Good Week For Burpham Bowling Club

Published on: 21 May, 2019
Updated on: 21 May, 2019

Report by Ian Mackrell

We travelled to Bramley, a new venue for us, on Tuesday, May 14. It is their first year in the Guildford, Woking & District League.

The club has no watering system, which, given last summer’s horrendous drought, they’ve prepared an unusual looking, but playable, green. Well done Bramley.

They were excellent hosts, conceding wins to Burpham, narrowly, on both rinks.

In sunshine, but a cold breeze, we visited West End on Thursday, May 16, to challenge them in the Knaphill Triples Zone 1. Their green looked splendid, but was both soggy and tricky to gauge the amount of bias needed.

Carolyn Hart showing finesse, with Glenda Mogg and Carolyn’s husband, David, in the background. Thursday, May 16 at West End.

Fortunately, we mastered it quicker than they did, and ran out winners on both rinks by a substantial margin.

Two newcomers being coached at Burpham on May 16.

All Burpham players returned after Thursday’s match at West End to the clubhouse. The green was bathed in evening sunshine. Most rinks were being used, including a coaching class for beginners.

Burpham’s success continued on Friday, May 17, with Glenda Mogg and Wendy Sheldon progressing to the third round in the Surrey Pairs. The highlight of the match was not just the win, but the exemplary courteousness of all four players. Well done all four of you!

The weather forecast for Saturday, May 18, looked decidedly uncertain. We all opted for the most optimistic forecast, kept our wet gear in the bags, and hosted Milford for our second West Surrey League and Sapphire League matches. Under partially threatening skies, the two league matches were tight throughout the afternoon, watched by a large number of home and away supporters.

The two club captains announcing the teams. Burpham, Saturday May 18.

In the end Burpham won the West Surrey League match but very narrowly lost the Sapphire. It started to rain only as we arrived home – good for bowls and good for the garden too.

After the match we hosted a supper for not only the 42 players in the West Surrey and the Sapphire Leagues, but also for some of the travelling supporters. Yes, it was a tight squeeze, but everyone tucked into the food with relish, as there was none left over! John Miller behind the bar was also smiling from ear to ear – expect his takings were rather good too!