Search Results

Balnarring is the third club we've visited on the Mornington Peninsula. We rang on Tuesday to find out there's a game on Wednesday afternoon. We rang to leave a message. John rang back on Wednesday to give us the juice. We arrived early and met him in the club. The Ibis greeted us out front. It's a tiny Clubhouse. The bar is named for Harry Dutton. With a nice verandah out front. And the 'Barefoot Bar'! Bryan and Moira had a sandwich before the game started. There are two greens. One flat carpet synthetic up top, The Jim Rentoul Green, And a grass green down below where, John tells us, the Peninsula Division One final will be played. There's one nice little shelter. All the seats have memorials. They have sticks we draw for the game. Jean got rinks 3 red Lead and Mal got rink 4 black third. It was Fours. Steve, Jean, Norm and Bob Played Bryan, Bernie, Robbie and Hans. Mal, Moira, Jennyand Ron. We're against ninety-nine year old Milton, John and Garry. Many of the players were in their 80s.  We love a game where less mobile people can play. Jean asked Mal to call out when he does a good bowl. He forgot. Lucky Jean spied it! Jean said " I should've taken photos of my good bowls in our rollup! " She got a few shots but each time her teammates Bob and Steve would do one better. She didn't mind at all. Jean's team won, Mal lost - despite his good bowls. 2nd game we swapped opponents. Mal did two top shots. Skip said Jean had shot so she raced down to get a photo. Alas, when they measured it was second shot. Mal won and Jean lost her second game. We came inside for drinks and raffles. Mal and Jean didn't have a coin to pay for Jean's wrong bias. Garry donated. Mal came second and got $5. Loved the oldies at Balnarring.

We're visiting all the clubs on The Mornington Peninsula. At the moment we're on the Westernport so we came to Hastings on a Tuesday Pennants day. A bowler greeted us at the door. It's a nice little clubhouse. With a verandah where the spectators sit. Jean was over the moon to see Paul Mercurio (son of Gus) - ballet dancer and film star - is the local Labor Member. Jean met Bruce in the clubhouse. He showed us around the club. Mal started a conversation with Ron, President Dave and Life Member Gerry. They were watching the Mid-week Pennants Preliminary Final against Karingal. It's a Tiger Turf green. The Charles and Don Hodgkin's green. The plaque on the wall tells their story. Next door the second green is being pulled up to replace the carpet. If not for the construction one could get a view of the ocean from the green. In the end Hastings lost by one point 59 to 60. Peter and Mal struck up a friendship. Peter gave Mal a bowls shirt he says is going to be a collector's item. We came back Wednesday to pick it up. Hastings - well played!

Our first stop on The Mornington Peninsula is Flinders Golf Bowls Club. It looks nice and cosy. With a verandah out front. And a cute little outdoor area. It's a grass green. The Richmond-Alexander Green. The succulent garden is nice. Jean stepped onto the grass. We struggled a bit with weight. Jean managed one shot. Mal let a bowl go. Again, not much chop. Mal got one too. He did manage a Resting Toucher. Jean finally worked it out. Flinders - we rolled up Ok.

Jean's Mum Betty, her sister and Aunty Heather all suffered from Breast Cancer so when we saw on Facebook that Warburton had a Pink Day to raise money we had to join. We arrived early on Saturday so we could sort out where to stay. It's a nice little clubhouse. The bar fridge was donated. There's lots of Pennant memorabilia. Outside is the Paul Byrne's Pavillion. We walked over to catch Warburton Twos play Mooroolbark in their last Pennant game. They are the Kookaburras. There's just one plastic synthetic green. The Keith & Edna Thomas Green. It has good, solid, permanent shades. With Pink balloons! With a misty mountain behind - Mount Donna-Buang. We're told it has snow in winter. We met President Tony. Then we met Matt whose partner Aimee talked with Jean on Messenger and arranged for us to get our names down for Pink Day. PINK DAY SUNDAY We had parked our van at the nearby footy ground and walked over to play in Pink Day. We met Gazza and Michelle who'd organised everything. Mal Aimee gave us her number and Mal phoned her to get our names down. The raffle table was impressive. It seems there is a trophy. We met one of the selectors Steve. He was arranging payment for the Spider. Chris called the cards. Everything Jean wrote on the day got erased so Jean's forgotten many of the names. She thinks our first opponents were Bruce, Mick and Matt. Jean scored an ordinary shot. We lost by one shot. Our second game was against family Em, Ann and President Tony. Jean just pipped Mal for shot! Mal did pretty well though! We won by two. Our final game was against another family Selena, Harry and Craig. Mal got a Freddo for his good bowl! We won 10 to 3. Chris did the presentations. The day was won by Jason who we played with last year at Yarra Junction. He thanked all the volunteers. That included Rayner - 15-time Ladies Singles Champion - who helped every year but who they sadly lost to cancer just last week. Mal won a raffle prize. That's going to Jean's sister Megan. It's local Yarra champagne. We got two Warby Burra Stubby holders. Of course, since we were parked nearby. Mal was the last to leave! Warburton - we had such fun!

Our last club in Strzelecki Region for a while is Corinella. We took a forty minute drive to Bass Strait to get there. Jean's corresponded via Messenger and they said the green is open and we're welcome to roll up. There's a lovely bowls mural out front. We got to see inside the clubhouse. We liked all the past Presidents underneath the honour board. It's an impressive trophy case. Outside is a nice verandah. We joined Phil and Robyn for a rollup. We played with two bowls each. Phil proudly told us he's been in six winning Pennants teams. Mal was excited. He showed his talent early. Jean got her bowling arm ready. It was an ordinary head. She got shot. Jean reckoned she had shot. Mal did the finger thing and said he had it by a bowl. " Rubbish!" Jean cried! Jean had a Resting Toucher but pushed it out with her second bowl. She kept two though. Terry and Cheryl arrived with some supplies. They are club work horses. Phil showed us the anniversary glasses. 1973. Phil had to go. We said goodbye and set off back to Korumburra. Corinella - impressive achievements. POST SCRIPT: Corinella's President Steve Bray contacted Jean on Messenger last night while we were at tea in Korumburra to ask if she left her being arm there. Jean was dismayed. She had no idea! We didn't want to drive 80 minutes to retrieve it and were headed to Warburton. Steve suggested one of their Pennant players Jacquie could take it to Lang Lang which is on the way. Bowling Arm retrieved thanks Steve!

When we arrived in Korumburra on Sunday we went to check out the bowling club which is just up the road. Unfortunately it was all locked up with high fences. A couple of days later we drove past and there was a guy doing some work. He said we could take some photos. There are two carpet synthetic greens. This is the bottom green. It's named for Norman Alp who it seems helped lay the original greens. The scoreboards are donated. The bell is precious. WEDNESDAY They have Barefoot Bowls on Wednesday night. We thought about joining them but we're too hot and tired after our game at Leongatha today . We came to say hello. The Pennants trophies are impressive. Johnny, Mick, Joanna and Tracey were sitting watching Division One practice. They are on top of the ladder. The club is always locked up. Mick gave us the code so we can roll up tomorrow morning. We met Tracey's husband, President Brian. They played Barefoot on the top green. We had dinner cooking in the caravan so had to leave. They invited us to come back Friday for $20 dinner. We put our names down. Korumburra - top bowlers there! POST SCRIPT: We came back for tea on Friday as invited. There were loads of people there. They had raffles. Jean won a prize. $20 gave us two courses. Lasagne And dessert.

We tried to roll at San Remo but had no luck so we drove on to Phillip Island for a roll and met some very interesting people. We were greeted by the penguin out front. And the bowls mural. We walked in to the little clubhouse. With Pennant flags . We could see how they did in Pennant. It has a nice verandah. With a good outdoor area. We met Greg when we arrived. He showed us where to find the mats and jacks. Ken is a new bowler. He was rolling up and came over to say gidday. We met Titan and Kevin Booker from Deer Park. Kevin plays with Mark Casey as his Skip. He treats all the Australian bowlers with his Niagara massage devices. There are two Tiger Turf synthetic greens. We rolled on the near green. It's the E&R Booth Green. Mal was eager to get out. Jean had shot but knocked her own bowl out with her last to give Mal two. It was Jean's turn. Grass was OK. Jean got one. Mal had one on the kitty and two in the ditch. Jean finished with a beauty. After our rollup Kevin gave us a proper demo of his devices. We bought one! Jean was all packed up and ready to go but Mal decided to have another rollup and a chat with Lindsay. Phillip Island - you never know who you'll meet! SAN REMO A guy we met a couple of weeks ago raved about San Remo Club. We dropped in on our way to Phillip Island but it was all locked up with high fences. We couldn't get photos. Mal rang the number on the sign and left a message. Nobody got back to us.

Ten years ago Jean and Mal drove from Canberra to Leongatha for Jean's coaching course. We came for a Wednesday game. We dropped in Tuesday on our way to Korumburra. One of the ladies gave us a Leongatha glass. They had Mid-week Pennants against the San Remo club. WEDNESDAY We arrived early and Sue the 2012 Ladies champion let us in. Jean remembered the clubhouse. There's a plaque to commemorate donations . Lots of Pennants successes. We know who won Pennants this week! Alan organised today's game. Phil talked caravans with Mal. There are two carpet synthetic greens. When Jean came ten years ago they were grass. The front green was protected by an owl. It has good Permanent shades. No money paid or won today. It's two rinks. Of Two-bowl triples - two games of eight ends. First game Beau, Alan and Mal Played Jeanette, Jean and Natalie. Jean skipped so was happy to get a draw shot. Jean won. Next game she played against Phil and Bruce. Mal played Col, Jo and William. Jean was skip so had to race over and get a photo of Mal's shot bowl. Mal won his second game. Jean won both and won the day. We came inside for drinks. While Jean went outside to upload her photos Dell topped up her win. She was a bit woosy! Everyone left and we said goodbye. Leongatha - a nice, familiar win for Jean!

We drove down south to the ocean to visit Inverloch Bowling Club for mid-week Pennants. It's a nice, cosy clubhouse. With nicely presented achievements. It has an upstairs area. That's being fixed up at present. There's a great deck up there. Graham and Keith were watching the Pennants and had a bit to say :-) . Playing at Inverloch were Divisions two vs Lang Lang and three vs Tarwin Lower. Kat and Elaine from Lang Lang chatted with Jean for a while. Jean asked Chris to show her their shirt with the Seagull. Dennis from Inverloch and Helen and Helen from Tarwin were interested in our story. The club has two carpet synthetic greens One of the ladies suggested a green photo from the deck would be better from up top. She's right! On the wall below are tiles for all the people who helped out with the new greens. We said goodbye and left them to their game. We drove on to Wonthaggi. Inverloch - nice view from the deck!

After our visit to Inverloch for Mid-week Pennants we drove on to see what's happening at Wonthaggi. We came inside the little clubhouse and the barman gave a wave. The club started in 1911. These are the original members. There are lots of Pennants successes displayed proudly on the wall. The "new" clubhouse was opened in 1968. We met a lady who told us her name is Wendy from Wonthaggi! They had played Tarwin Lower and Foster. Most of them were in for refreshments. We met Synden from Tarwin with whom Jean had spoken on Messenger. She told us when we come back next year we can call her and park our van at the club. Today was Wonthaggi Division One against Tarwin and Division Three against Foster . There was just one rink left playing. The Rob Schooner Ken Webb Shelter provides a nice spot outside. There are two carpet synthetic greens. They are Tiger Turf. Jean got onto the mat. The wind made weight difficult. Jean had three in the ditch but one took kitty. Mal wanted to score today. " Typical! You know you'll win! " cried Jean. Our heads were pretty ordinary with the wind. Mal scored three dodgy shots. Jean got a little better but only had one. Grass was getting better for Mal's two shots. Jean had had enough of Mal taking shot off her so we stopped. Mal grinned. Wonthaggi - Mal wins - again!

Our first club while we're staying at Korumburra is Loch. We thought there was bowls on here today. We found Sue's number online. Mal rang her and she said there's no bowls here today but she'd come and open up the club for us to have a rollup. Sue was waiting with a smile when we arrived. Sue let us inside the clubhouse for a look. There's lots of nice Memorabilia on the walls. The land was donated by the Morphets. The club started in 1973 Sue told us in 2018 Club was almost dead. She took over as Secretary and set about to save it. They did all sorts of fund-raising and started Barefoot Bowls. They wanted to get a grant to put in a synthetic green but they only had 38 members. She went around and drummed up 120 members to improve their bid. Most were non-bowling. They saved the club! This is the new synthetic green. It's carpet. Sue and the team made good use of the grant money with new shades, New lights And a new fence all around. We forgot to take photos of us on the Loch green. Here we're pretending. Mal decided we would score this rollup - first to five. Of course he started well with two. Jean was determined to better him. She only managed one. Mal nearly got all five. In the end Jean scored four all up. Mal won :-( . After our rollup we came in and met Alana and Dell. Sue told us Alana runs Tai Chi in the club. The agreement is that she doesn't charge for it but all participants must be members of the club. Come for free Monday Tai Chi at Loch! POST SCRIPT: Sue knocked on our caravan door in Korumburra and presented Jean with a club badge.

After our little visit to Loch we drove 20 minutes on to Lang Lang to check it out. It's a nice little country clubhouse with loads of stuff on the walls. They have a bunch of Pennants flags and other great and moving memorabilia. They've been here over 60 years. There was a nice memorial painting in the ladies toilet of a fund-raising dance. Jean remembers her parents' stories of 'The Younger Set'! We were surprised to see people here on a Monday. We met Jenny and Marianne. They were watching Colin and Don play a competition of 100-Up. David marked. Don won. The memorial seat is a lovely touch. It's an old plastic synthetic green. After his success at Loch Mal was keen. It was a bad head but Mal got shot. Jean wasn't deterred. Mal said " You're lucky you got that one. I had two!. " Jean scoffed. Mal really struggled with his grass. It was very, very gusty. Both hands were wide. The slower green suited Jean a bit better. Dave and Jenny kindly hung around so we could finish our rollup before they locked up. Lang Lang - very friendly and helpful people!