New coal thrown on the embers of friendly Honeydew and Randburg bowls rivalry

Honeydew Bowling Club welcomed Randburg Bowls Club for the continuation of a decade-long duel.

The Randburg/ Honeydew Challenge is an annual invitational that pits 48 of each club’s toughest competitors in a mixed fours battle royale for cross-suburb bragging rights. The competition was tight on the greens but charity and friendship were the overriding themes of it, with the Randburg SPCA the honorary recipients of the accompanying annual charitable donation.

This was the first post-pandemic iteration of the challenge with this year being Honeydew’s year to accept the alternating hosting duties. The 15-end games were followed by a short prize-giving while players awaited the tallying of the aggregate scores. Randburg president, Estelle Greyling won the lucky cash draw while Pat Bothma won the raffle for a bottle of Honour cognac and a bottle of Amarula.

Contributions for the SPCA donation were raised through a ‘Spider’, where each player rolls one bowl in a closest-to-the-jack competition. Stuart Cook was the winning ace and together the clubs raised R1 000 which was handed over to Randburg SPCA management committee member Ashtyn Mackenzie.

“It was so heart-warming to see that the work we do at our society is valued. Community initiatives like this aid our mandate to end animal cruelty. Thank you to the bowls clubs of Honeydew and Randburg for their support, their bowls competition will help fill the bowls of our animals,” said Ashtyn.

Despite one eye on the scorecard, host president Chris Bennett was adamant that the intensity was reserved for the greens.

“We have always been great friends and great rivals,” said Chris. “Of course we both want to win but it is the friendship that counts,” added Estelle, who was hoping to end Randburg’s losing streak.

Anticipation piqued as the final scores were read out. Honeydew was victorious by 182 shots to 145, adding their name to the floating plaque for the seventh time.