Despite a not so good forecast both days of finals were dry and fine if a bit blustery – at one stage the box of biscuits blew off the refreshment tables and cushions had to be tied down.

There were lots of spectators over all sessions on both days and some very close matches between a good number of different finalists. Results can be seen on BIAS and will be on our honours board in due course. There is only one outstanding match – the Novices between Tony M and Robert which will be scheduled for later.

Many thanks to David O for organising and running the competitions, Jo for umpiring both days and to the green team for preparing a very good surface despite the torrential rainfall in the preceding week.

As usual trophies will be presented at our annual awards Lunch on October 19^th. Don’t forget to book your place and lunch choices by 14^th September.

Congratulations to all 13 players who played the season to help Merrow win the Zone 3 Thursday league for the fourth time in a row. Having won the zone (shield) and qualifying for the final stages, Steve M, David E, Richard, Ruth, Barbara and John W (with Robert as reserve) travelled to Knaphill on the 4th September to play the semi finals and finals.

Despite torrential rain in the morning and ever changing playing conditions, Merrow triumphed over Knaphill Black in the semi-final. Mayford Hall provided stiff opposition in the final, but a good fight back allowed Merrow to win the overall competition for the second time in a tightly contested match. Report by John W

On Saturday 30^th twelve of us travelled to Ripley for the annual ‘David Matthews Cup’ match, a four triples friendly.  It was a rainy afternoon with a very exciting finish as the overall scores were all square going into the final end on rink 3. Merrow managed to cling on and held one shot despite the Ripley’s skip best attempts (very close) at removing the shot bowl. Pauline accepted the cup on behalf of Merrow. Ripley will be out for revenge next year!

For a complete change this year we tried crown green bowls on Sunday 31st. David O spray painted jacks to match our newly acquired footer mats. We played two bowl pairs across the green going in any direction, which caused chaos and lots of fun. After five ends the ‘winning’ pair moved up to the next colour.

A rain interruption allowed us to sample all the delicious cakes at an early tea break and we concluded with drinks from the bar and Robin’s sausage rolls and cheese straws.

After four rounds the scores were so close the eventual winners were decided on ends won. Well done to Robert and Andy.

Watch out for the end of season Fish and Chips on the 18^th September (sign up on the noticeboard) and Club Finals this coming weekend (6^th and 7^th September).

For our fourth running of the Club Aussie pairs competition 16 keen players arrived at 9.30am (or thereabouts!) on Saturday morning for the draw. There were two leagues of four teams who played round robin matches of eight ends interspersed with tea/coffee breaks including cakes (thank you Barbara, Helen and Pauline) and lunch. Additional spectators arrived for the exciting close final at 3.15pm between the league winners Joan & Allen and Sally & John.

Sally and John were the eventual winners and received the Raison Trophy.

We were very lucky with the weather as it the forecast had been for heavy thundery showers but as you can see from the pictures we were able to play 18 ends in the dry and enjoy our picnic and raffle after.

Our President David was up early blowing up balloons to advertise his nominated charity, The Royal Surrey Charity, which is celebrating 30 years of supporting the work at the Hospital.

Chair Richard and David E sorted the players into four triples and we played only six ends before an early tea-break as the main club provided an impromptu barbeque to go with our usual spread of cakes. Back to bowling where the Chair’s team continued to pull ahead and win on three of the four rinks. This is the third year in a row the President has lost but we had a great afternoon and match fees, raffle and Octopus (Merrow’s own version of the spider) raised £250 for The Royal Surrey.

True to form summer has arrived with rain showers interrupting play and one club night has been cancelled. It does mean that the green has had a good soak. The league matches have had to be played regardless and our Tuesday Triples squad were thoroughly soaked during their game against Woodbridge Hill.

The ladies have started their West Surrey league with a win – the picture below shows them on rinks one and two with the club Aussie Pairs League on rinks four-six, so the green is being well used on Monday evenings. The ladies also won their latest Surrey Ad match at Ewhurst playing in glorious sunshine.

The Friday Night League and Knaphill Triples teams have had mixed fortunes but are picking up points

Our Friendly matches continue and are providing enjoyable opportunities to bowl against local clubs. In particular our match against Godalming away saw a narrow win by two shots – two rinks were drawn and two held onto one shot leads in an exciting finish played to accompaniment from the Rock School Choir in the bandstand.

Our flower beds and banks are looking splendid with plenty of colour and a new magnificent bughouse designed, made and installed by David O to compliment the butterfly theme.

The Surrey Advertiser League is now underway and Merrow had a very close game against Milford. It was all square going into the final end which Merrow managed to win by one shot. Merrow were entertaining Knaphill in the Knaphill Triples at the same time and also had wins on both rinks.

In the WSBA Friday night league Merrow B had a heavy defeat but Melanie reports it was a very enjoyable game despite the final score.

In the interclub friendlies we struggled against Burpham at home on Saturday 26th May but won away at Knaphill on the 27th.

The season has started with glorious sunshine although it did get a little cold and windy in the second week. We have played several friendlies already against local clubs home and away with mixed results and some external leagues have also started. Results are on BIAS for friendlies and for leagues under fixtures. League tables will start to appear on the website from next week.

Our club Aussie Pairs and club night leagues are now underway. If you would like to join an Aussie Pairs team talk to Tony D and for Club Night League just turn up by 5.45pm on a Thursday.

A match report by Melanie for our additional team in the WSBA Midweek League – what a great start to their first external league game!

A big thank you to Steve J and his team, Phil, Gary and Steve C for their great hospitality at Bookham. It was a close game throughout. The final end was ‘nail biting for us but our skip, Mike B, bowled the perfect final shot for Merrow!  

Open Day
Twenty-seven people came to have a go at bowls in the lovely sunshine. We were especially pleased to be able to help one local boy complete his homework, which was to try a new sport. Everyone got the gist very quickly and quite a few have arranged to come back for coaching or another session.
Report by Debbie

Afternoon Tea and Butterflies
Well done everyone for a brilliant afternoon. We raised a good sum for Royal Surrey Hospital charity and our club funds including £75.10 on guess the weight of the cake won by Clive (within 0.2 kg). There was also additional donations specifically for the Hospital! Well done to all our fantastic volunteers for their dedication to duty. It’s your support that makes the club what it is. 

A special mention and big thank you must go to Helen for all the supply of china, tablecloths and cutlery, plus her invaluable knowledge of catering for a large number of people at an afternoon tea! I couldn’t have even envisaged running such an event without her. 

We also have to thank Sarah for her brilliant creative butterfly workshop which we all thoroughly enjoyed. She made it all look so easy and we managed to make a fantastic swarm of butterflies which I hope you will all get to see soon. This event also raised £30 and for those of you who missed it, watch this space.

Thanks again all of you.

Barbara