Cream of the crop battle it out on the greens
Conditions were typically winterish as play began, but soon there was hardly a tracksuit or pullover to be seen, as both the weather and the action warmed up.
There are bowls tournaments, and there are bowls competitions, but the Invitation Mens and Ladies Masters is to bowlers as Wimbledon is to other tennis events.
At the weekend, the cream of the crop contested the ladies veterans at Nelspruit Bowling Club, while the mens veterans were a stone’s throw away at LVCC. Conditions were typically winterish as play began, but soon there was hardly a tracksuit or pullover to be seen, as both the weather and the action warmed up.
The masters is a singles competition where the first player to reach 21 shots is the winner, so matches can be of markedly different durations. In the very first round at LVCC on Saturday morning, Jerry Gertzen came within a whisker of beating the eventual champion, Ben Enslin, before going down 21-19. Geoff March meanwhile received a real hiding, losing 21-6 to last year’s winner, Lood van Rooyen. Such is the nature of singles tournaments, that in the very next round March overwhelmed the aforementioned Gertzen 21-2!
And so it went on, until each group had run its course, and group winners John van Eerden took on Enslin on Sunday afternoon for top honours, while Brian Coulson was up against Greg Anderson for third place.
In the end Enslin prevailed, while Coulson did the same. All four men go through to the Mpumalanga Masters at the end of July in Middelburg.
Down the hill, there were the “usual suspects” with a couple of new faces thrown in for good measure. In section A there was not much doubt about the outcome, as the very experienced Jeanette Richards and Beryl Biggs topped their group on eight points each. But again the closeness of things was illustrated when Richards’ only defeat was at the hands of Yvonne McHeath, who finished bottom of the section.
Section B was a far more intriguing affair, as winner Elda Rautenbach was followed by three players, each with six points. The eventual runner-up was the rookie, Merle Joubert from Sabie, who prevailed by less than a single shot over Maryna Breedt, whom she had beaten the previous day 21-9.
In the ladies finals, Jeanette Richards eventually prevailed against Elda Rautenbach by a mere four shots, after a long and exciting battle, while experience told in the third place match as Biggs got the better of Joubert with 21-12. A very creditable display by Merle, who only took up the sport in 2014.
The following men and ladies will represent Lowveld in The Mpumalanga Masters on July 28 and 29
Men: Ben Enslin, John van Eerden, Brian Coulson, Greg Anderson, Francois Hanekom, Pieter Briel, Dean Paiva and Kosie Smit.
Ladies: Jeanette Richards, Elda Rautenbach, Beryl Biggs, Merle Joubert, Miranda Paiva, Madeleine de Klerk, Elinor Storkey and Marlet Ireland.
Photos: Stefan de Villiers
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