Round 10 of the Saturday competition saw Ocean Grove veteran Keith Goldsmith reach the milestone of 600 matches.
At 92 years of age and over a 34 year period, a magnificent achievement for any player to reach, was capped off by a terrific win against Lara for the Division 3 champion.
Saturday competition now goes into recess for three weeks and will resume on 13 January when all teams continue their run for a top four position.
The final game of 2017 resulted in a big win which was a much-needed win for the Premier Division side against Webbcona.
Suffering back to back losses the win was important to remain in touch with the top four playing at home the Grovers hit their straps to register sixteen valuable points to remain in second spot.
Australian under 18 Champion Kira Bourke led the way for the home side and got the Matt Flapper rink of Cal Hanna and Rod Brehaut off to a flyer. The final margin 37-18 the biggest of the day along with the Craig Hodges team plus 15. Gary Burkett, Rick Webb, Ken Thomas and Tony Joel got the points by 10 to round out the win overall by 36 shots.
A tough away match faced the Division 1 side as it was heading for its fifth win on the trot. Unfortunately Portarlington proved too good but the positive for the Grovers is that at the main break they sit in second.
Keith Goldsmith as mentioned earlier led the way for the threes as they stole the points against Lara. Bouncing back from a loss against Anglesea, Ocean Grove stood tall in
Goldy’s 600 th to record the win by 29 shots.
John Izzard along with Anne Way, lefty Peter Eberle and Sandra Murphy continue to lead the way in the fours as they led the team to a win by 17 shots.
Sue Gorwell and Harold Curwood skipped their teams to success which was enough to get the majority of points against Eastern Park and also lead the way in the sevens to head the table in top spot. Brian Sutterby travelled along way to get the result against Belmont in Division 10 as he led his team of Maxi Walker, Ross McDonald, John Hughes to a match-winning margin of 37-13.
The open midweek competition has set challenges for the reigning premiers as they currently sit fifth on the ladder heading into the second half of the season.
Eight points out of the four and only one game out of second place the ones need to hit their straps to contend for back to back titles. With two Division 1 teams and two Division 3 teams in 2017-’18 it certainly is proving the challenge.
With eight wins, Division 6 sits second on the big board heading into the break, Peter Eberle and Harold Curwood both skipping successful rinks head the table as the sixes team look to finish off 2017 in style.
Wednesday 20 December will have the Christmas Bowls event starting at 3pm while on Friday 29 December the holiday carnival five a side will take place at 10am with $1500 in prize money. Entries can be taken in the bowls office.
Blue Hills Rise mixed pairs commence on Wednesday 27 December and 44 teams will take to the greens to compete for $4000 in prize money.
Barefoot Bowls will commence Monday 1 January and bookings are essential.
Open to all visitors to Ocean Grove come along to have a great night on the greens at Ocean Grove. Starting at 6pm make sure you call 5255 1540 to book your spot.
