Players number continue to rise at North Dubbo, with a total of 46 competitors taking to the greens at RSL Combination Bowls last week with a familiar face in the winner’s circle.

That face was the consistent and ever-reliable Col Cottee, who led his team of Ros Joseph and Ray Strawhan to a convincing win, claiming first place for the day from Ricky See, Terese Gaio, and Sue McCauley.

A strong start from the side of Peter Sinclair, Roger Sherwin, and Leo Balstad allowed them to take second place over Kerry Dickson, Ruby Stocking, and Michael Strawhan who, although it was not their day, tried hard with a final score of 26-7.

Third place went to a pairs team of Bryan O’Sullivan and Frank Armstrong over Gary Huggins and Neil Hayburn by 25-11.

Bowls results are determined by a combination of total shots and number of ends won. This fact was evident in a topsy-turvey game with one team last week winning the number of ends, but not the total shots and, unfortunately, not the overall game.

Rob Pfeiffer, Eric Satchell, and Tim Moore started strongly and had a lead of six at the halfway mark. The team of Graham Ross, Di Hilderbrandt, and Greg Brown then came home strongly in winning 29-13.

Mel Giddings then led Jenni Spratt and Chris Castlehouse to a 19-7 win over Steve Kelly, Vitt Mascaro, and Todd O’dea.

It was eight ends-all in the game between Phil Knight and Brian Jones, and the result could have gone either way. However, Phil’s team of Sue Armstrong and Dick Whitford had a narrow lead in the number of shots at the half-way mark and went on to beat Brian, Maurice Wallace, and Vicki Hummell by 22-15.

It was great to see Sue O’dea return to Sunday bowls and, this week, she combined with Chris Stronjy to be skipped by Gaye Cottee. The team came from behind to beat Ron McCauley, Ross Pharo, and John Zeb with the final score 18-13.

Bowls is a game for all ages and this was evident with 89-year-old Ken Whitaker leading Paul Wooldridge and Peter Collins to a two-shot win in their game. The opposition included 91-year-old Ron Weigold combining with Cheryl Storch and Peter Leseur for a final score of 19-17.

Resters today were Peter Sinclair, Sue O’dea, and Steve Kelly, with Lucky numbers going to Gaye Cottee, Jenni Spratt, and Tim Moore. As always, new and casual players are most welcome.