The Meaford Lawn Bowling Club had two teams competing at the Ontario Championships this year. To qualify for the championships, teams had to win the District 8 competition.
Jill Calvert-Goetz and Brad Tichbourne competed in Novice Fours last year and won Provincials with Owen Tichbourne and Wendy Calvert-Morris. This year the pair moved up to the Mixed Pairs and represented Meaford at the Districts in Chesley. They competed against teams from Walkerton, Hanover, Chesley, and Mount Forrest. The pair finished the two-day round robin event with four wins and one loss to clinch first place and qualified for the Ontario Provincials.
The 16-team double knockout provincial tournament was held in Lindsay. After the first day, Jill and Brad had three wins. Then in the undefeated gold medal match, they lost 18-9 to the champions from the Midland Club and the following match was a loss to the two-time defending champions from St. Mary’s 17-14, in a close back and forth game. That second loss left them in fourth place, just missing out on representing Ontario at the Nationals in Nova Scotia.
Brad Tichbourne also skipped the Novice Combo Fours Team. Brad, along with Sue Singleton from our local club, teamed up with Ryan Blair and Ashley Turcott from the Chesley Lawn Bowling Club to compete in the Novice Combo Fours. They were unopposed at the District Playdowns in July and went on to compete as one of 16 teams at the Provincials in Pickering at the end of August.
Over the two days they played three rounds each of Women’s Pairs, Men’s Pairs, and Mixed Fours against teams from around the province. They played several very close games and finished in the middle of pack. Novice competitions are for bowlers with five years or less experience.
“The Meaford Lawn Bowling Club is very proud of these new bowlers and their accomplishments and wish them continued success as they build their skills and continue to represent Meaford,” said the club.
