In the last six weeks almost 300 bowlers have stepped onto the greens for the annual Bundaberg District Pennants, and this weekend saw competition heat up as the finals took place.
Burnett Bowls Club chairman Des Kemp said the annual Bundaberg District Pennants gave local bowlers a chance to play against some tough competition in a friendly manner.
Des said this year’s pennants was organised by Jim See, who was busy playing on the green of the Burnett Bowls Club for the Bargara team in the Division 1 final at the time.
“We play away and home games, from Woodgate to Gin Gin, Moore Park to Bargara to clubs in town, it’s really good to have all clubs involved,” Des said.
“It starts out as a bit of fun, a relaxed comp, until the finals then the players get their game-faces on.
“What brings people unstuck when playing in pennants is that they are moving around different venues, they are not familiar with, and not being able to adjust to different surfaces.
“What it teaches you is that if you cannot adjust you won’t come away with a win.”
Des said the beauty of competitions like Bundaberg District Pennants was that junior players, as young as 10, were able to play alongside the most experienced bowlers in the region.
“It’s an open category, and we have two ex-junior bowlers out there playing for Across the Waves, the started playing bowls when they were 12 and 14 years old, and now they are over 18 they are out playing with the seniors.
“It’s a great competition as you get to go to different clubs and meet different people, all while playing on different surfaces.
“Which makes it a real equaliser because you get used to playing on your home surfaces, but with this comp you go to everywhere from Woodgate or Gin Gin, and even though both of those clubs are grass they run totally different.
“Then you have clubs that are carpet, so it’s really good to test your skills on each of these.”
Des said there were lots of variables that came into play during the annual comp and a wet start to the competition on Saturday, didn’t damped anyone’s mood.
This year because of COVID-19 restrictions Bundaberg District Pennants was split into two locations with the following teams making the finals:
Playing at Burnett Bowls Club was:
Division 1: Across the Waves defeated Bargara Bowls Club
Division 2: Bundaberg Bowls Club defeated Across the Waves
Playing at Moore Park Beach Bowls Club was:
Division 3: Burnett Bowls Club defeated East Bowls Club
Division 4: Across the Waves Bowls Club defeated Bargara Bowls Club
The Division 1 winning team Across the Waves will now head to Yeppoon to play in the Zone Final next weekend.
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