Pairs League Wrap Up

The pairs league came to an end for the 2021 season. Bill Cuthill and Joan Theriault (#4 seed) played Frank Buck and Joyce-Ann Bacon (#3 seed) for the Red Amos Trophy, awarded to the 'B' side champions of the pairs league. Frank and Joyce-Ann were looking to repeat as the 'B' champions.

Bill and Joan asked that the game be only 6 ends due to medical issues and Frank and Joyce-Ann consented to the abbreviated game. Frank and Joyce-Ann were up 2 heading into the last end, but Bill and Joan counted 2 to send the game to an extra end. In the extra end, Bill and Joan scored one to win the game 7-6 and capture the Amos Trophy.

On the championship side, Wes and Jean Bresee (#1 seed) took on Barb and Curt Moll (#2 seed) Sunday afternoon. This game would be a rematch of last years final. It wasn't meant to be for the Moll's as the Bresee's eked out a 7-6 win to win their second consecutive H.J. Cove Memorial Trophy.

Thank you to all the teams this year for your participation!

Third Annual Yardstick Tournament

The Third Annual Yardstick Tournament was held on the weekend with 13 participants vying for a chance to win one of the coveted meter sticks. 

A yardstick tournament is a bit different from a regular games of bowls. All the usual rules apply except for the following:

• all the bowls that are in a one yard radius of the jack, score.
• the closest bowl to the jack is worth two points and that team gets the mat to start the next end. 

Drawing to or drawing close to the jack becomes vital. 

This year we ran the yardstick like a jitney - players re-drew for pairs teams after each game. We played three games. Players' points earned by their teams go towards the point total.

On the women's side, Barb Moll was the high lady with 68 points. Jean Bresee and Roz Fisher tied for second at 66 points so they had to play a tiebreaker end. Roz came out on top in the tiebreaker and was awarded second place, while Jean had to settle for third. 

The men's side saw Allen Hunt score 69 points - 10 more than the second place finishers - and there were three men who tied for second. This also required a tiebreaker end. Curt Moll, Wes Bresee, and Frank Buck played the tiebreaker and Curt came out on top, with Wes earning the second closest bowl. Curt would finish in second place, while Wes took third, and Frank finishing just outside of the prizes. 

Singles League Wraps Up

The 2021 singles league came to a close tonight with the men's gold/silver match, and the bronze medal match. 

In the semi-finals, played over the weekend, #1 Wes Bresee defeated #4 Curt Moll 13-11, while #3 Steve Benanzon defeated #2 Mike Gilchrist 14-4.

The finals saw a re-match between Wes and Stephen with Wes coming out on top this year with a resounding 14-5 win. In the bronze medal match, Curt took the match 13-6 over Mike. 

Barb was declared the ladies champion for the second year in a row. 

National Team Members at Club

Monday afternoon saw members of the Kos and Watson families from the Regina Lawn Bowling Club stop in at the club on their way to British Columbia. Carter and Brandon Watson, along with Jordan Kos, are all Under 25 National Bowls Team members. In fact, Jordan will most likely play at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England in 2022. Carter and Brandon also have a shot of going to England, too.

Bowls Alberta Visit

Pat Vos, Executive Director of Bowls Alberta, and Heather Mackie, Secretary of Bowls Alberta, stopped in for a visit to the club. Pat went over the things that Bowls Alberta and Bowls Canada Boulgrin do for member clubs. The entire Medicine Hat board attended the supper meeting.

After a meal, the board went outside and Pat showed us how to use a bowling arm. Bowling arms were designed to assist bowlers that have trouble bending down. It took a couple of rolls, but most members of the board were able to roll a bowl with the bowling arm. Pat left the club a bowling arm.

Pat also did a little coaching with the Ubi Launchers, of which the club has six. Again, it takes a few rolls to get the hang of it. 

There is a good chance we will be having a tournament in 2022 in which participants must use the bowling arm, an Ubi Launcher, or their weak arm to play. 

Pairs and Novice Pairs Tournament Champs Crowned

Lead Pam Hodgkinson and Skip Linda Bower.
2021 Novice Pairs Champions

On a Sunday morning with rain showers, the club crowned a new novice pairs champion. Skip Linda Bower and Lead Pam Hodgkinson took on Skip Beth Davies and Lead Joyce-Ann Bacon. Bower and Hodgkinson came out on top with an 11-6 victory. 

Simultaneously, a pairs tournament was held and Skip Barb Moll and Lead Curt Moll won 9-3 over Skip Mike Gilchrist and Lead Ryan Gilchrist. 

Pairs and Novice Paris Tournament

Four teams have signed up to play in the pairs tournament on Sunday.

The teams of Mike Gilchrist/Ryan Gilchrist and Barb Moll/Curt Moll are in the non-novice category.

Linda Bower/Pam Hodgkinson and Beth Davies/Joyce-Ann Bacon will play int he novice category.

All  teams will play each other once. The third matches of the day will be the championship finals in each category. This also marks the first time in the last three novice tournaments a Bresee isn't going to be in the finals. 

Novice Champions from 2019
Wes and Jean Bresee

Life Memberships Awarded

The club honoured two long time and involved members tonight prior to Wednesday jitney. Ron Gebhardt and Gerry Aitken were honoured with a commemorative trophy, and their spouses were given bouquets of flowers. 

Ron thanked those in attendance for such an honour and made a special shout out to past member, Dennis Seher, for all he did when he was able. Ron's wife, Pat, was always present at our tournaments and other special events organizing the meals.

Gerry also thanked those in attendance and urged members to volunteer at the club. Gerry was responsible for getting a couple of major projects off the ground, including replacing the upper green 9-10 years ago. Gerry mentioned how much time he spent at the club some days, much to the dismay of his wife, Betty. 

Thank you, Ron and Gerry, for your years of service to the club!

Here is the story from the Medicine Hat News - on the front page!

https://medicinehatnews.com/news/local-news/2021/08/06/lawn-bowling-club-honours-crucial-members/

Club President Joan Theriault, with Life Membership recipients Ron Gebhardt and Gerry Aitken

Life Memberships for Gebhardt and Aitken

The club will hold a short ceremony Wednesday to award two members with the honour of "Life Member" - Ron Gebhardt and Gerry Aitken.

Ron has been a longtime member of the club and has acted on the executive board as secretary. For several years he was also in charge of rentals. He would go to the club to open it up and then teach guests how to lawn bowl. Ron was also the guy to call if you needed something fixed or transported. He participated in jitneys for years as well as participating in our in-house tournaments and provincial tournaments.

Gerry was the club's vice-president for many years and was largely responsible for getting the upper green turf replaced. He worked tirelessly on applying for grants, caring for the greens, and finding others to work the greens. He and Pete Simpson from Royal Lawn Bowling Club in Edmonton were responsible for starting the Medicine Hat Memorial Tournament - a tournament designed to get those who don't go to regular provincial tournaments to participate. They wanted an experienced player, a novice player, and a new player to form a team for the tournament. This tournament has been put on hold the last couple of years dues to Covid, but we hope to get it going again in 2022. Gerry was always welcoming of new bowlers and was patient with them by helping them to learn to roll a bowl and by teaching them the intricacies of the game. 

The ceremony will take place on Wednesday, August 5 starting at 6:50, just before jitney. Anyone is welcome to attend.