L.B.C. News

News, Club Competitions, Open Competitions, Miscellaneous

 Llandudno Bowling Club News

2007

Wormhout Visit

Llandudno Bowling Club was visited on Easter Saturday by a party from Wormhout, in the Flemish far north of France near the Belgian border. A game of bowls/boules was played between the two towns with Llandudno winning the crown green section (just!) and Wormhout victorious (just!) in their version of Boules de Flandre. This game is different from what we think of as boules - which actual name is Pequant - as the 'bowls' are like wooden wheels about ten inches in diameter and three wide, with a weight on one side. Two markers are placed about 22 yards apart and two teams of six then had to 'bowl' towards these markers from each end. It was pretty difficult at first, but the 'Crown Greeners' soon started to pick it up. The 'bowls' tend to roll in an arc and the Llandudno players soon realised why the Flemish had bowled their crown green woods too wide and off land a lot - they were just so used to bowling their 'woods' like that in their game. However, a few of their players gave the Llandudno players a bit of a scare in the crown green games but over the two events a diplomatic draw seemed just right. Inbetween, refreshments of (real) fresh coffee (we didn't dare give them instant!) and Welsh sweet delicacies were served.

John T Jones watches as his opponent plays the jack

Boules de Flandre

Wormhout (with two Llandudno players)

• Llandudno Bowling Club's Open singles competition, the Baxter Cup, will be held this year on Sunday 19th August. Guaranteed Prize Money of £200. Entries (limited to 32) with cheques or cash for £6 per player to Gordon Telford, 51 Maes Clyd, Llandudno LL30 1YA. Telephone 01492 879864 - Mobile 07766 707 127 - email: Gordon_Telford4@msn.com There are still ten places left for this competition as of 11th July.

• The Gordon Dunnett Memorial Cup (doubles) was contested on May 6th. Suprisingly, some strong pairings fell in the first round while Gordon Telford and Mike Beard were on top form. In the final they overcame Marc Morris & Brian Levis, with Gordon leading on round peg marks which the opposition had difficulty with. When Marc and Brian did find a way in, Mike would play in a wood that beat everybody's including his partners'. Marc & Brian rallied to win some good ends, but Gordon & Mike were always in control and won the game 21-12. Gordon's woods would bend so much on his round pegs that Brian suspected him of having 'loaded' them by having an extra weight put in them on thumb!

• The John Blackall Cup (doubles) was played on May 20th. Gordon Telford was on form yet again and he and his partner Margaret Snow (who has improved her game immeasurably in the past year) swept into the final quite comfortably. In the semi's, a strong pairing of Chris Armor & Marc Morris came unstuck against Moira Wright & Alan Davies, the latter with constant cannons that all went his way; he had done the same in their quarter final match against Brian Evans & Sandra Forrest, prompting some members to wonder whether he should take up billiards as a potential lucrative arrangement. He came out with a few in the final, but Gordon replied with some of his own and Margaret complemented the partnership perfectly for the pair to win 21-14.

• Alan Davies was on top form to win the Happy Hours Cup (singles) on July 1st.  Belying his 'cannon' reputation, he played some excellent woods on marks that he perfected throughout the afternoon.  Winning 21-4 in the first round, he then had wins of 21-14 and 21-15 to reach the final. His opponent in the last game, Evan Jones, played some very good bowls himself winning 21-6 in his semi-final match. The final started with both players sounding each other out, but Alan soon started to break away and left Evan with far too much to do to get back into the game, Alan coming through 21-12.

• Llandudno Bowling Club will host the home leg of the Endsleigh Senior County Championship semi-final between Wales and Warwick & Worcester on Sunday 5th August. The last time Wales were in the semi's was fifteen years ago, and they are hoping to reach the final for the first time since 1959.

• On July 15th, the Milner Trophy (doubles) competition saw Alan Davies & Chris Armor take the honours. Runners-up Pam Farrell & Marc Morris finished in this position in last year's edition and it was third time in a row unlucky for Marc! (What do you have to do?). Still, they had the satisfaction of defeating Frances Forrest & Graham Ball in the quarter-finals 21-10, who had beaten them in the final of the title last season (21-17). This year they lost the final 21-15.

• The Centenary Cup was held on Sunday July 29th, which is now a new annual 'friendly' competition. The format was similar to the one held on last years Centenary Day, but entries were reduced to twenty-five so as to avoid the organised chaos of the previous one. Five groups of five players were drawn with each groups' players meeting each other once in timed 20 minute games. The player with the highest average would win their respective group being joined by the three best runners up overall in the quarter finals. Margaret Ball emerged as winner from Group A with an average of 16, but Gordon Telford achieved the best average in all the groups winning Group E with 32 closely followed by Denise Sumner in the same group with 30, who qualified as the first-placed runner up. All these group games kept to the timetable perfectly, with an average of eleven or twelve ends per game, the highest being fifteen ends and the lowest nine. The knockout Quarter Finals and Semi Finals were 11 up and saw Brian Levis and Margaret Ball emerge to contest the Final, a normal 21 up game. Brian started well, going into a 9-3 lead by the tenth end but Margaret then pulled back, and a close game then followed with both players scoring equally, fifteen across at the twenty-fifth end. Brian then doubled his efforts and held Margaret off for a 21-17 win. A great day's bowling was had, with great organisation and a marvellous BBQ to boot.

• Wales lost their home leg of the Endsleigh County Championship semi-final against Warwick & Worcester by 9 chalks, on Sunday August 5th. There were more than a hundred people spectating at Llandudno Bowling Club, and a large atmosphere was felt with the away team getting plenty of vociferous support. The club took over £155 in canteen sales and many members came to watch, Wales' Paul Whalley receiving the Man of the Match award. In the away leg, Wales lost 154-243; Here, the final score was 220-229.

• Deganwy's Darren Williams won Llandudno Bowling Club's Baxter Cup open, beating Rhos Park's Steve Lawley 21-19 in a very tight final. In the semi's, Darren won 21-16 against Paul Gamsby (Kings Heath Park B.C., Birmingham) who had recently played for Warwick & Worcester in the County Championship semi-final against Wales.

• Moira Wright won the Ladies Rosebowl held at Llandudno Bowling Club, beating fellow Llandudno member Margaret Snow 21-16 in the final.

• The Club's Foursomes Shield (doubles) Competition was played on Sunday September 2nd. The quarter-finals saw some really competitive games with John Cowan & Margaret Snow battling for a 21-17 win over Peter Rigby & Moreen Harwood and Maurice Mills & Marc Morris overcoming a strong pairing of Chris Armor & John T Jones, 21-15. Brian Levis & Clive Brook had a tough time against Gareth Roberts & Frances Forrest before emerging victorious 21-16. The Semi-finals saw one of the best games in any of the competitions so far, while in the other the Foursomes soon became the Threesomes. John & Margaret lost 20-21 to Brian & Clive in a match that went one way then the next with some almost exhibition bowling from the pairs. The other semi was just an exhibition full stop. Maurice & Marc made a great start 7-0 up against Sheila Hollis & Alan Davies, when after going slightly down to 11-13 Mills announced he was leaving the green. At first it was thought that he wanted to dry off for a bit (the rain was quite heavy), but it soon transpired that he was expected home for his tea! With everybody looking around for t.v. cameras and Jeremy Beadle, after ten minutes or so it was realised that he was actually serious! No pleading or persuasion would make him change his mind and so there was no option but to give Sheila & Alan a walkover, which they were reluctant to accept. For this, the committee may take steps to ban him from future doubles competitions. So with one semi a classic and the other a wash-out like the weather, the final could only be hoped to rise to the occasion and nobody was disappointed. Sheila played good leads and Alan complemented by being able to place good woods in from the back; same with Brian & Clive and it was anybody's game until the latter finally broke away to win this very entertaining match 21-16. So, as one member put it, this competition was both 'bloody marvelous and bloody ridiculous'!  (Maurice has since explained that he felt unwell and apologised, but agrees that he could have communicated this at the time).

• Llandudno Bowling Club's Eryl Cup was played on Sunday September 30th, to find the club champion. Winners and runners-up from this year's internal competitions plus the average winners of the 'A' and 'B' teams in the various leagues qualify to take part. As expected, the four semi-finalists were strong blocks with Mike Beard defeating Peter Rigby in a match that first swung in Peter's favour and then completely in Mike's, he finally winning 21-18. Mel Hughes played excellent round peg marks to see off Chris Armor's challenge 21-13. In the final, Mel was unstoppable and Mike played some great woods for nothing, finally going down 21-8.

Mel Hughes looks at his two superbly played woods in one of the ends that saw him become the Club Champion 2007.

2008

• Llandudno 'B', subject to relegation this season in the C.L.D.L., will stay in Section 'B'. This is because of three new teams joining the league, including our own Llandudno 'C'. They along with two others join Section 'C' while the three top teams from that section play in Section 'B'. The top three from that section enter Section 'A', while the bottom placed teams from 'A' & 'B' go down. The points of Llanfairfechan 'A' who finished second from bottom in Section 'A' last year, and Llandudno 'B' who were in that position in 'B', were compared with the latter having 84 to 83 so Llanfairfechan 'A' were relegated to Section 'B'. We wish the new 'C' team every success in their new year. 

• 25/04: Llandudno 'C' achieved their first win in the C.L.D.L. Section 'C', with an 8-4 home win over Penmaenmawr 'B'.

• 27/04: Denise Sumner won the club's Cheltenham Cup singles competition, beating Mike Beard 21-18 in the final.

• 28/04: Llandudno 'B' won 247-225 in the first round of the C.L.D.L. Section 'B' Cup against N W Police at Rhos-on-Sea. They'll meet Mochdre 'A' in the quarter-finals.

• 11/05: The John Blackall Cup (doubles) was played and won by a strong pairing of Chris Armor & Richie Foster. In the quarter-finals they overcame Cliff Bean & Margaret Snow 21-9, while Brian Levis & Mike Beard outclassed Peter Rigby & Evan Jones 21-4. In the semi-finals, Brian & Mike fought a right battle with Marc Morris & Derek Edwards; they were 12-1 down at one point, then 17-8 in deficit, before staging a great comeback to win 21-19. Chris & Richie had an easier time of it winning 21-6 against Wendy Poynton & Alan Davies. Brian & Mike had exhausted themselves however, losing to Chris & Richie 12-21 in the final.

• 25/05: The Club's Happy Hours Cup was played and saw a winner who's first time it was in a singles final, which is the idea of the competition. Pam Farrell came through against Evan Jones in the semi-final 21-16, before taking the title with a 21-17 win against Brian Levis in the final.

• 26/05: Llandudno 'B' lost their C.L.D.L. Section 'B' Cup quarter-final to Mochdre 'A' 224-250 at Craig-y-Don. Played in typical British bank holiday weather - wind and pouring rain - the side struggled all the way through.

• 13/07: The Sir William Letts Cup (singles) was played on a glorious Sunday afternoon. All the strong players got into the quarter-finals with Brian Levis and Chris Armor having the highest first round wins. Next, Chris dispatched Gordon Telford 21-3 but Brian narrowly lost out to Marc Morris 19-21. Denise Sumner played some excellent bowls beating one of the favourites, Mike Beard, 21-9. In the other quarter-final, Cliff Bean came through against Peter Fielding. Chris proved just slightly too strong for Cliff in the semi-finals (21-18) while Marc delivered some cracking woods to see off Denise, 21-15. The final was a superb match which started pretty much level pegging. The afternoon, if anything, had got hotter and the players were followed around the green by Wendy Poynton (first round exit) bearing glasses of water! Marc has changed his game in the last few years preferring short falling marks to long ones, and by thus using the banks of the green went up 10-5. After Chris had played a belter, knocking Marc's wood off the jack, he went long and came back to lead 19-13. A last hope appeared to Marc as he was lying game, taking the jack with his second wood. Marc managed to get two more points but Chris took the game and title 21-16. Marc is becoming like Michael Ballack as regards finishing runner-up, but this was his first singles final; a great competition played with excellent bowling weather.

• 21/07: The Charles Shephard Ladies Shield was won by Pam Farrell, who beat Betty Brook 21-14 in the final. In the semi's, Pam won against Denise Sumner 21-17 while Betty triumphed over Diana Evans 21-9. The winner was presented with the trophy by Mrs Joan Shephard. Pam has revitalised her game ever since there was a mix up with her woods; earlier this year, she left her old pair in the clubhouse which disappeared only to find another set of bowls in its place. Since then, she can hardly stop winning with the new ones. Still nobody knows who did the 'swap'; must have been the bowling elves!

• 03/08: The Tom Downing Cup (doubles) was played and won by a strong pairing of Gordon Telford & Mel Hughes. In the semi-finals they overcame Alistair James & Alan Davies 21-12, while Clive Brook & Peter Rigby won the other semi 21-15 against Evan Jones & Wendy Poynton. In the final, Gordon & Mel won 21-14.

• Llandudno Bowling Club's Baxter Cup Open competition will take place on Sunday August 24th. Guaranteed prize money of £200, entries (fee £6 limited to 32) to Gordon Telford, 51 Maes Clyd, Llandudno LL30 1YA or 0776 707127 by August 17th. Cheques made payable to Llandudno Bowling Club.

• If you are new to bowls and wish to learn the game, then please attend a special Open Day where coaching will be available, at LlanfairPG bowling club, Anglesey on Sunday August 17th. £5 per session with two sessions 10am-12noon and 2pm-4pm. No need to book, just turn up; refreshments available for a small charge.

• 04/08: Moira Wright won the clubs Ladies Nixon Medal, beating Pam Farrell 21-11 in the final.

• 24/08: The club's Baxter Cup open was won by Bobby Newell of Penmaenmawr, beating the defending champion Darren Williams (Deganwy) 21-17 in the final. Some excellent corner bowling was the feature of the match with Darren taking the lead, but Bobby fought back to take a 20-17 advantage. On the last end Newell bowled short of the jack, but counting for game, and Darren surprisingly failed to take the opportunity. In the semi-finals, Williams won a terrific contest against Llanrwst's John Bailey, while Newell won a tough game against Deganwy's Jane Bowler.

• 07/09: The David Hughes Memorial Trophy (open pairs) competition was won by a Llanrwst pairing of Kevin Williams and Martin Hughes, who beat Bangor's Adam Harris & Gwerydd Buckland in the final.

Gareth Williams & Richie Foster

Gareth on for two

• 12/10/08: The Centenary Cup was played on the last day of the season, in better weather than in the summer. Twenty-three entrants were divided into three groups of five and two of four with each player meeting each other in timed 15 minute games (the players in the four-player groups would play an extra game against their first opponent so that every player had four games. Group E turned out to have one player short so someone who wasn't due to play in the five blocks on the green at any given time, was brought in as a 'joker' to play against the other three players in the group to make up their scores). The group winners on aggregate plus the three best runners-up overall would qualify for the quarter-finals. Group A winner was Mike Lunt with +18, but the highest aggregate was attained by the Group C winner, Dave Williams, with +39. He also had the joint highest win 17-3 (Dave Page 15-1) while Richie Foster, winner Group D, almost had a full game winning one of them 20-8! At the other end of the scale, Marc Morris emerged as Group E winner with -1 (the 'real' winner was the 'joker'!). A slight difference from last year, the quarter-finals were timed 20 minute games - Dave Page (runner-up 1) proving too strong for Mike 11-2; Margaret Snow (winner Group B) went down 9-16 to Peter Rigby (runner-up 2), Dave Williams in fine form to despatch Denise Sumner (runner-up 3) 18-3 while Richie saw off Marc 13-9. The semi's were 11up and Dave Williams continued his good bowling to beat Richie 11-4, Peter playing excellently to overcome Dave Page 11-8. The final was a normal 21up game and both players were on form to produce a great match; Dave just had the edge, though, and went on to win 21-15. Everybody had a great day and was a fitting end to the season.

2009

• 11/04: As we ('B' team) hoped for, the C.L.D.L. has split into four sections this year. We will be in the new Section 'C' playing against nine other teams. We've also been given a bye in the first round of the Section 'C' Cup, and will face Min-y-Don 'B' in the quarter-finals on May 20th.

• 26/04:  The Club's Foursomes Pairs Cup competition was played. The Final saw a strong pairing of Gordon Telford & David Page overcome a brave challenge by Eileen Rigby & Clive Brook, 21-12. These latter two had been improving since their first match, but here they kept on pulling up short.

• 10/05:  The Club's Senior Citizens Cup was played with 14 entries. In the first round Pam Farrell beat Roy Dunlevy 21-12 while Clive Brook won against Andrea Dunlevy 21-13. Edith Sawyer had a close game against Chris Armor before losing 21-17; Peter Rigby also had a tight encounter with newcomer Doris Harding, winning 21-18. Brian Evans lost against David Page 21-12 and Margaret Snow came through against Bill Sawyer 21-18. The second round saw Denise Sumner prevail against Pam 21-12 while an off form Gordon Telford failed 21-10 against Clive who was bowling brilliantly. Chris went down to Peter 21-19 and David overcame Margaret 21-12. In the semis, Denise was the latest to fall to the accurate bowling of Clive while Peter had a right old battle against David before winning another 21-19. The final was a ding-dong affair which swung both ways before Clive finally claimed a deserved 21-16 victory.

Clive Brook in action at Denbigh 'B' in 2007. (N.W.W.N.)

• 17/05: The Centenary Cup was played with a different format: the first round was a round robin with the quarter-finals ten ends, the semi's twelve and the final fifteen. Gordon Telford emerged as winner 17-4 against Brian Evans.

• 20/05: Llandudno 'B' lost their Quarter-Finals match in the C.L.D.L. Section 'C' Cup against Min-y-Don 'B' with a score of 214-226 at Craig-y-Don.

• 29/05: This year's Baxter Cup Open singles competition will take place on Sunday August 23rd. Details:

• 30/05: There was something in the air; the Llandudno 'B' players could sense it. There was something different about their hosts' green aswell; the players realised that on their roll-up. It was far heavier than they had ever known it to be, and woods were not following jack land. The marks had definately changed from previous years; but it would be o.k. once the match started. Sure enough, the first three blocks off the green were Llandudno winners, but a slight alarm chime sounded when Peter Rigby, one of the team's strongest players, came off with an 8-21 deficit. True, he had lost to a strong opponent but Peter had always got a good result here. Moira Wright then came off with a 5-21 loss with Gareth Roberts following 19-21, alarm bells now clanging! Frances Forrest, after holding her opponent all the way, suddenly went down like a lead balloon 15-21 coming off the green at the same time as Wendy Poynton who had gone down like a lead Zeppelin 5-21. Her opponent had taken a nasty knock on his ankle early in the game by a jack cast by one of his own players, but after treating it with ice he continued, obviously not affecting his game. A win by Clive Brook couldn't make up for a bad loss by Marc Morris 7-21 and so it had come to pass. People in the houses surrounding the green suddenly heard cheers and shouts of joy which were unheard of in recent years on a Saturday. The noise even drowned out the 'Birdie Song' which had been playing from one of the houses throughout the match. So, on May 30th 2009, Rhyl won their first Coast League match since 2005, 8-6, fifty-eight matches later. There were suspicions among some Llandudno 'B' players that they had watered the green just prior to our arrival, thus making it heavy, but we couldn't begrudge their win. Three cheers for Rhyl! (Just for the record - Rhyl's last win was against the old Dyserth 'B' in 2005, and the last time they won against us was a 10-4 win in 2003). 

• 07/06/09: The Arthur Milner Trophy was won by a pairing of Alan Davies & Edith Sawyer.

• 17/06/09: Llandudno 'B' won their Consolation Cup first round match against Betws-yn-Rhos 'B' 267-223 at Colwyn Bay RBL.

• 21/06/09: Llandudno Bowling Club's Gordon Dunnet Cup was won by Peter Rigby & Wendy Poynton who beat a strong pairing of Chris Armor & Gordon Telford in the final.

• 22/06/09: The Ladies Harold Stafford Cup was won by Pam Farrell.

• 27/06/09: The halfway point in the Saturday League has almost been reached, and what are the 'B' teams thoughts on the games so far played? Well, apart from today when we expected to get hammered at Pen-y-Groes (which we did, but they are great hosts and they are good friends of ours) and the surprise we got at Rhyl (see above) the match that stands out is Benllech away. That was a fun day we had, fun in the sense of going on Doctor Death's Doomride at Alton Towers. We've played on greens that were fast before (including our own at times) but this was beyond fast, it was Supersonic. Forget playing on a snooker table, the best description was that you were playing on glass! Seriously, you were doing well to keep one wood on the green, if you kept two on you were winning! Even the Benllech players were struggling at times but in the end they knew just how much to give it, they adjusted; but we couldn't. We considered tying our bowling arms to our bodies but even that would have been hit or miss: one of our players said that on one end he didn't give any arm or hand action at all, just flicked his middle finger and even that wood shot away like it was heading for the pub over the road. We really did well to get three winners there against a team, barring a disaster of epic proportions, should take the Section 'D' title.

• 29/06/09: Llandudno 'B' won their second round Consolation Cup clash with Llanfairfechan 'A' 233-200, at Rhos-on-Sea. This year's Dave Hughes Memorial Trophy Open Pairs Competition will take place on Sunday October 4th. Details:

 The Green has now closed for the winter.

Marc Morris, a winner at last: 'B' team averages C.L.D.L.