The Imagine Cruises Gold Bowl saw 22 teams entered this past weekend in Nanaimo.  Both day’s games  were played under brilliant blue skies and extremely hot temperatures.    The incredibly fast greens made it both fun and  a challenge to play.

The overall winners of the event went to the team of Dean Penny, Frank Lo and Shelley McCollum of Courtenay.  Our own Martin and Chris Fereday along with Peter Scott took a hard earned second place.  Nanaimo’s Vern Hagstrom, Dave Ruckman and Linda Cooper took third.  The Nanaimo team of Dezell, Mc Nevin and Korabek rounded out the top four.  Adrian and Kathleen Hewitt and Ross Nakagawa, also of Nanaimo took fifth.  Jean and Keith Roney  along with Kate Wilson placed sixth.  The Yewers and Lundgren team, also of Nanaimo came in seventh while our own team of Rick Dolley, Merry Danarti and Sandi Mitchell wrapped up eighth place.

Carol Bucyk

Beautiful Port Alberni played host to the Men’s and Women’s Pairs sponsored by their club on June 26th and 27th.   In a word, the weather was challenging.  Steady rain and wind on Wednesday afternoon made for some difficulties on the green.  On late Thursday afternoon, the sun finally peaked  out just enough to briefly see a shadow and the wind died down.   The good news in all of this though is that  our Parksville   teams came through in great fashion.  The winners on the Men’s side were Bob Allaby and Bob Merrell who squeezed out a point to take the top prize.  Second for the men was the team of Ken Bucyk and Rick Dolley, also of Parksville.  The Courtenay team of John Kendall and Peter Harding came third.  On the Women’s side, it was our own Merry Danarti and Sandi Mitchell taking top prize, while the Courtenay team of Beth Perrier and Linda Meares took second.   A big thank you goes out to all who made the Port Alberni tournament a success from the kitchen staff, greens people, Derek Burke (umpire), Bob and Shirley Stevens, Ben Vermeer and everyone else from the club.

Carol Bucyk

Even though the weather was not very cooperative for this mid-week tournament, there were still plenty of smiles to go round for this annual club event.  It was a  positive  sign to see novices and tenderfoot players out on the green with their more seasoned skips experiencing an actual game setting.  Top prize winners who will get their name on the trophy this year was the team of Bob Ashton, Anne Novak and April Sloan.  The second place team consisted of Colin Frame, Fay St. Marie and Athol Trickett.  Jeanette Ferguson, Mavis Gooding and Bill Burgess earned third place.  In fourth  was the team of Mary Card, Andy Burton/Don Bouchard and Beverly Benson.  Rounding out the top five  was the team of Tex Gooding, Charlotte Squires  and Kirk Bailey.    A new twist this year were  the Umpire Mystery Prizes.  One  went to the team of Don Urquhart, Gerda Veld and Anne Gudbranson.  The second Umpire Mystery Prize went to Terry Nichols, Brian larkin and Pam Oldfield.  The final Ump prize was earned by Norman Norman, Keith Terlson and Robbie Thomas.  Many thanks to Chuck Benson for the pictures.

Carol Bucyk

Courtenay Lawn Bowling Club held its Men’s Pairs Tournament sponsored by Connect Hearintg  this past weekend.  There were three games on Saturday and three on Sunday, with the top eight teams playing off on the Sunday.  First was earned by Vern Greenhill and Joe Randazzo of Courtenay.  Mike Ward and James MacDonald of Qualicum took second.  Third was that  of Ian Yewer and Wayne Minneault of Nanaimo.     Coming in fourth was another Courtenay team of Stu McNaughton and Henri Saucier.  The brother team of Keith and Don Terlson of Victoria came fifth.    Courtenay’s Hal Gray and Gary Carson took sixth, while our own Ken Bucyk and Rick Dolley took seventh place.  Rounding out the top eight were Dean Penny and Brian Scherr.

Carol Bucyk

The  winning team of Merry Danarti, Sandi Mitchell and Rick Dolley of our Parksville club  took top  prize at the recent Berwick on the Lake 60+ Mixed Triples Tournament.  The event, held on Wednesday and Thursday  (June 19th and 20th),  was a two day affair.  Sixteen teams were in contention in the winner play winner format.  Parksville had four teams entered, Courtenay had one and Nanaimo had eleven.  The team of Dolley, Mitchell and Danarti had a perfect 4-0 record and overall, four teams received prize money for their efforts.    Well done Parksville.

This weekend, the men are off to beautiful  Courtenay  for an  two-day open men’s tournament, while the women are taking part in the  ever-colourful Sylvia Gibbs Open Women’s Pairs in Qualicum, also a two-day event.    Pack a lunch, bring a blanket and come out and watch either of these tournaments.   You’re sure to be impressed!

Carol Bucyk

The Two day Parksville Open Pairs Tournament sponsored by Hearing Life was held on June 15th and 16th.  There were some truly tight games this past weekend and there were a number of winners in their divisions coming from different clubs.  The games were played in a winner plays winner format.  In A Division, first place  and the trophy went to Dean Penny and Shelley McCollum from Courtenay.  Second in A went to our own Rick Dolley and Sandi Mitchell.    In first place in B Division  were Parksville’s Merry Danarti and Bob Allaby.    Second in B went to another Parksville team, that of Mary and Kent Card.  Rounding out the final top placements were the  Nanaimo club’s  C and D with Ian and Anne Yewer and Vern Hagstrom and Linda Cooper.    Winners of their final games were the teams of James MacDonald and Darlene Opacic from Qualicum Beach (D), April Gilchrist and Vern Greenhill (C) from Courtenay, Ken and Carol Bucyk (B) from Parksville and Diane Cruickshank and Bill Burgess (A) of Parksville as well.    A very big thank you goes out to Lynn and the kitchen magicians  who kept us supplied with goodies, the grounds crew who always do a fabulous job, our bartending crew who kept us hydrated, the umpires who gave of their time,  and to Joey Merrell who undertook her first running of a tournament.   Well done, everyone. Not to be forgotten, our ace cub photographer, Chuck Benson, who took numerous pics of the days’ events.   Once again, a special thanks to Hearing Life who made this whole event possible.

Sandi Mitchell and Rick Dolley, second place winners in A Division.

D Division Winners from Nanaimo were Vern Hagstrom and Linda Cooper.

The three major spring leagues are now in the books and here’s the results.  In the Tuesday evening mixed triples, it was Anne Holland, Geoff Holland and David Perry.  The Wednesday morning cutthroat league winner’s title went to Diane Cruickshank and the Thursday evening mixed pairs winners were Robbie Thomas and Don Urquhart.  Congratulations and many thanks to all who participated.

Please check the board in the sun room at the club,  and online for sign-up for the next rounds of leagues.  Novices, we encourage you to come out and be a part of the fun, action and/or create your own team to come out to play.   Also, don’t  forget to come out and watch the open tournaments when lawn bowlers come from around the district   to play on our beautiful greens.  Be prepared to be amazed by some really skilled players making shots on really great greens.

Carol Bucyk

It was a pretty much perfect weekend for lawn bowling when the Quality Foods Men’s and Women’s Triples Tournament was held in Qualicum Beach June 8th and 9th.    The winners on the men’s side were  Vern Hagstrom, Adrian Hewitt and Wayne Magneault of Nanaimo.  Second place went to Mike Ward, James McDonald and Charles MacIntyre of the home club in Qualicum Beach.   Our own Rick Dolley, Ken Bucyk and George Wallis took home third place.  The hard working team of Dean Penny, Vern Greenhill and Henri Saucier of Courtenay  placed fourth.  Rounding out the top five was another Qualicum team, that of George Opacic, Ross Nakagawa and Willie Dunlop.

Carol Bucyk