that membership fees are now overdue.

Any member who has not paid their renewal fees by July 28 2014 will have to rejoin the club.

Vouchers

Recent voucher winners were Ian Nelson, Phantom and Michael Nobes on 19/7 and Fred Turmeau, Jane Kiernicki and Alan Vorias.