Cardinia Waters Bowls Club started the new season with one gritty win and one heavy loss from the two teams it fielded last Saturday.
Fine weather greeted the bowlers after the heavy rain and storms that appeared on Friday.
The home surface handled the weather well, however side Two had a heavy grass green to contend with at Churchill Waverley Golf Club.
Playing at home, side One faced off with Beaumaris, a side new to section eight.
It is a few years since the village team played against their Bayside opposition.
Beaumaris looked dangerous early, with one Cardinia Waters rink being dominated by the away side.
This was to change later in the afternoon.
By the afternoon tea bell, Cardinia Waters had a slender six shots lead, with only one rink behind at that point.
After refreshments it was the home which took the ascendency, to win eventually on all four rinks and by eighteen shots overall.
It was a handy result as no other team won on all rinks, thus giving Cardinia Waters top spot on the ladder after just the one round.
Remarkably it was John Van Vugt’s rink that scored the best win, after being well-beaten early.
They were down seven shots at the break, and motored home strongly to eventually win by the same margin.
Van Vugt played with Mick Knight, Del Dance and Therese Mitchell.
They really caused an upset, after only winning four singles from the first ten ends.
The final eleven ends were completely different as they outscored their Beaumaris opponents 18-4. The overall score was 22-15.
Keith Lewis skipped a rink that won by five shots.
He played with Bill Hite, Jim Barrie and Val Moore.
They led by five at the break, and after leading by up to nine shots in the second half, were eventual winners.
Winners by three shots were Ray Naylor (skip), Jill Naylor, Cathy Swinkels and Bill Tippelt.
They commanded a lead of up to twelve shots, but needed to survive a Beaumaris comeback late in the game to claim victory.
John Moore’s rink also made heavy work of their three-shot win.
Up by seven shots at one point they needed strong nerves to hold out their opponents who rallied in the last four ends.
Moore played with Ashley Graham, Dennis Patmore and Ian Kennedy.
It is early to crow, but side one survived an important test in their first round game, and need to enjoy their stint on top of the ladder.
Behind them lurk the unknown Frankston team who dropped one rink in their big win against Mulgrave Country Club.
Frankston gained a large percentage boost, winning by 50 shots.
Side Two suffered a large away loss against Churchill Waverley Golf Club.
Always good at home, the golfers won easily, however Cardinia Waters did take one rink off them.
Steve Hale skipped the winning rink, playing with Michele Bondfield, Donny Gibson and Terry Nye. Their 23-18 win was tempered somewhat when they dropped six shots on the last end.
The seconds hold down position five on the early ladder.
One disappointment was the late withdrawal of the Upwey-Tecoma side in this division.
They forfeited their game against Cranbourne, and are listed to play Cardinia Waters next Saturday.
Next week side One play Burden Park on their grass green, a big test for this side that hasn’t seen turf since last season.
Midweek bowls starts this week, and a report will be seen in next week’s Gazette.
– John Moore.
