LANGHOLM
There was a good turnout of members for the annual general meeting of the Langholm Old Town bowling club last week.
Colin Turk will continue a second year as president and the vice-president will be Paddy Laing, with Robert Phillips secretary and Elma Aitken treasurer. Turk will also be assistant treasurer and will organise the tournaments along with Grant Fletcher.
The president thanked the sponsors and all who had helped in any way, and the tournaments had been well supported.
Stevie Barker had again won the club championship while the club won matches against the New Town club and Brampton, and the fixtures will be played again this season. Friendly matches will also be arranged with the Rotary club and golf club. The Old Town club is still healthy financially, with bar and kitchen profits up on the previous year.
More than £2,000 was spent on the green at the end of last season and the club received £360 funding from Dumfries & Galloway Council to help towards the costs of the green upgrades.
Fundraising went well throughout the season and it was agreed that a race night will be held in the clubrooms on Saturday, May 4, and will be open to all.
The club is keen to enlist new members and hopes to see some new faces when the official opening of the new season takes place on Sunday, April 28.
Tournament dates: Invitation triples – Sunday, June 2; Open pairs – Sunday, July 7; Open singles – Sunday, July 14; Mixed pairs – Sunday, September 1.
TWEEDBANK
WITH the indoor season almost ended, most action is at club level, however, on Saturday, March 2, David Miller represented the club in the semi-finals of the senior singles at Glasgow, against Jim Douglas from Aberdeen.
After getting of to a great start, Douglas stormed ahead and Miller was unable to claw back the deficit.
The match finished 21-15 in favour of the Aberdeen player and although it was a pity that Miller failed to reach the final, it had still been an excellent performance to reach this stage of the competition.
Meanwhile, the seniors travelled to Meadowmill for the second of the round robin matches in the Jock Brodie competition against East Lothian B.
There was a good win for Billy Nisbet, Paul Butterfield, Jim Redpath and Rob Fulton. The rink skipped by Peter McGauchrane also did well to win in the end, but the third rink had a heavy defeat – heavy enough to rob Tweedbank of the four points for an overall win.
In the Top 6 competition against Alloa at Midlothian, there was a win for Tom Thorburn, Jim Redpath and Peter McGauchrane in the triples category, but the pair were defeated by 14-7, and in the singles, Alloa won by 21-16.
At club level, the finals in the pairs category of competition were played. For the ladies, Marie Todd and Gail Lindores were against Lauren Upton and Pat Houston. The match was close early on and on the 10th end, a count of five for Houston put the pair ahead by 10-9. Lindores hit back with four shots in two ends and then a count of seven to put the pair 11 shots ahead. Another three shots on the next end was enough to give the Todd/Lindores partnership victory.
In the men’s pairs, Billy Nisbet and David Miller faced Ben McGregor and Tommy Mann Jnr.
The McGregor/Mann partnership always had the match under control, finally winning by 24-6.
For the seniors (over-60s), Jack Jefferson and David Weir were hoping to retain the title won last season. They faced a tough encounter against Alistair Gammie and Tom Thorburn, who had the better of the first few ends.
Seven shots in three ends, however, put Weir seven shots clear with three ends left to play which was enough for victory.
On Sunday the ladies held their two-bowl pairs for the Nan Wintrup Cup.
There were eight pairs taking part, playing three games each in a round robin format. The winners of the two sections then met for the final, the winners being Beat Cameron and Sandra Somerville, the runners-up being Moira Weir and Alison Murray.
The only categories outstanding are the singles for ladies, gents and juniors together with the two-bowl pairs. The latter will be played to a finish on Saturday, March 23..
Members are reminded that the AGM will be on Thursday, March 28 at 7pm.
There are important changes being proposed for the constitution and all members wishing to exercise their right to vote should attend the meeting.
If unable to do so they will be able to submit a postal vote using forms which can be obtained from the office.