Exciting weekend of four bowls in White River

Eight teams faced-off in the final round of the Mpumalanga Lowveld Bowls Association play-offs of its fours bowling tournament at the White River Bowls Club over the weekend.

The event was attended by teams from the association’s three districts: Lowveld, Central and Highveld with 16 teams, comprising 64 players competing in the round-robin stage of the tournament on Saturday.

Read more: Local mixed pair claims provincial lawn bowls title

On Sunday, four men’s’ and four women’s’ teams moved on to the final round braving wet, chilly weather on the green to determine their position on the podium.

In the women’s division the team from the Middelburg Country Club took first position for the Central district, followed by the team representing Ermelo for the Highveld district.

In the men’s games the local Lowveld district’s Nelspruit team were crowned the winners with the Witbank Golf Bowling Club taking the second place for the Central district.

Read more: Mpumalanga bowls senior ladies compete in Johannesburg

“This year, the competition was good, with no one district dominating the round robin or final rounds,” said competition secretary Hardus Korf. “We aren’t intimidated by a little rain, we’ll keep on playing until lightning and thunder force us to stop the games, some of us have even competed with snow falling,” he said of the less than ideal weather conditions.

According to Katinka Erasmus representing the team from Groblersdal that came third in the final, the tournament was great fun.

Read more: Chairman’s Day at Sabie Bowling Club

“Bowls really is a great game not only because you get to spend time outside, but also because of the people you meet and the sense of community that we share as players.” Although the finals were dominated by senior players, Korf said there has recently been a renewed interest in the game from younger players.

“One of our competitors from Secunda has started a local youth league in the town and during the round-robin stage there was a team from Bethal which had a skip (captain) who was under 20 years of age and a player who was only 11 years old. “Bowls is no longer only an old man’s game and we’re excited to see young players develop and take up a sport which you can play well into your old age, come rain or shine,” said Korf.