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Westlands Club News 2022

Division 1 Title Retained by Oakhill Jubilee League Team

In 2022 our Oakhill No. 1 Team, captained by Paul Curley, retained the Oakhill Jubilee Division 1 Title.
This is the 4th time the Club have topped this League, having been successful in 2015, 2018 and 2021.
In the past 9 seasons the team have been remarkably consistent - having won 4 Championships, had 4 runner-up spots and being once placed 3rd.
Their success is built on a superb home record, their last home defeat was in September 2018.
Well done Paul and the team.

Saturday Mixed League Division 2 Championship

In 2022, our Saturday Mixed 'B' Team won the Division 2 Championship.
During the season Terry Bloor and Steve Wyatt have had spells as captain of the team.
The Club has entered teams in this League since 1998, our only previous title was winning the Div 2 Championship in 2005.
We have not had a team in Division 1 of the League since 2010.
In his 1st season with the Club Rich Braxton deserves a special mention for winning all his 11 games.
Congratulations to Steve, Terry and all the team - good luck in Division 1.

2022 Season Misc.

In addition to the above League Champions the Club also had a League Runner-up.
Our Industries League 'A' Team, captained by Mike Bougourd, were runners up in Division 3.
They clinched 2nd place in a very tight finish with Tittensor (2576 points to 2571 points). 
Their success will probably result in a rapid return to Division 2 following their relegation in 2019.
Well done Mike and the team.
 

Not all good news - It looks likely that 3 of our teams will be relegated

The Sat Parks No. 1 team finished 11 points from safety. They had received a 21 point deduction for using an unregistered player - this will probably end their 20+ year stay in Division 1.

The Parks No 1 Thurs team also look likely to be relegated after being in Division 1 since 2003.

Our Stoke-on-Trent No. 2 team will probably be relegated from Division 2.

 

Steve Howe has passed on some photos


Westlands Club News 2021

Oakhill Jubilee League Division 1 Champions 2021

Our No 1 Oakhill team, captained by Graham Joines, won the 2021 Oakhill Jubilee Division 1 Championship.
This is the 3rd time the Club have won this title, having been successful in 2015 and 2018.
Since 2013 the team have been remarkably consistent - having achieved 3 titles and 4 runners-up spots.
Well done Graham and the team.

Dave Pedlar wins 2021 Newcastle League
Champion of Champions Merits
 

The Newcastle League "Champion of Champions" competition is held towards the end of each season.
Each Club is invited to select a player to represent them in this singles merit competition.
In previous years the format had been to have a winner for each Division. However in the 2021 competition, players from the 3 Divisions were grouped together.
The 2021 Competition was held on Sunday 29th August on the Queen Elizabeth green. 
Dave Pedlar was chosen to represent the Club and he did us proud by winning the competition.
In the Quarter Final Dave had a 21-17 win against Jane Cooper (Barlaston Plume).
In the Semi-Final he beat James Berrisford (Q Elizabeth) 21-14. In the other Semi, Stuart Kirkham (Halmerend) accounted for Peter Hussey (Chesterton).
In the Final, Dave clinched the title with a 21-16 win against Stuart.
Congratulations Dave on this success.

Westlands Club News 2019

Congleton League Division 1 2019 Championship

Congleton League Division 1 is unquestionably the toughest League we play in.
Our Congleton team, captained by Richard Burgess, had a superb season and won the 2019 Division 1 Championship.
This is the the 2nd time the Club have captured this title, the previous occasion was in 2015.
There was a tense climax to the season as with 1 match to play Congleton Park were 1 point ahead, both teams were away in their final fixture.
Our side produced the perfect finale to the season having all 8 winners - giving them the league title by 45 points.
Martin Walker finished 2nd in the League averages with Richard Burgess and Kevin Boon in 4th and 5th spots.
Congratulations to Richard and the team on this great achievement.


Stoke-on-Trent League Division 3 Champions

Congratulations to Graham Joines and his team on winning the Stoke-on-Trent Division 3 Championship.
After spending 5 seasons in Division 2, the team were relegated in 2018.
It is great to see them immediately bounce back into Division 2.
The Club had twice been runners-up in Division 3 but this is the first time we have finished as Champions of this Division.  
Well done Graham and the team.


2019 British Parks Veterans Individual Merits
Alan Boulton reaches Final - for 2nd consecutive year

Alan Boulton did us proud to reach the final of this National Competition.
The event was held at Hollingwood Hotel, Chesterfield on 9th September.
There were 47 competitors representing various County Associations.
Full details of this event can be found on 2019 Veterans Individual Merit

Details of Alan's progress to the final was as follows: -

Stage

Score Opponent Association
Semi-Final 21 - 15 Geoff Smith N Derbyshire
Quarter Final 21 - 8 Mick Heaton N Derbyshire
Round 2 21 - 14 John Simpson North Staffs
Round 1 21 - 10 Melvyn Newton N Derbyshire

Steve Marshall and Alan

Alan's opponent in the final was Steve Marshall, South Yorkshire. Steve built up a 20-12 lead on marks Alan not played earlier in the competition. On regaining the jack, Alan recovered to lie 20-20. He then played both his woods to within 2 ft of the jack. His opponent's first wood was "nowhere" but Steve then played a front toucher to clinch the game 21-20. Alan has now entered this competition 5 times - been runner-up twice and reached the semi-final twice, a remarkably consistent record.


Ian Carter wins 2019 Westlands Cup

The final Club competition of 2019 was the Westlands Cup Singles Handicap, held on Sunday 8th September.
27 members took part on a lovely warm, sunny afternoon.

Everyone had 4 games of 10 ends. This involved playing a total of 54 games so both greens (and the organisers!) remained fully occupied.
Fresh from his triumph in the President's Cup, Bernard Regan established a convincing early lead.
After 3 sessions there was a mid session interval when everyone enjoyed a lovely buffet, organised by Janice Adams.
 The refreshment break must have broke Bernard's concentration and for him it was definitely "a game of two halves".
On the resumption, Ian Carter and Simon Tideswell closed down his lead and both eventually overtook him.
The final outcome was a win for Ian on 21 points with Simon a point behind on 20 points. With 17 points Bernard just pipped Janice to 3rd place.
Congratulations to Ian on his first success in this competition.

Many thanks to Janice Adams and John Ford who have done a fantastic job in organising our competitions over the past 2 years.
 Thanks also to those helping to cater for us during the afternoons - our "half-time buffets" have been excellent.
 Last, but not least, thanks to everyone who supported the competitions either as player, marker, helping in the kitchen, etc.     photos


Bernard Regan wins 2019 Presidents Cup  

40 members took part in this year's knock-out competition which runs throughout the season.
The final between Bernard Regan and Tony Smith was played on Friday 6th September.
Both players had one previous win in this competition, Bernard won in 1994 and Tony in 1990.
This final proved to be one of shifting fortunes. In the early stages Tony established a healthy lead but Bernard is a tenacious wily old veteran and he eventually got the better of his much younger opponent, winning 21-16.
Congratulations to Bernard on winning the most difficult competition in the Club's Calendar. Well done to Tony on reaching the Final.
Paul Curley and Paul Rushton also did extremely well to reach the semi-final stage of this Competition.
Unfortunately none of the crowd (Joe) had a camera on the day. It's obviously been a thankless task trying to find a shot of Bernard near any trophy. The one shown was taken some weeks ago but is the best we can do.
Many thanks to John and Janice for organising this and all our other Club Competitions.


2019 Westlands Triples Success
 for Bernard, Janice, Joe and John
 

The 2019 "Westlands Triples" was held on Sunday 21st July.

28 members took part on a warm sunny afternoon.

The 28 players were split into 8 teams - 4 players in 4 teams and 3 players in the other 4 teams.

Each team was scheduled to play 4 games of 7 ends (teams having 4 players rested 1 in each game).

Bernard's Bunch came out on top with a score of 14 points.

Dave's Dazzlers (Dave Shepherd, Josie Longmore and David J Brown) matched their performance of 2018 by finishing in second place.

This was after a play off with Decker's Duffers after both had finished with 11 points.

Congratulations to Bernard, Janice John and Joe.

The Club appreciate the continued hard work of Janice Adams and John Ford in organising this competition.
Thanks also to those helping to cater for us during the afternoon - our "half-time buffet" was absolutely super.
 Last but not least thanks to everyone who supported this competition either as player, marker, helping in the kitchen, etc.


2019 Janet Mairs Trophy
Won by Julie Dale and John Shuker

Westlands Bowling Club and Westlands Ladies Bowling Club have been jointly holding a Mixed Doubles Competition since 1982.
In 2013, the Janet Mairs Trophy Competition replaced the Westlands Mixed Doubles.
Many thanks to Janice Adams and John Ford for kindly organising the 2019 Competition.
 28 members took part in the event which was held on Sunday June 2nd.
It was cool but dry for most of the afternoon but a fairly heavy shower arrived towards the latter stages.

In the preliminary series, everyone played 4 short games with a different partner.
The field included last year's winners, Ann Davies and Alfie Glaze.
Aided by her partner, Ann again got off to a great start but failed to receive similar support from later partners.
Alfie also started well but a 17-0 defeat certainly put paid to his chances.

At the conclusion of this phase, everyone enjoyed an excellent buffet - thanks to the hard work of the ladies.
The 4 highest scoring ladies and the 4 highest scoring gents then progressed to the play-offs.
 

In the game for 3rd place Doreen Yorke and Dave Shepherd had an 8-5 win against Chris Shuker and Graham Atherton.

In the Final, Julie Dale and John Shuker captured the Janet Mairs Trophy with a 7-5 success win over Dorothy Sumnall and Bernard Regan. As a newcomer to the game, Dorothy had done exceptionally well to reach the final.

Congratulations to Julie and John who were both winning their first mixed doubles title at the Club.
                                                                    
Photos

Many thanks to all who entered and helped to keep everything running smoothly during the afternoon.
The Club are most grateful to Janice and John for providing another very enjoyable afternoon. 

Westlands Club News 2018

 

Congleton League Team win 2018 "Frank Green 6 a side Trophy"

Congratulations to Richard Burgess and his team on winning this competition for the 5th time in the last 6 years.
The only gap in this exceptional run was in 2015 when they certainly made up by winning the Division A title.
The "Frank Green 6 a Side" is a Knock-Out Competition for teams playing in the Congleton League.
Teams are handicapped and games played under floodlights on neutral greens.
The 19 teams entering this year's competition included all 10 sides from Division A.
In the 1st round they had a very close 122-119 win against Congleton Park.
In the following round they beat Birches Head Hotel 124-92 and in the semi-final had a 121-100 win against Cricket Club 'A'.
The final against Knypersley 'A' was at Congleton Coronation Club on 1/10/18, match details are below.

Knypersley 'A'

Westlands

Andrew Page 9 21 Craig Podmore

Mick Bate 10 21 Martin Walker
Ray Smallman 21 12 Kevin Boon
Peter Smith 13 21 Steve Howe
Graham Slack 2 21 Richard Burgess
Adam Lamb 14 21 Matt Hill

Handicap

+ 38 + 8

Handicap

Knypersley 'A' Total

107 125 Westlands Total

Another 6 a side success


Oakhill Jubilee League Division 1 Champions

Our No 1 Oakhill team, captained by Graham Joines, won the Oakhill Jubilee Division 1 Championship.
This is the 2nd time the Club have won this title, the previous one was in 2015.
In the period 2013-2018 the team have always finished in the top 2.
Two titles and 4 runner-up spots in 6 seasons is a remarkably consistent record.  
Well done Graham and the team.


Oakhill Jubilee League Division 3 Champions

Our Oakhill team, captained by Stan Wilkes, won the Oakhill Jubilee Division 3 Championship.
The team was formed in 2014 when they entered the League in Division 5.
In 2015 they were runners-up and gained promotion into Division 4.  
In 2016 they won the Division 4 Championship and were promoted into Division 3.
By winning the Division 3 title they have now earned their 3rd promotion in 5 years.
Well done Stan and the team.


2018 British Parks Vets Individual Merits
Alan Boulton Reaches Final
Alan Boulton did exceptionally well to reach the final of this National Competition.
The event was held at Chester Road Bowling Club, Whitchurch on 10th September.
There were 55 competitors representing various County Associations.
Alan reached the final with wins against Ian Woodward (E Midlands), Phil Burndred (N Staffs), Derek Hawksworth (S Yorks) and Dave Redfern (E Midlands).
In the final Alan lost 21 - 10 to Derek Wright (North Shropshire).

Derek Wright and Alan with Esselle Representative (sponsor).


Chris Shuker wins 2018 Westlands Cup  

The Westlands Cup is a singles handicap competition, 24 members played in the 2018 event, held on Sunday 9th September.
Games were over 10 ends with players receiving a handicap between 0 and 5.
There was a random draw and initially everyone played 4 games. The top 8 players then played a 5th game.
After 4 games John Ford led, closely followed by Chris Shuker, Mark Hall and John Cross.
The final series of games, involving the top 8 players, turned things around.
Chris Shuker then emerged the clear winner with a score of 25.
John Ford was in 2nd place on 17 points just ahead of John Wilburn on 15 and Mark Hall on 14.
John and Mark are both quite new (Mark's 1st season) to the game and both did really well to reach the top 4.
Congratulations Chris, only the 3rd lady to win this event.

The Club appreciate the hard work of Janice Adams and John Ford in organising all our 2018 competitions.
Thanks also to those helping to cater for us during the afternoons - our "half-time buffets" have been great.
 Last, but not least, thanks to everyone who supported the 2018 competitions either as player, marker, helping in the kitchen, etc.


Alan Boulton wins
2018 Shropshire Vets Merits
Held at Donnington Wood on Tuesday 12 June

Congratulations to Alan on winning the Shropshire County Vets Merits.
The competition was held on a glorious, but very tiring, hot Summer day.
Alan was winning this title for the second time following his success in 2014.
In the final he narrowly defeated Keith Owen 21-19.
Alan had also reached the final in 2015 when he lost out to Mick Jones, Newport.

Alan, the trophy and "those woods"


2018 Westlands Triples Success
 for Derek, Chris and John
 

The 2018 "Westlands Triples" was held on Sunday 8th July.
24 members took part on a warm sunny afternoon.
A random draw determined the 8 teams. Mo and Phil were most successful in this ballot (but failed to capitalise on their good fortune).
The teams each played 4 games of 7 ends and throughout the event league positions constantly fluctuated.
The eventual winners were Derek Adams, Christine Shuker and John Yates with 20 points.
Dave Brown, Janice Brown and John Shuker, the only team to win all their games, were in second spot with 14 points.
Third place went to Ian Carter, Julie Dale and Doug Longmore with 13 points.
Congratulations to Derek, Chris and John

The Club appreciate the hard work of Janice Adams and John Ford in organising this competition.
Thanks also to those helping to cater for us during the afternoon - our "half-time buffet" was absolutely lovely.
 Last but not least thanks to everyone who supported this competition either as player, marker, helping in the kitchen, etc.


Julie Dale and Ian Carter win
Saturday Mixed League Doubles Title

Many congratulations to Julie Dale and Ian Carter for winning the Saturday Mixed League Doubles Merits.
A total of 24 couples were involved in preliminary games on 16th June.
Julie and Ian qualified for Finals Day through 2 wins at Hollybush, Stockton Brook.
To capture the title they pulled off 3 more wins in the Finals, held at Little Stoke C.C. on 7th July.
In winning the event they went one better than in 2016 when they were runners up.
They are the first Westlands pair to win the Mixed League Doubles title.
Janice Brown and Dave Shepherd also did well to qualify for Finals Day when they reached the Semi-Final.
Finals Day Results


Janet Mairs Trophy 2018
Success for Ann Davies and Alfie Glaze

Westlands Bowling Club and Westlands Ladies Bowling Club have been jointly organising a Mixed Doubles Competition since 1982.
In 2013, the Janet Mairs Trophy Competition replaced the Westlands Mixed Doubles.
Janice Adams and John Ford kindly organised the 2018 Competition.
Sunday June 3rd provided a perfect Summer afternoon for the record field of 34 competitors which included last year's winners Doreen Yorke and Derek Adams.
Before starting the competition, a minutes silence was observed in fond memory of Harry Hulme.

In the preliminary series everyone played 4 short games with a different partner. There were some very tight encounters but a notable exception was a resounding 16-0 success for Doreen and Norman. To avoid any embarrassment, Julie suggested it would be a good idea not to name their opponents!
At the conclusion of this phase, the 4 highest scoring ladies and the 4 highest scoring gents progressed to the play-offs.
In the game for 3rd place Janice Adams and Bernard Regan had a 10-2 win against Glenys Wilburn and Derek Adams.
In the Final, Ann Davies and Alfie Glaze captured the Janet Mairs Trophy with a 9-4 success against Chris Shuker and Norman Thompson.
Congratulations to Ann and Alfie who were both winning their first mixed doubles title at the Club.
                                                                     Photos

Many thanks to all who entered and helped to keep everything running smoothly during the afternoon.
The Club are most grateful to Janice Adams and John Ford for organising this competition. 



Westlands Club News 2017

Congleton League Team win "Frank Green 6 a side Trophy"

The "Frank Green 6 a Side" is a Knock-Out Competition for teams playing in the Congleton League.
Congratulations to Richard Burgess and his team on winning this competition for the 4th time in the last 5 years.
This is a remarkable achievement as the Congleton League is very competitive with some really strong teams.
In this year's competition 9 of the 16 entries were from Division A.
Teams are handicapped and games played under floodlights on neutral greens .
En route to the final, the Westlands team pulled off some very close wins.
In the quarter final they beat Clough Hall 111-108 and followed this with a 106-103 win against Norton Central A in the semi-final.
The final, against Congleton Park was at Congleton Coronation Club on 2/10/17, details are below.

Congleton Park

Westlands

Matt Goodwin 11 21 Martin Walker
Paul Dale 21 17 Kevin Boon
Dave Lunn 20 21 Adam Jackson
Bill Danford 21 14 Matt Hill
Tom Hornsby 6 21 Richard Burgess
Paul Charlesworth 21 18 Steve Howe

Handicap

+ 10 0

Handicap

Congleton Park Total 110 112 Westlands Total

Victorious Westlands Team

Martin gave Westlands the perfect start by nullifying the 10 point handicap deficit.
However, the Congleton team fought back over the next 3 games to restore their 10 point advantage.
Richard then put on a great display to give Westlands a 5 point lead which meant that Steve needed to score 17 points in the last game.
The final game turned out to be a real "cliff-hanger". Steve established a 15-6 lead and needed just 2 more points to give Westlands the trophy. Paul then started to play some inspired bowling and with a sequence of 8 points clawed back to 14-15. Steve broke this run with a single to lie on 16 points, which guaranteed us at least a tie. Paul then resumed his great run to go 20-16 up and it seemed likely that a play-off game would be needed. However Steve managed to win the next end to get the 17th vital point. Paul eventually won the game 21-18 but Steve had done enough to capture the trophy for Westlands with a narrow 112 points to 110 points
victory.
Well done Richard and the team.


Harry Hulme wins the 2017 Westlands Cup

Nineteen members played in this year's competition which was held on Sunday 10th September.

Players were divided into 2 groups, A and B, according to their handicap rating. Everyone played 3 limited ends matches against members of their own group. The winner and runner-up of each group went forward to the semi-finals.

Harry Hulme topped Group A with Tony Colclough being runner-up. Stan Wilkes headed Group B with Phil Shaw the runner-up.
During the series of Round Robin games the weather was overcast but remained dry. However as soon as we took a break for refreshments the rain arrived.
The rain persisted throughout the semi-finals where both games were closely fought. After taking handicaps into account Harry beat Phil by just 1 point and Tony beat Stan by the same margin.

The rain eased for the final in which Harry defeated Tony by 9-4.
This was the second time Harry had won the Westland's Cup, the previous occasion being in 2009. Tony had won this competition in 2001.

Many thanks to everyone who entered this competition and provided the food for an excellent buffet. Also my grateful thanks to everyone who has supported the Club's competition during my five year stint as Competitions Secretary.

Many thanks to Bernard Oates for this report. Members really appreciate the tremendous work of Bernard during his 5 years as Competitions Secretary.

Harry and Tony


Division 2 Championship for Westlands Ladies

Many congratulations to Westlands Ladies for topping Division 2 of the Thursday Evening Ladies League.
In 2018 Chris Bougourd and her team will now play in the top flight of local Ladies' Bowls.


Harry Walklet wins the President's Cup for the third year running

Thirty-five members entered this year's President's Cup. The knockout competition took place throughout the season starting with the preliminary round in May and ending with the final between Paul Curley and Harry Walklet on the 1st September.

In early rounds Paul beat Derek Adams, Eric Machin and Josie Longmore and in the semi-final accounted for John Ford.
Harry had wins against Vince Cartwright, Harry Hulme and Ben Jackson before defeating Bernard Regan in the semi-final.

During the final, a handful of spectators saw Paul's early lead whittled away until Harry took the lead. During the rest of the game Harry maintained his advantage and ran out winner by 21 to 16.

Congratulations to both Paul and Harry for their success in reaching the final and particularly to Harry for winning the President's Cup for the third year running. He becomes the first player to win this title in three consecutive years.

My thanks to all the participants who made sure they played their games by the agreed deadline and thus made it possible for the competition to progress smoothly throughout the summer months.

Many thanks to Bernard Oates for this report. Members are very grateful to Bernard for his tremendous work in the role of Competitions Secretary.

Harry and Paul


Club Triples Competition - Sunday 9th July

Bowling conditions were ideal for the inaugural Club Triples Competition.
The 21 entrants were divided into three teams, Red, Blue and Green and each contestant played in three games over four rounds.
There was some high scoring in the first two rounds and the Red Team, captained by Harry Walklet, took an early lead. The last two rounds were much closer but the Red Team retained their advantage and overall they accumulated 37 points at the expense of the other two teams.
Congratulations to Harry and the other six members of the Red Team: -
Derek Adams, Mo Clarke, Julie Dale, Alfie Glaze, David Shepherd, and John Shuker.

Before the final session, players and their supporters took a break to enjoy the buffet food that everyone had kindly brought. My thanks to everyone who entered and to to those who helped to keep everything running smoothly throughout the day and especially Dave Brown who printed the score cards and prepared each one prior to each game.

Bernard Oates


Social Bowling Day - Sunday 4th June

35 members took part in a Club Social Day.
5 teams played a series of doubles games against each other.
We started in perfect bowling weather but, midway through the schedule, a shower caused a delay of about 30 minutes. The rain slowed the greens and thus offset the skill of the more gifted players. 
Nevertheless the outcome of the event was a real surprise as "Machin's Marvels" finished in top spot.

Machin's Marvels
On paper the winning team looked a very weak outfit lacking the skill or panache of the legendary Tony's Touchers (who are more photogenic) Their final total was +31 which just pipped the Touchers on +13.
Mo's Mob were in 3rd spot with a total of + 7

Members of the winning team (Larger Photo) were: -
Eric Machin (capt), Graham (ringer) Adams, Janice Brown, Julie Dale, Sylvia Oates, Dave Shepherd and John Shuker

Many thanks to everyone who supported this event.
Special thanks to Jean and Angela for their usual help with catering arrangements

Janet Mairs Trophy 2017
Success for Doreen Yorke and Derek Adams

The 2017 event was held on Sunday May 14th and attracted 26 competitors.
During the competition we were delighted to receive a visit from Margaret Rushworth and some members of her family who viewed the photograph of our late President, Mike Rushworth, that now hangs in the Janet Mairs Pavilion. They also stayed to watch members compete for the Trophy which Mike had generously donated to the Club five years ago.
The weather during the afternoon was ideal for bowling. The only shower arrived just as players and guests took a break to enjoy the excellent buffet to which everyone had kindly contributed.

During the round-robin stage everyone played three games.
The four highest scoring ladies and the four highest scoring men then went through to the semi-finals.
In one semi-final the highest scoring man, Ian Carter, partnered by Janice Adams lost by 1 chalk to the highest scoring lady, Doreen Yorke, and Derek Adams.
The other semi-final was even closer with a tie break decider giving Rob Newton and Hilary Dale victory over Ann Davies and Peter Walthall.
In the final Derek and Doreen ran out 11-4 winners of the Trophy with Hilary and Rob being worthy runners-up.
Doreen and Derek were both winning their first mixed doubles title at the Club.
                                                                     Photos

Congratulations to all four finalists and thanks to those who entered and helped to keep everything running smoothly.
Special thanks to Dave Brown for all his help before and during the competition.
The Club are most grateful to Bernard Oates for organising this competition and for providing the above summary. 

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