30 teams (120 bowlers) took part. They came from Inverell, Aberdeen, Greta (near Cessnock), Macksville, South Tamworth, Manilla, Quirindi, Glen Innes, Bingara, Armidale Ex-Servies, Kootingal, Armidale City, Blacktown, Kempsey Heights, Crescent Heads, Scotts Head, Gunnedah and Guyra.

Bowlers took to the greens at 9.00am Saturday with three games to be played.

At stumps on Saturday there were three teams with three wins and 12 teams with two wins.

Sunday morning, with two games to be played, it was crunch time. So, after the dust had settled and scores were tallied, the following occurred:

In 1st place – Peter Taylor (Kempsey Heights), Joel Bourke (Crescent Heads), Barry Smith (Kempsey Heights) and Dale Scrivner (Scotts Head) with five wins +46.

In 2nd place – Craig O’Toole, Brian Cullen, Terry Johnson and Keven Berry (Kootingal) with four wins +56.

In 3rd place – Phil Kliendienst, Andrew Sparke, John Hamel and Wayne Reeves (Guyra) four wins +48.

In 4th place – John McIllwain, Mick Shiner, Murray Bourke and Cameron Peardon (Guyra) 4 wins +36.

In 5th place – Dillan Wells, Graham Wells, Ryan Wells and Matthew Martin (Manilla) 4 wins +11.

So, congratulations to all the place-getters.

Here’s an interesting bit: the eldest player was Brian Murphy (Armidale City) at 93 years of age and the youngest was Tim Thorning (Gunnedah) at 6 years of age.

A big thank you to our sponsors: Anderson’s Carpets, Crowe Howath Audit, Kleenheat Gas, Costa Tomato Exchange, Bridgewater Angus, Toots Potatoes, Sapphire City Security, Donna’s Bistro, Jacobs Creek, Bid Vest, Guyra Motor Inn, Guyra Hotel, Berry Sports, Cameron Peardon, Garry Curry.

Thanks to Helen and Joanne Presnell and John Bourke for doing the barbecues. To the Bar staff for keeping the refreshments flowing. To Murray and David for keeping the scoreboard up to date.

Last but not least, to the organisers of this event. You are all winners! If I have overlooked anyone feel free to let me know.

No club matches have been boarded due to the long weekend, but if anyone wishes to organise a game, please do so.

Stuart Little