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Mae Jo Lawn Bowls Group
Match Report 10 March, 2015
A sad day as this is the last day playing lawn bowls at the Mae Jo tennis court
For 7 months we have been led to believe that Mae Jo would be providing a new grass bowling green. We have watched with interest in the progress and now that the grass is in perfect condition they have decided to use the turf to rehabilitate golf greens and the area cannot be used for lawn bowls despite the site work, the drainage, the irrigation and the establishment of an excellent grass green. The area is now fenced off and out of bounds. We all feel very let down by their decision as they have gone back on their word.
Five pairs today in a round robin and Allan and Don found some form and came out winners from Richard and Dizzie with Keith and Sam 3rd. A sad end to our hopes and dreams as captured by the photo below. Lawn bowls will continue at Don’s Lawn Bowls on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Please refer to our new website: chiangmailawnbowls.com
| Pair | Wins | Total points |
| Don Bishop/Allan Gariano | 3 1/2 | 26 |
| Richard Massey/Dizzie Reeve | 2 1/2 | 25 |
| Keith Taylor/Sam Torr | 2 | 21 |
| Ric Cameron/Ted Taylor | 1 1/2 | 26 |
| Mike Reeve/Des Austin | 1 | 14 |
Tournament Report 5 March
Don’s new synthetic green was given a good test when it opened for business with 16 bowlers present for Chiang Mai Lawn Bowls first major tournament. Unfortunately 2 bowlers were 1 hour late and this threw the quite tight schedule out the window. However we managed to complete 24 matches with each team completing 3 foursomes, 2 pairs and 3 singles matches – 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw. Teams were drawn out of the hat. Team D of Sam, Norm, Des and Malcolm seemed to adapt well to the very fast surface of the green and prevailed in a 1 point victory over Team A (Ted, Les, Aor, Richard). Ted who has been almost unbeatable on the tennis court at Mae Jo had some problems finding his length today. In the late morning the leaves from the bamboo shade floated on to the green like snow and added another challenge. Good to see Nat and Malcolm back and welcome to Ulrich playing for the first time with definite potential.
| Fours | Pairs | Singles | Total | |
| Team A – Ted Taylor, Les Harvey | 4 | 2 | 7 | 13 |
| Aor, Richard Massey | ||||
| Team B – Don Bishop, Keith Taylor | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Michael Kuzmich, Nat Hudson | ||||
| Team C – Gerry Cassidy, Alan Gariano | 0 | 4 | 7 | 11 |
| Ulrich Brunner, Rick Cameron | ||||
| Team D – Sam Torr, Malcolm Tetley | 4 | 4 | 6 | 14 |
| Norm Gazeley, Des Austin |
The photos below show Des and Nat in Singles action, Sam and Les of winning Team D, a view of Don’s bowling green, and Richard in delivery.
Match Report 3 March, 2015
First clean sweep today with the invincible pairing of Sam and Les with 5 wins and 28 points. Les of course has played bowls in Australia for the last 100 years and his experience showed today. Well done Sam and Les. Second place went to Ted and Des with 3 wins and 30 points, and Mike and Kuzzie rounding out third with 3 wins and 24 points. Woden spooners Tom and don just couldn’t get the line today, but had a lot of fun and Don was somewhat distracted slagging the Aussie bowlers after the Kiwis resounding cricket victory over Aussie at the weekend.
|
Pair |
Wins | Losses | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Total |
| Sam Torr/Les Harvey | 5 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 28 |
| Ted Taylor/Des Austin | 3 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 27 |
| Mike Reeve/Michael Kuzmich | 3 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 24 |
|
Norm Gazeley/Dizzie Reeve |
1 1/2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 27 |
| Alan Gariano/Ric Cameron | 1 1/2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 16 |
| Don Bishop/Tom Fjeldstad | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
The big news is that our first tournament will take place on Thursday 5 March at Don’s new synthetic Lawn Bowling green at his home (rehabilitated tennis court). A total of 16 bolwers and 4 teams of 4 will be drawn from the hat. Each team will play foursomes, pairs and singles matches.
Match Report 24 February, 2015
A good news day today with plenty to smile about. The new green at Mae Jo is for the first time looking like a bowling green. There are some bumps and some bare patches but generally it is looking excellent. We hope Mae Jo management will continue the development with banks and ditches and make this a world class venue along side there world class golf course. He have a lot of bowlers from Phuket, Pattaya and Bangkok all waiting to come and play bowls in Chiang Mai. See photo below.
Good news also with the bowls with 16 bowlers turning up – a great turnout. A couple decided not to play but that still left 7 pairs to fight out the round robin. Ted was busy working out the pairings, the order of play, the money, collecting the score cards and collating the results. On bowls day he really does it all and well done Ted.
Today’s totally random pairings had the two heavy-weights Sam and Ted paired together. Questions were asked!!! Anyway they came through winners (5-1) despite getting a thrashing form Dizzie and Don 7-1 in the last game. As far as points are concerned Don and Dizzie scored an impressive 45 points, quite good with only 2 bowls per person. Keith/Ric and Kuz/Mike tied for 3rd. Mike really had his eye in today and in a single game hit the jack 6 times. For the ra-ra golfing wallers this is equivalent to sinking six 30 meter puts (well, almost).
Further good news in that we had 2 new bowlers playing (Phil and Tom) plus and English couple Janet and Ken visiting to check us out. Hopefully they will be joining us when they return to Chiang Mai later in the year.
Final good news is that Don will be opening his bowling green with a tournament on Thursday 5th March, 8am. Teams of 4 will fight it out for a prize of 5,000 Baht. Entry fee is 200 Baht/person. So far we have 4 teams and can fit in 1 more team so give Don a call if interested (0877280465).
| Pair | Wins | Losses | Points |
| Sam Torr/Ted Taylor | 5 | 1 | 37 |
| Dizzie Reeve/Don Bishop | 4 1/2 | 1 | 45 |
| Keith Taylor/Ric Cameron | 3 | 3 | 31 |
| Mike Reeves/Michael Kuzmich | 3 | 3 | 27 |
| Des Austin/Norn Gazeley | 3 1/2 | 2 | 27 |
| Aor/Phil | 1 ½ ½ | 3 | 28 |
| Gerry Cassidy/Tom Fseldstad | 1 | 5 | 16 |
Match Report 17 February, 2015
Today Ric and Des cleaned up with 3 wins and no losses. The rest all tied with 1 win and 2 losses. Ted came from behind 5-1 after 5, to beat Gerry and Sam 6-5 in the 6th end. Bragging rights today go to Mike and Oah who managed a 17-2 thrashing of Ted and Sam. Those stents are obviously working well, Mike.
The new green at Mae Jo is looking a bit patchy to say the least. Don is in the process of puttung sports carpet on his tennis court at Hang Dong and this will give an alternative venue in the future.
The planned meeting re formation of Chiang Mai Lawn Bowls has been put back until we know were we are going with Mae Jo.
| Pair | Wins | Round 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Total |
| Ric Cameron/Des Austin | 3 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 30 |
| Oar/ Mike Reeves | 1 | 2 | 17 | 5 | 24 |
| Gerry Cassidy/Sam Torr | 1 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 15 |
| Richard Massey/Ted Taylor | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
Match Report 10 February, 2015
Richard I and Richard II cleaned up today with 4 wins and 1 loss. We are yet to get an outright winner. The 2 R’s amassed an impressive total points of 43, including a 16-1 thrashing of Des and Mike – see photographic evidence in the photo below !!! Also finishing with 4 wins were Gerry and Alan but sorry no cigar as they only managed 31 points. Keith and Sam played steadily for 3rd with 3 wins and a repectible 35 points mainly due to an 11-1 beating handed out to Don and Oar. The tail was shared between Ted and Norm and Des and Mike with 1 win apiece.
The new green is starting to look green – see photo below. It has been cut for the first time but will need a lot more work before we can bowl.
The session at the caddy shack went on longer than usual but it is understood everyone got home before dark. There was some talk that the bowlers were not as proficient at bending the elbow as golfers – we proved that wrong today. An attempt was made to form a committee for “Chiang Mai Lawn Bowls”. Bloody hopeless it was with only 1 position being filled – Keith Taylor as Wet Nurse.
We plan to hold a public meeting on 20 Feb at Gymkhana Club 6pm to formalise the bowls group and finalise the committee, charter etc. All welcome.
| Pair | Wins | Round 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Total |
| Richard Massey/Ric Cameron | 4 | 6 | 9 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 43 |
| Gerry Cassidy/Alan Gariano | 4 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 31 |
| Keith Taylor/Sam Torr | 3 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 13 | 35 |
| Aor/Don Bishop | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 26 |
| Norn Gazeley/Ted Taylor | 1 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 22 |
| Des Austin/Mike Reeves | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 15 |
Match Report 3 February, 2015
A good turn out today with Richard in fine fettle after a lay-up. Welcome back to Norm returning from a trip back to Aussie. Mike Reeve put in a brief appearance and reports that his new twin-pipe carburetors seem to be working well. We look forward to having Mike and Dizzie back bowling soon – it’s just too quiet without Mike.
Today the improved turnout meant we could play pairs in a round robin format. There were many close games today so probably our standard is improving. Probably because we are learning where the bumps and hollows are on the tennis court. The winners were Ted and Kuzzie with 3 wins and 1 loss. Keith and Ric amassed the highest points thanks to a 10-1 thrashiing of Les and Don in round 2. Second was shared by Les and Don, Norm and Richard, and Keith and Ric each with 2 wins and 2 losses. Wooden spooners were Sam and Des who were unlucky as 3 of their matches were lost by a single point.
Some pressure on the bowlers today to get finished and down to the caddy shack for beer before 2 pm. See notice below re new grog hours.
| Wins | Losses | Round 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Total | |
| Ted Taylor & Michael Kusman | 3 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 21 |
| KeithTaylor & Ric Cameron | 2 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 28 |
| Les Harvey & Don Bishop | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 15 |
| Norm Gazeley & Richard Liver | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 23 |
| Sam Torr & Des Austin | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 19 |
Match Report 27 January, 2015
Sam Torr back to his best form today with 4 wins and 1 loss. Ted Taylor second despite an 11-3 loss to Sam. Don Bishop and Shane James shared third with 2 wins and a closely fought draw in their last game. Another small attendance but close matches and a lot of fun. The new green seems to be progressing well.
Match Report 20 January, 2015
A small but quality turnout today. Richard, Keith and Mike are all in dry dock and we wish them all a speedy recovery and hope they will be up for it next week. On the positive side we were able to play singles and each game was a closely fought battle. Coming out on top was Ted with 4 wins and 1 loss. Ric beat him soundly in the last match after confiscating his walking stick. Don and Shane shared second place with 3 wins and 2 losses, Ric third with 2 wins and a halved match. Sam who usually cleans up, finished fifth with a point and a half and Alan, although playing probably some of his best bowls trailed with a lonesome win. Surprise of the day was the relatively poor showing by Sam. He did admit to watching bowls live on BBC 2 last night and obviously this made him feel invincible. He has also stopped drinking beer!
The new green has been sanded and is coming on nicely. Whether Mae Jo will finish the job and put in the required ditches and banks is the big unknown at this stage. Various Mae Jo management staff were out in force driving past the tennis court and no doubt noting the low numbers. Come on guys that are fit, lets make an effort and at least have 14 next Tuesday.
| Wins | Round 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Total | |
| Ted Taylor | 4 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 30 |
| Shane James | 3 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 30 |
| Don Bishop | 3 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 27 |
| Ric Cameron | 2 1/2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 27 |
| Sam Torr | 1 1/2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 20 |
| Alan Gariano | 1 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 21 |
Match Report 13 January, 2015
A glorious day for bowls and as the cool morning haze lifted 12 hearty bowlers competed in a 6 team round robin compitition at the Mae Jo tennis court. The winners with 4 wins were Ted and Aor – the only way hop-a-long won was due to the the brilliant playing of young Aor. A star is born. Three teams had 3 wins and 2 teams with only 1 win.
In addition to the great bowling by Aor, ther were a few other highlights. Mike won bragging rights over Ted by trouncing him 14-1 in the 3rd round. Sam and Mike gained the most points with 34 (helped by the thrashing of Ted). Allan and Roland posted some big scores for 29 points. Roland is becoming a force to reckon with and is by far the best Swedish bowler in Chiang Mai. The wooden spoon was a closely fought battle of crappy bowls with Tom and Jerry, 14 points easily loosing out to Ric and Des with 21 points.
The day concluded with the usual beer and witty repartee at the caddy shack.
| Pair | Wins | Round 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Total |
| Ted Taylor/Aor | 4 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 23 |
| Sam Tor/Mike Reeve | 3 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 34 |
| Dizzy Reeve/Shane James | 3 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 21 |
| Allan Gariano/Roland Nilsson | 3 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 29 |
| Ric Cameron/Des Austin | 1 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 21 |
| Jerry Cassidy/Don Bishop | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 14 |
Bowls for Jan. 6th from Ted
There was a much better turnout than last week. We had 11 come out, and Les bowed out so Ted actually got to play. Les did the teams, the scoring, collected and paid the money and .
he earned his libation at the caddy shack later. So with 5 teams competing, the team of Mike and Sam took 1st. place with 3 wins and one draw along with 34 points.
Shane and Ric were second with 1 win and 2 draws, 27 pts. Ted and Norm, Roland and Des shared 3 rd. with 1 win and 2 draws with 17 points each. Last place went to Jack and Dizzy with 1 draw and 3 losses, and 10 points. I could probably say, and be correct, that this was the worst showing Dizzy has had since we started. Unfortunately Keith is under the weather, and Richard is in the hospital. We wish them both a speedy recovery.
The new bowling green at Mae Jo. Grass growing slowly but should be ready my March.
Match Report 30 December, 2014
Very disappointing turnout for bowls today. 7 including me. So the 6 just played singles. Kuzi was the overall winner with 4 wins, one loss and 30 points. Second was Dizzy with a three and two and 26 points. 3rd was Mike 3 and 2 but only 25 points. Ric was 2 1/2 and 2 1/2 with 26, followed by Keith 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 losses for 21 points. And last was Gerry 1 win and 4 losses with 20 points.
Match Report 23 December, 2014
A beautiful day for bowls today with the green running a little faster than usual. Today 12 bowlers participated in a 6 team round robin with Ted Taylor acting as scorer. As usual the pairs were decided by draw. There was a tie with Dizzy Reeve/Don Bishop and Michael Kusman/Norm Gazeley having 4 wins and 1 loss each. However Don and Dizzy were the winners on points with 32 and Norm/Kuzie with 26. Photo below shows bowlers discussing a tight end.
| Pair | Wins | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Total |
| Dizzy Reeve/Don Bishop | 4 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 32 |
| Michael Kusman/Norm Gazeley | 4 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 26 |
| Richard Massey/Les Harvey | 3 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 24 |
| Sam Torr/Ric Cameron | 3 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 20 |
| Allan Gariano/Jerry Cassidy | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 13 |
| Keith Taylor/Mike Reeve | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 14 |
Dizzy is fast becoming the club champion and Don can owe his win to the luck of the draw !! Well done Dizzy.
There has been excellent progress with the new bowling green situated behind the hotel. The land has been leveled and the grass planted. It should be ready for use in March. This should be a big improvement on the slow and bumpy tennis court.
King’s Birthday Bowls Tourney – Chonburi December 5, 6, 7.
The Coco Resort invited our group to provide a team for the Coco King’s International Invitation Tournament. Our team comprised Richard Massey, Norm Gazeley, Keith Taylor and Don Bishop.
Only Norm had any experience with tournament bowling. There were 10 teams and many were of international standard. We struggled to say the least but received great support and certainly learnt a lot about bowls. Playing indoor on sports carpet was a lot different from the Mae Jo tennis court !!! The winners were the team from Royal Bangkok Sports Club. Big thanks to Norm for the use of his very comfortable vehicle.
Lawn Bowls at Mae Jo – 5th August, 12.30 – 5pm
At the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow now just started lawn bowls is one of the most popular sports among the 70 plus participating countries. Lawn bowls was played at the SEA games a few years ago so it is not completely new to Thailand. There is a lawn bowling club in Hua Hin with a large membership. (check their website). In April, Don Bishop lugged 2 sets of 4 bowls back to Thailand from New Zealand with a view to promoting a lawn bowls group in Chiang Mai.
In May we conducted an exhibition match on the tennis court at Mae Jo for their owners and top management. They were impressed and see an opportunity to include lawn bowling in their resort mix. The tennis court is not ideal and Mae Jo have already started to prepare a separate bowling rinks behind the hotel. In the meantime we need to see what interest there is among CMSG members.
Mae Jo have agreed the use of the tennis court on the afternoon of Tuesday 5th August for an inaugural tournament.They will charge 150 Baht per person from 12.30 until 5 pm and this is very reasonable. The shop at the 3rd green will be available for refreshments. The idea will be to have a practice session from 12.30 until 2pm and then a knockout pairs tournament from 2 to 5pm with the teams drawn out of the hat. Nothing very serious with plenty of beer flowing and good fun. Depending on interest we can then look at regular tournaments and getting hold of some more bowls.
All those interested in attending on the 5th August please contact Don at thai.don@gmail.com
See how it works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II_FRVw15Wk#action=share
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