Following our triples league win on Tuesday at Godalming (as reported previously), a win which puts us top of this league, our game at Mayford Hall on Wednesday was abandoned halfway through because of heavy rain. The Friday night team of 1 rink then had another creditable win at home to a good Camberley “B” side. Saturday again saw us having to play in wet conditions in the home friendly against Pippbrook, but we persevered to just pip them (sorry) on all rinks.

Sunday saw better conditions and three triples went to Wonersh for a friendly game, played in a very enjoyable atmosphere on a lush if slowish green.  About 10 shots down at the tea interval the team rallied to their Captain’s plea for a better second half and the resulting improvement saw them record their first win on a Sunday this season by 49 shots to 41.  All credit to Bob Carey who is having a good season and led his rink to an excellent 12 shot win to help carry the team through.

This week sees the start of the Surrey County Competitions, and the club wish good luck to all of their members involved.

Our third match in the Tuesday Triples League saw us away to Godalming on a bit of a tricky and heavyish green, and we were soon up against it with one of the two triples dropping ten shots on the first two ends, and finding themselves 12 down a little later. However recording a 6 on this rink just before the tea interval gave an indication that we were not going down without a fight, and with our second rink pulling themselves into a small lead the team dug deep and rallied round to record a narrow but creditable win by just 4 shots.  All credit to David Matthews and David Foster who both saw the match through whilst not feeling entirely well.

Our busy season continues today with a friendly away at Mayford Hall (weather permitting)  followed by a home game against Camberley Friday night (1 rink) and weekend friendlies with Dorking and Wonersh.

Our team in the Tuesday Triples league (AKA Old Codgers League –2 triples -men only–over 55 years old)  having started with a narrow defeat at Astolat on 3rd May, played their first home game on 10th and recorded an excellent win over Castle Green 58 -16.  A single rink then went to Knaphill on Friday 13th (lucky for us as it turned out)  to play their B side in the Friday night league, and achieved a win by 7 shots, an excellent away result against a good home side. At the weekend a team of 12 continued the success with a 20 shot win in our Saturday friendly game at Shere, but we came down to earth with a bump the following day, getting thoroughly thumped 39-88 by an excellent home team at Milford.

The emphasis of the club is on these weekend friendly games where enjoyment of the game takes priority over the result, and we look forward to bringing more new members into the team in the next few weeks, to give them useful match experience and allow them to mix with existing members and opponents in the jovial and enjoyable atmosphere that prevails.

After a successful open day, with 13 people from the Merrow area coming along to try the game, our coach is busy following these up with additional lessons on a one to one basis. This has resulted in two of them joining the club already, one of whom having made such good progress will go straight into the team this weekend.  Lessons continue with the others and we are hopeful that at least some of these will join us.

We couldn’t have wished for better weather on our Open Day on Sunday, with record temperatures of 26C recorded in Guildford. Beautiful day to show off both the green and the game.

A good number of interested people came along to try their hand at bowls and to find out how it is played and about the club. We had an encouraging number of conversions into new members, which repaid all the effort put in by the club.

If you weren’t able to get along on the day, you can always come to one of our informal club nights on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There are normally members around from about 5:30pm.

Here are a few photos from the afternoon session.

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We had two friendlies over the weekend of 30th April – 1st May.

On Saturday, we travelled to the Pippbrook club in Dorking. Our team were four players short, so Pippbrook kindly let four of their players join us for the afternoon. It was a pleasant afternoon, spoilt only by a brief rain shower during ends eight and nine. However, the sun soon returned and Merrow went on to record a seven shot win.

Sunday’s match was against Albury. A warm sunny day was in prospect; quite a change from the recent cold and wet days. There were mixed fortunes, with both wins and losses across the four rinks, but the end result was a well deserved draw.

Merrow Village Bowling Club would like to invite you to “Come and play bowls” at their special “PLAY BOWLS DAY”  on  Sunday 8^th May at their green, behind the Merrow Village Hall and Social Club, on the Epsom Road at Merrow.  Members and the club coaches will be on hand from  10-12am and 2-4pm to welcome both existing bowlers and those who have not tried the game before, but who would like to have a go.  The sessions are free and can be followed by a course of four further sessions at times to suit you in the following days or weeks.  The club are particularly keen to encourage new lady bowlers to join their existing ladies group.

Why not come along,  make new friends and find out that there is much more to the game than you may have thought. The club stress that enjoyment of the game is the main aim, and play friendly matches at weekends throughout the summer, against other local clubs.

For further details contact club coach Rodney Morrison on 01483  232000