Smooth sailing at trips
BODEAUX – Stakes are high at 37th annual tournament at Old Parktonian Bowls Club.
The first week of the annual Apio Trips tournament played through without a hitch at Old Parktonian Bowls Club on 27 July.
Twenty-four teams from 12 clubs across Joburg spent the first of five Saturday mornings at the Bordeaux club accumulating points that would carry for the rest of the tournament.
The sun shone down kindly on the players as they filled the two greens with joyful cheering after each good bowl, or the odd laugh of frustration when a bowl went awry.
“The atmosphere has been competitive but also friendly and congenial,” said event organiser, Maurice Buckland.
“The match-ups were randomly drawn from a hat this time but now the winners play the winners and the losers play the losers. We expect stronger teams to take the lead in the next few weeks.”
Already the standard of bowling was impressive on the first day, as teams knew that every point mattered.
The format of the tournament is called three-bowl trips, which means teams are comprised of three players and they each get three bowls per end.
The teams are mixed, so can comprise any number of men or women.
Cash prizes await the best teams. First place gets R4 200, second place R3 000, third place R2 400 and fourth place R1 200.
The tournament has run for about 37 years and includes clubs of the Johannesburg Bowls Association as well as Sables Bowling Association.
Buckland described the tournament as being a popular one that never has trouble attracting bowlers.
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