Another well organised (thanks mainly to Ian Hardy and Gayle Wilkinson) and well supported Saturday afternoon Haggle.  28 players enjoyed the hot conditions with a slight cross breeze just enough to affect the width of the draw and providing some cooling.  Very pleasant conditions.

The format for the afternoon is drawn pairs playing 3 games of eight ends 2-4-2.

There were 4 three winners, which is unusual and meant that to be the winner on the day would require an extraordinary result.  This came from the team of Tony Trent and Graham Ward who had 3 wins and won 20 ends (that’s 20 ends out of 24)! Both Tony and Graham played extremely well with many opponents commenting how well they had played and especially how consistent and accurate Graham was.  Could be that he will be tagged “The Stick Man”. Well done Graham, you had an exceptional day.

Congratulations Graham and Tony.

In second place were Beth Drummond and Steve McGregor with 3 wins, 15 ends and 32 points, which on most weeks would have been the winning score.  In third was the pairing of Ian Hardy and Rick George, with 3 wins 15 ends and 30 points. And in fourth spot were Caryl Miles and Rosemary Nicol with their 3 wins, 14 ends and 23 points.

As you will see from these results, the Saturday Haggle is proving to be a very important entry into semi-competitive bowls for our newer bowlers, with many of them featuring in the prize list each week.  The format for the afternoon is working well, and the combination of mufti dress and 60’s music makes for a fun time.

From February 2020, the entry fee for the Haggle is to increase from $5 per player to $7 per player, which will allow $2 per player to go toward the costs of running the club and will give a bigger prize pool to be spread amongst the participants.

The sheet is up for the next Haggle on the 1st of February.  There are other competitions happening the first weekend in February, so the field may be smaller as it competes with events like the Milford 5000.  It is a big week of bowls coming up with the Harcourts Classic on Wednesday and Thursday and so get you name on the sheet for the Haggle while you are down at the club during the week.