The friendliest bowls club on the Sunshine Coast were extra busy for most of the month of May with the Queensland District Sides and State Championships played at the Coolum Beach Bowls Club with all finals played on the standout greens of Coolum. Host club Coolum was praised for their hard work and exceptional greens, which Dipper said were the result of a lot of passion and love. Dipper, who is also known as Anthony Michaels, knows his way around the greens with 35 years of turf management and horticulture under his belt. “The credit came from high-level bowlers, so it was good to get that from them – they expect them to run well, and we did that.” With one of the best jobs in the area, Dipper said that it was great to host the championships and get recognition for the club. “I love the job, and I love the club… I’m a greenkeeper first, and I like the club to look good, and I like the people walking past who stop and have a chat, and those who notice the flowers.” The Coolum Beach Bowls Club is now back to regular social bowls and barefoot bowls and is always ready to welcome new members or those just wanting to get out and enjoy the winter sunshine with a game of bowls!
Club News – State Champs
Bowlers are back on the green after three weeks of State Championships. Congratulations to all our members for putting up with the disruption to our regular program and to all the officials and volunteers who made the State Championships a resounding success. All reports are that the club produced almost faultless administration and presentation of the event. The club hosted every final with these events live-streamed to the world via the Gold Coast/Tweed Media team. Clubs from across Queensland commenced the championships with the State District Sides held from May 3 with the formidable Gold Coast/Tweed once again securing the win for the men and the women from Cunningham taking out the Women’s Gold. Other events hosted included the Mixed Pairs, Triples, Fours, Open and Over 60s Pairs, and the Men’s and Women’s Singles – well done to all who competed.
Congratulations also to Vanessa, a journalist at this newspaper, for her excellent reporting of this event. Vanessa was thrown into the deep end as she was the official Bowls Queensland reporter for the State Championships. A crash course in lawn bowls – you’ll probably see her on the green soon and we would like to see many new faces come on down and join our friendly club. Why not take advantage of the times below and come and play bowls?
Weekly Bowls Program
Social bowls every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday commencing at 1pm and Sunday commencing at 9am. Register at ‘www.coolumbeachbowls.com.au’ under ‘Social Bowls’. For all social bowls enquiries contact the Social Bowls Coordinator on 0499 167922.
Barefoot bowls every Friday night from 5-7pm. For all barefoot bowls enquiries, including social functions, contact the Club Manager on 5446 1153.
Coaching is provided free of charge every Wednesday morning commencing at 10am. For all coaching enquiries, contact the Coaching Coordinator on 0400 945584.
Social Bowls Results
Tuesday, 23rd May 2023
1st S Moss, P Spencer +22
2nd Sandy & Scott Wilson +18
3rd C Johnston, S Giles +17
Thursday, 25th May 2023
1st J Wilson, K MacKenzie
2nd W & P Craigie
Friday, 26th May 2023
1st D Kelly, W Edmunds, C Hawthorn +29
2nd D Fletcher, J Shipstone +22
3rd C McDonald, P Bain +20
4th R Sloane, B Whyte +13