Bowling at James Gardens & The Cricket Club . . . not that far apart on the map . . but worlds apart in atmosphere and playing conditions.
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‘Rain’ - a bad 4 letter word to most lawn bowlers . . . particularly if it is a light rain / heavy drizzle that lingers over the greens for a long time.
“PLAY ON” is the word from the draw master in Provincial play in almost any type of rain. No choice here . . must get the event completed over the weekend. But what about your local Mixed Pairs or Mixed Trebles tournament? When a light but steady rain hits it is sometimes tough to decide . . . Do you play? . . . Delay things hoping it will clear up? . . . or do you just send everyone home for the day? . . not fun playing in the rain. . . also not fun . . being the one to decide if everyone should stay out and play on in the rain. (which can make you very unpopular).
That wet 4 letter word reared its head and affected all events I was involved in last week.
Always enjoy a trip to play on the artificial turf at James Gardens . . especially with my mother Lorry. James Gardens is a nice small club located on the west bank of the Humber River in Etobicoke. A few years ago the city tore up their 2 grass greens and built one artificial surfaced green . . very good move.
While many struggle with the super quick (15-16 sec?) / wide drawing (8’) rinks, Lorry relishes them. They are one of the only greens where she can still easily get the bowls all the way down to the other end (especially in May), so their 3 MP events are the first I enter for us at the start of the year. Still going strong into her eighties, a 15-0 record in the last 5 events played there is testimony to her proficiency on the fake grass.
On this Wednesday, as the weatherman predicted, Mother Nature reared her head with a light rain as the 3rd game commenced. Just 2 ends played and the rain started to get heavier. Draw Master Brian came out and not sure what to do he asked for opinions on whether to stop or continue. Regular Provincial players who come prepared for all weather seemed to want to play on, while the lesser established group (and most 2 game losers) were ready to call it a day. A show of hands was called for. “Who would like to stop play?”
Looking down the green I saw an already drenched partner . . . arm up in a flash and waving at me to do the same. Forget the fact that stopping now would relegate us to 2nd place, I knew if I wanted a ride home I’d better get my hand up quick. But the majority (at least the most vocal ones) wanted to play on (or else their arms were just too sopping wet and heavy to lift) so play continued. A minute later, a siren could be heard from the golf course on the other side of the river signaling players to get off the course. This, plus a couple rumblings of thunder, (and a few rumblings from bowlers who just kept getting wetter) prompted the Draw Master to come back out and declare that everyone should complete 5 ends then vacate the green.
The shortened match was to our benefit as we grabbed a 6-4 decision and had just enough points to eke out the top prize over Vince Donohue, which was a reversal from the previous event which Vince won & we were 2nd.
In the 3rd shortened game we played our club mates Meno Jose & Jan Luke. Look out for Meno . . . . a new bowler (3rd year) on the rise. A regular at Richmond Green indoor bowling (which helps at James Gardens) he has developed his own ‘no step’ delivery for the fast artificial surfaces. Very good on the regular grass too. Will be a force to reckon with in future years.
Come Thursday it was off to the posh Toronto Cricket, Skating & Curling Club. (TCSCC) for their Mixed Trebles event. This club at Avenue Road & Wilson in the north end of the city offers quite a different class of facilities compared to old James Gardens. (and most every other club for that matter).
If you’re looking to make a financial profit at lawn bowls . . go elsewhere as I believe only $10 of the $33 entry fee is allocated towards the bowling . . the rest is for lunch (and may be underpriced at that for the spread you are presented with). Unless you manage to grab 1st place, you will be walking out with less money than you came in with. Events here, always filled, are proof positive that bowlers are out for the enjoyment of a day of competitive bowls and not to reap great rewards.
Far different from the setting at James Gardens in the open spaces beside the Humber, the green here is tightly situated in between the tennis courts (on 2 sides) and the pool on the 3rd side. As we played we could watch the construction crew working as they were putting a retractable roof & stone patio at the pool area. I think this should be a must for every lawn bowling club! Someone in charge please amend the handbook for building a lawn bowling club accordingly.
This day the rains came as we dined after the 2nd game. From the 2nd floor Dining Room you could see it coming down hard over the lush green cricket pitch & croquet court. For sure . . so I thought . . no 3rd game today. Draw Master Richard Wright advised though that we were going to wait for 20 minutes (until 2:45) and then make a decision. He had probably been to the sports office at the club where they can call up a ‘Doppler Radar’ screen on the computer to see what was headed our way. (another must for your club).
This gave us time to review the results from the first 2 games. At the Cricket club, while you dine on your 3 course lunch, (and have a uniformed gentleman bring a potent beverage to your table) you are handed a computer generated results tally showing the scores of all the games to date and the rankings after game 2. (I’m surprised they didn’t also let you know what your score was going to be in the 3rd game! . . they seem to be really on the ball). There would be 6 prizes on this day . . . and I could see who was in line for them. 4 -2 game winners . . and the top 2 one gamers. My team mates Mike & Corinne Vince were happy to see that as high 1 game winner we would be in the money.
Wouldn’t you know . . it was as if Mother Nature was taunting us . . . . at 2:44 the rain let up . . we had just enough time to trek down to the green and start play . . before she opened up the faucet again. At 3:00 the deluge came back. I’m sure I heard a chuckle from her as a now soaked group headed back inside to hear the results of the day. Poor Richard . . the Drawmaster can never please all . . endured the wrath of a couple home team players who weren’t happy that they were sent out in the elements for game 3.
The usual culprits took the big prizes:
Frank Dinardo was #1aided by Sheila Lumley & his lead . . . 88 year old Alex Graham . . . . still piling them straight in on the jack. Warning . . . although his bowls are still running true . . stay out of Alex’s way in the parking lot. After patiently waiting a couple of minutes for him to try to get out of his parking spot I just had to veer around him and head for the exit. (For all I know, he’s still there trying to get out!)
Following Frank as 2 game winners were the teams of Unky Zangwill, Gord Anglin & Jack Siboni.
Bob B in the GTA
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