Wendover Bowls Club – September 2019

I am fairly new to bowling. A couple of years ago I was looking around for something to replace gliding as a pastime that had been an obsession for more than twenty years. Perhaps bowling wasn’t an obvious choice, but I went to the Isle of Wight with the Wendover U3A bowling group to make up numbers to get a better ferry and hotel deal and got hooked.

One of the first things that struck me was the good humour that the games are played in. All games begin and end with a handshake. How sincere that handshake and wish for good luck to your opponent is meant deep down is open to question, but it is always done. When your opponent sends down a good shot there is usually a word of congratulation even if the wretch has just smashed your own bowl away when it was sitting in a perfect scoring position. It might be said through gritted teeth but it is said all the same. All games end with us buying a drink for our opposing team member and sitting down for a meal. We had a couple of sessions recently when one of our more senior members gave us a bit of coaching on the “etiquette” of the game. Much of it is common sense but some of the more obscure points need pointing out.

It is hard to believe that the summer has almost gone. When we started the outdoor season last April the summer stretched ahead and yet we have already had notice of the Club finals day and at the end of September we finish outdoor bowls and start our indoor season. Despite the recent  rain our green has never looked better. I can only remember one day when it was deemed too wet to play on. The investment in the new mower and roller has paid off and congratulations must go to our greenkeeper.

Several of our newest members are joining in playing against other clubs. It is good to see that they have confidence to so. When you are new there is a fear of not being good enough and letting the side down but the encouragement from our more established players has paid dividends. Well done to all of them.

Don Knight