Randburg Bowls Club celebrates gold, silver success
In a thrilling final at the Tower Novices Tournament, Suzanne Erasmus triumphed over clubmate Connie Matthews, securing gold while Matthews claimed silver after an intense competition.
Randburg Bowls Club, based in Boskruin, is celebrating a major success on the bowls green after two of the club’s novice bowlers won not just gold but silver as well, in the Tower Novices tournament.
Connie Matthews and Suzanne Erasmus both reached the semi-finals after a long, tough campaign.
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The tournament came to its conclusion on March 15 at the Wanderers Sports Club in Illovo, after hundreds of novice bowlers, from as far afield as Potchefstroom and Heidelberg, took part over seven weeks. The tournament, which has been running for almost 50 years, is steeped in tradition, and many top bowlers are former winners of this prestigious title.
After tough semi-finals, it was Matthews and Erasmus who met each other in the final. While the two are friends and clubmates off the green, the competition in the final was tough where no quarter was given or asked for. The game was eventually won by Erasmus, on the last bowl of the tiebreak, with both her and Matthews winning a set each.
Matthews said, “I am a little disappointed not to have won but I am extremely pleased that I reached the final and got the silver medal. Suzanne played great bowls over the whole campaign and thoroughly deserved her gold medal. I am thrilled for her and for our club.”
When asked about her victory, a very excited Erasmus said, “I cannot believe it, what a great game, played in such a great spirit, just a pity I had to beat one of my clubmates to win the gold. The game was tough, and anybody could have won. Connie is a great bowler who will achieve great things.”
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Both bowlers have only been bowling for about 18 months and have worked very hard at their game. Their success is due, in no small way, to the dedication, and enthusiasm, of their coach Carol Rudman, as well as Mabs Rees, who spent hours running coaching and skills development sessions for novice and experienced bowlers alike.
Talking about the success of her pupils, a typically humble Rudman said, “Both Connie and Suzanne have worked so hard at their game and thoroughly deserve their success, they are such a pleasure to coach and I had very little to do, they did it all themselves.”
The president of Randburg Bowls Club Deon Botha beamed with pride and said, “Wow, I am so proud of our ladies and the hard work they have put in since taking up the game. Our development programme is starting to bear fruit. Randburg is now truly a club that caters for everybody young and old, and social or competitive bowls.”
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