Search Results

We've played at Broadbeach before - for the Services Australia Sports Carnival - but not on this trip. Mal called and got our names down for Tuesday morning. We were looking forward to seeing Andrew Howie who works here but he tells us he's busy today at Helensvale. We've been told it would be tough here because all the big players play here on Tuesday. We arrived and met Tony and Lenny at the table. Mal posed with the Broadbeach Bull. There are four lovely greens. Three out the front And one out the side. Chris from Churchill in Victoria came over and chatted with us. He's playing in the Australian Open. He drew Aaron Sherrif first round. There were lots of people there. It's pairs. We played together. Against Neil and Christine from Queenstown in New Zealand. Christine plays for New Zealand in the over 60's. She once beat Karen Murphy in The Australian Open. They are here for that. There were players on all four greens. We played on the front green. It's the John Greening. It took Jean a few ends to work out the grass. Mal was onto it but she worked it out. We were surprised to be up by 15 to 2 and kept drawing shots. End ten Jean put the kitty in the ditch for one then Neil drew a beauty. We were doing well with the bull looking over us. Then they got a four and Mal started to panic. He played weight and missed instead of drawing (when he was drawing so well) and we went down six ends in a row. We were only one up. Mal pulled it together 2nd last end when we got a six. We ended up 26 to 17. We came inside, Neil and Christine didn't come in. We were early so we watched remaining bowlers for a while. Jean chatted briefly with champion bowler Ryan Bester (who's Canadian - been here 16 years) about Pat Bird who we played with the other day. Broadbeach - we won - lucky it's bowls not Rugby!

Jean's rang Club Musgrave early this morning to check we had our names down. They didn't seem sure. Apparently it's 'Friendship Club'. We told them we'd arrive 5 minutes before start. We arrived just in time to meet Kerry, Trish, Lyn, Gwen and Terry at the table and pay our $10. The club has three very nice grass greens. Mal skipped for Alan and Bill. (Mal, Alan and Bill) Against Sue, Rob and skip Jean. n Mal was on it first end. They have five flags. Australian, Qld, Indigenous, Torres Strait and Club Musgrave. They are mostly old people. Especially Bill who is 98! In whites. They don't measure on Monday so Bill got his bowling arm out. We had a couple of new bowlers in our teams so the pressure was on us. Mal has more skip shots than Jean. He won 17 to 15. We came inside for chips and raffles. Club Musgrave - bowls with the oldies.

We went to Gold Coast Bowls Club when we arrived on Monday. It was closed but we spoke with the greenkeeper. He told us they play on Saturday morning. Mal rang a couple of days later and put our names down. We arrived early - 9am for a ten o'clock start. There was nobody there at first, then we met Peter. Peter explained the club is being extended out to the piers where the outdoor area is currently. Then we met Avo (Peter) and Jacquie who organise the Saturday game. Avo manages the greens. Avo told us the club is not affiliated with Bowls QLD as nobody wants to travel for Pennants. Those that do are also members at Mermaid Beach. Jacquie told us Saturday morning is pretty easygoing. Sometimes people turn up who haven't played before. There's a nice barbecue area with a bar. Today it costs $20 each but we get a barbecue lunch. The club has two greens in use and an old one at the back used by the Croquet Club. We played on the front green. It's the Peter Shaw Snr No.1 Memorial Green. It's a little rough around the edges but looks ok. It's slow. The seats are donated. It's three games of three-bowl pairs and one of triples. Each player draws a card. Black play with each other against the same red (e.g.: Black Jacks play red jacks). They had nice 70's pop music playing on the radio. It was all very relaxed. Mal and Jason played together- red queens. (Jason and Mal) They played black queens Fieldsy (Brett) and John. Jean skipped triples with Jacquie and Merv (Jacquie, Merv and Jean) Against Skip Avo, Charlie and Alan. (Alan, Avo and Charlie) Jean struggled initially but Mal was all over it. Mal was up 15 to 4. Remarkably Jean got up by 3 on the 9th end to get ahead. Jean dropped a few then and lost by eight. We came in for the barbecue. (Charlie) Mal and Jason won the money by one shot. Gold Coast Bowls and Community Club - they say"everyone's a winner at the bowlo".

We arrived at Robina at 12 for a 12:30 start. We were worried we didn't have our names down. Clearly we'd rung because they had Jean as Dean McIntyre. The club is nice. Open plan with no pokies. Jean met a man outside who told her the club was going downhill. Helensvale club came in and took over and breathed new life into it. The club has three nice grass greens. There was a bloke trimming the impressive hedge sign. There were a few people. We played on two greens. There were eleven games. We played triples with skip John. (Mal, Jean and John) We played against Pat, Tom and Wayne. Pat is Pat Bird. He's Canadian and here to play in the World Champion of Champion Singles here at Robina in September. He's the Canadian Singles and Fours Champion. Jean was over the moon that two ends (of twenty) she out-bowled Pat. Mal played brilliantly. He often took out Pat's shot bowls. We dropped two sixes but managed to crawl back to 12-13 at half time. We went inside for drinks and raffles. Wayne looked after the raffles. When we came back out Jean said "I shouldn't have had a glass of wine!" Playing against a national champion got in Mal's head a bit - in a good way. He often took out Pat's shot bowls. We were two shots up on the fifteenth end of 21 Pat got the mat and rolled it really long. "Canadian tactics!" Jean said. It was lovely to watch Pat bowl. Jean gave him a good run for his money. Last end we needed three to win. We got one to go down one shot. Jean said "Bragging rights!" Robina - the Canadian experience!

When we arrived Monday we drove to Nerang Bowls Club (McKenzie Park) and put our names down for Thursday. We arrived nice and early. At the table we met the organiser Paul and John. It's a decent sized club with an outdoor area (for smoking we think (D.O.S.A.)), bistro and pokies. It seems to have a Scottish connection which pleased Jean. Apparently it's a bowls day where they have a piper on the green. They're 'The Highlanders'. There's tartan on the shirts. Jean had a tear 😢 in her eye. Someone did a painting. The club has two greens. One is grass and the other is that flat carpet. We played on the grass. The greens are decorated with nice flower pots. There is a lovely gnome garden. Instructions for rollups are pretty clear. The game is three-bowl triples. Two games of fourteen ends. There were 28 players, four triples and two pairs. We played together with skip Courtney. (Mal, Jean and Courtney) Against Pricey, Gary and skip Craig. Mal had grass and weight worked out. We bowled ok but the boys bowled better. It was 14 to 7 against us on the twelfth end. Jean finally scored two shots. We lost 9 to 16 but had a fun time with the guys. Second game we played skip Ray, Rob and Glynn. (Rob and Glynn) Ray was pretty cranky. He yelled at Jean because she was listening to someone talking and was late to bowl her first bowl. He was especially cross when Rob and Glynn bowled short. But he was over the moon when they came in and stole Jean's two shots. Fourth end Mal was heard to say "I can go home happy now, I finally got the weight!" Theo, who told Jean he's Swiss, came and gave us a present. It's a bowls scorecard holder he invented. It has a clear plastic rain cover and score paddles included. Our skip Courtney was a new bowler so she didn't have many skip shots in her arsenal but she saved the day a few times with nice accurate weighted shots. (Ray and Courtney) On end 7, Courtney drew two shots for a score of four! Rob was bowling really well. If Jean bowled close, he bowled closer. He also entertained us with a bit of singing and dancing on occasion. On end 13 of 14 we had two and they took shot. Courtney came in with a pearler and took four. It was now 14 to 13. We lost. They got three on the last end. We came inside for drinks and raffles. We didn't win anything but were pretty happy with the day we had. McKenzie Park at Nerang - "It's a broad bricht moonlit nicht tonich!"

When we drove around on Monday we got our names down at Benowa. We left Mal's number for them to ring us with information. The lady at the bar wasn't too sure of the time but told us 11am which we thought was odd. We arrived at 11:30. We got there and the club was closed. The sign said it opened at 1pm. Not sure why the bar lady would have told us 11 if she knew that. She reckons she tried to ring but Mal only had spam calls. We rang four times and left a message. Mal rang at 1pm to be told they were already out there. We were cranky but we decided to go for a rollup anyway. We were glad we did in the end. When we arrived there was just one pairs and one triples game. After we were there about 15 minutes one of the guys suggested we join the pairs game. The skips Jim and Tony were OK with it. We jumped in as seconds. Jim, John and Jean against Dot, Mal and Tony (Jean, Mal, Dot and John) And here are the skips. (Jim and Tony) The club has two greens, one is out. The club is quaint. It has a nice outdoor area. They are 'The Benowa Bees'. Jean asked John and Greg about the significance of the bees. They didn't know but said they used to be Wattle and changed to bees about 12 years ago. They said they think there was a beekeeper. Jean told John and Greg about how we gave mourners 🌻 seeds to plant for Dad's funeral and that she loves bees. They said "Then you came to the right place!" They said they are going to get bees painted on the green for The Australian Open. (Greg and John) It was pretty slow which suited Jean. Mal and Jean worked it out quickly. Jean lost the weight half way through but Mal was in there. With four ends to go, and (she thought) loads to catch up, Jean and John finally worked it out. Alas, lots of good bowls went down. In the end Jim accidentally gave it away. Jean got it wrong. She was shocked when she asked Jim the score. "Did we lose by lots?" Jim looked at her quizzically and said "We won 19 to 18!" Benowa - made it by the skin of our teeth!

When we arrived yesterday we drove to four clubs to find out about social bowls and put our names down. We went to Benowa, Nerang, Gold Coast and Mermaid Beach. Today we play at Mermaid Beach. We met Glenda and Harry at the desk. The inside of the club is nice - long and thin. They have their Pennants framed on the wall. There's a bowls shop. Mal bought some spray. We played on the front green. Mermaid Beach shirts have Parramatta colours so Mal had to spend the pension on a shirt. He said "Look, it has an 'M' for Mal!" It's triples. Two games of eleven ends. Jean played lead with Mal and Laurie. They tossed a coin as to who would skip. Mal skipped. (Laurie, Mal and Jean) We played against Brian, Peter and Bruce. The 48 players played on two greens - eight rinks - four on each green. First end Jean and Laurie's yellow bowls had it worked out for five. Peter came in and cut it to two. I asked Bruce "what' was "Live in Queensland " from the shirts. He said "That's a good question!" One of the ladies said "It's the shirt you get when you volunteer at The Australian Open." The club has a few of them. The green got tougher. It was quick and Jean's bowls went horizontal again. She switched to backhand with a little more success. We were down a few. With four ends to go. Mal was narrow a lot but saved the day. He got one. His magic shots did us proud. Brian with his brown bowls just kept out-drawing us. We drew 11 all and won on ends - 6 to 5 and went to play winners Darryl, Steve and Cheryl. Darryl and Cheryl are here on holiday from Napier NZ. They are indoor bowls champions. It showed! You wouldn't believe it, we drew that game as well and won six ends to five! Exactly the same result! Hard to win the money with a zero margin! Here is the logo: Let's bowl with the mermaids!

When we arrived in Ipswich on Tuesday, we drove around to all the clubs. North Ipswich was closed but we saw a bloke in there and knocked on the door. He gave us a bit of history and information about bowls in Ipswich. He let us in to put our names down and Mal rang Neil to find out what time. They are the North Ipswich Steamers. Denise told Jean there was a railway workshop nearby and the workers started it as a Railway Bowls Club. They've kept the train. They had their 50th anniversary on 2005. We met Dudley in the office. Des and Gloria introduced themselves. Des was the organiser. Russell sold Mal some raffle tickets. The clubhouse is nice. Chair (John McLeod) came over for a chat. He told us he was the first player signed to the Canberra Raiders. He also played for Wests. We had a lovely chat about his footy days. There are two nice grass greens. We played on the lower green, It's the RC Weatherhog Green. Jean was very pleased to see Labor Members as sponsors. They are rare in Queensland which is one reason Jean doesn't want to live here. There's a nice little trolley for bits and pieces. We played triples - two games of twelve ends. Jean was lead for Mal as skip with Dudley. (Jean, Mal and Dudley) For the first game against Skip Tom, Rhonda and Denise, who is John McLeod's wife.. (Rhonda, Denise and Tom) Jean put down some good bowls. End 5 she took kitty with her third bowl for shot. Mal bowled beautifully with his new XGs. So many times he got us out of trouble. Dudley also bowled very well. Someone said before the game "Dudley's a great skip!" Jean said "Well if he's a good skip, he'll be a great second." They said "He's also a number one lead!" His blue bowls were always in the head. Tenth end Jean put in three beauties. Mal was happy. Second last end it was 12 to 2 our way. Dudley and Mal did it again for four. We came in at half time for a cuppa and bickies. Jean told Rhonda she played yesterday with Rhonda Harris. She told Jean there are three Rhondas who play together from North Ipswich, Ipswich and United (East Ipswich). That one is Rhondda double D. Second game winners played winners so we played Keith, Ken and Rod. Second end Jean took kitty then Mal consolidated It was a tougher game. Score was even. We kept getting one or two then Keith would come in and pinch shot. We went down five with three ends to go. That was the death knell. We went down 15 to 8. Even so, we got the money for 1st game winners. North Ipswich - chugged along to start but the train got away from us.

We went to East Ipswich (United Sports) when we arrived on Tuesday and got our names down for 12:30 Saturday . Rhonda from North Ipswich told Jean the club has been bought out by a parent club that doesn't care about the bowlers. The have sold off some greens. They are building units. In the carpark we met Gaetan from Mauritius. The club was buzzing. It seemed like a real workers' club which Jean loved. At the desk we met Bob and Steve, who is the new club President as of Today. (Bob, Gaetan and Steve) The club has one and three-quarters of a green. They had to shorten it for corporate bowlers. It used to be a services Club. There's a memorial. They play fours on Saturday to practise for Pennants, which starts in June. Jean played lead with Dave, Merve and skip Andy. (Jean, Andy, Dave and Merve) Against Ken, Bob, John and Bev. Mal played second with for skip Gonzo with Craige and Dutchy Against Alan, Boomer, Greg and P Woodward. Jean played on the lower green, Mal on the upper. It was a fast green. To start with Jean was nowhere near it. The boys measured nearly every end. Jean went and checked out Mal's game. The boys declared "He's been a foot away all game!" He bowled one closer but they were two down. He played weight and knocked up his team's bowl for shot. Jean finally got one in the head for two! It was a tight game. We came in at half time for drinks. Ken and the boys are members of 'The United Barflies'. They told Jean the purpose is to consume as much alcohol as possible and play a few ends along the way. Jean was ecstatic when we went back out and she finally drew a good one. The skips called her down to take a photo "Before someone stuffs it up on you!" Mal continued to bowl well with shot. He said "I love the way they joke and niggle each other." Jean's team lost the plot towards the end and went down. Last end Mal did his team proud. They said "Come on Gunner!" "The visitor read our rinks really well. " They won 18 to 10. Mal chatted with Greg Riley who asked us to remember him to Andrew Howie when we get to Broadbeach. He told Mal he'll send him a Barflies shirt. United - most fun we've had at Ipswich.

When we arrived in Ipswich yesterday we drove around the four clubs to put our names down. There were a couple of workers in high vis in the Ipswich club. They told us it's closed but let us in to write our names down. Ipswich didn't have a list for Wednesday. We found out that Swifts club building was condemned so the greens are now fallow. Ipswich had another list up so we wrote a message. We got a call at 7am to get our names down and find out they have morning tea 8:30 and bowl at 9. We arrived 8:30 and met Chris, Sue, Lee and Julie in the office. They told us it's three-bowl triples. After paying $15 on The Sunshine Coast we were ecstatic to pay just $10 and discovered we get lunch as well. Pauline at the bar let Mal get some money out. We went upstairs before the game for morning tea. Mal struck up a conversation with Charlie whose name is actually Des. Jean joined them then Sylvia and Kay saw us sitting alone and came to Join us. Sylvia is an office holder and Kay is the coach. Sylvia told us the Club 113 years old. The club has an impressive array of past Presidents. They are all volunteers except the greenkeeper. It has some aged features. And, what Mal called, 'all-weather steps'. The President welcomed us and wished us safe travels. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. They kept coming up to say hi. There are two nice grass greens. We played on the lower green. It's the BWE Duce Green. He's a past President. There were enough players to fill two greens which was nice for a change. Jean played lead for Michael and skip Rhonda. (Michael, Rhonda and Jean) Against Pauline, Robyn and Ray (Robyn, Pauline and Ray) Mal played second for skip Anita with Ann. (Ann, Anita and Mal) Against Al, Fred and Val There was no wind, so the line was pretty true. Jean liked the grass and bowled ok. Luckily Michael bowled better. Robyn, Jean's opposing lead, has only been bowling since February. She put down some great bowls. Jean usually pipped her but she did really well. Ray told Jean he's going to play at Chinchilla. Jean told him about the Cactoblasters. Mal seemed to be having fun with his lot - joking around. It was 11 all on end 12 and Mal got shot. He kept it. It was 15 to 12 Mal's way. His skip Anita took the kitty back for 5. We played 18 ends. Both our teams won. Jean's by ten, Mal's by 6. Then we came upstairs for lunch. It was a nice ham and salad roll with a teacake They have a lovely draw - 5c a ticket. Jean won two things. As we were leaving Al said to Mal "You will win more than you lose. You are a great bowler!" Ipswich - nice people, nice food nice bowls!

Jean's sister Alison will cook us a baked dinner tonight so we're staying one night at Golden Beach. We rang a few days ago to get our names down for Pelican Waters on Monday but were told it's full. We put our names on the reserve list. We got a call as we were leaving Maleny this morning to say we have a game as a few people pulled out. The club's a few hundred metres from the caravan park but Alison dropped us off from her house. We arrived and Ian showed us where to go. Mal left his wallet in our car so Jean paid our money to Carol and Stan the Man in the Games Office. Jean sat with the ladies. (Georgina, Rosalie, Annie and Kaye) The Pelican is on the shirts And everywhere. It's pairs. We played together. Mal liked the club shirt and wanted to buy one. We played against skip Ron and Bill. We had all blue bowls but Jean's red ones. The club has two synthetic greens. It's that carpet Jean likes. We played on the far green. It's the Syd Lingard Green. It must be the same fellow named at Headland Pacific. Both greens were full. It was pretty quick. Jean was short but got it first end. It took us a while to get the weight but we worked it out half way. Alison came to watch the last few ends. In the beginning it was 7 zip. On the last end we needed 7 to win (had six bowls) they got one. We came inside for a rousing welcome. Pelican Waters - a good pair beat us.

We're going to Jean's sister Alison's place for a baked dinner Monday night. We tried to get a game at Pelican Waters that day but names have to be in week before. We decided instead to play Scroungers at Caloundra on Sunday afternoon. It rained heavily all the way there from Maleny. We rang to make sure it was still on. They said it's been raining on and off but it's not called off. We kept driving. We arrived just after 1:30 for a 2:30 start. Some bowlers were already there. (Mary, Pip and the bowlers) Mal gave our Money to Mary. She and Pip explained how it works. They gave us a minus 8 handicap. It's what you do to visitors who don't know the green. Make sure they can't win. (Mal, Mary and Pip) It was a quite busy Mother's Day at the club. There was a singer. The game is Scroungers with two games of four players - 3-bowl. Mal played against Barb, Sheila and Leonie. (Barb, Mal, Leonie and Sheila) Jean played against Pip, Robbo and Horst. (Jean, Robbo, Horst and Pip) Yobbo had an interesting approach to how to treat visitors. He had a go at Jean because she was working on her blog and didn't kick bowls back first end. "It's poor etiquette!" He said. Jean thought " Yes. I know those kinds of people." It put Jean in a bad mood. She was nowhere near the head plus lost 3 with a wrong bias. Mal did better. He seemed to have the mat a lot. Last end Jean rolled a short end. She got a full count until Horst took the kitty for second. Neither of us won. Mal said if he was on scratch he would have. It took us both 3/4 of the game to work out the green. Mal said his opponents were funny so at least he had fun. Caloundra - rude people take the fun out of the game.