30th May

Not being put off by it being half-term we once again had 11 bowlers, 2 lanes of four and 1 lane of 3; actually there were hardly any children present and therefore we were, as usual, the noisiest group there.  Three gentlemen shared the lane of 3 and their scores were close ending with just a 31 point difference in the series between them.  It was left up to Tony, the only other man present, to take the glory of ‘top man’.  He didn’t get his best score but beat his previous personal series best by two points with 340 – well done Tony. Credit goes to Gwen who struggled in her first game but after sticking with one ball and not switching to another for her second bowl, her game improved tremendously; I don’t know if she beat her personal best but her highest score was 91 and her series 227.  Anne L also played really well bowling several strikes and spares bringing her series to 372 and a high score of 137 – to record this achievement she requested a print out of the games so no doubt Tim has framed it and it now hangs in pride of place in the Langley household.

It was Anne L’s team with Diane, Suzie, & Gwen that won the day with an overall score of 1370. The three men, Tim, Vic & John came second with an adjusted score of 1191 and not far behind with 1165 Team Chris with Anne W, Kim & Tony.

It was an afternoon of great fun, disappointment, tension and excitement.

13^th June

Hooray! Gwen seems to have cracked it.  Now using the same ball each week she improves each time and ended today with her highest score of 94 and her highest series of 240.

Once again we were 11, which included Don & Margaret, two new members to the group. We also had two spectators; Polly regularly attends to watch and enjoys a glass or two of white wine whilst doing so.  The other reluctant spectator was Anne W who, suffering from a broken finger, made good use of her time by picking up useful hints from Leroy, the bowling alley’s coach.

None of us bowled well in the first game and it was Tony who emerged as the winner with 121.  Not to be outdone Tim won the second game also with 121.  John was showing frustration with his bowling scoring well below par; it was quite amazing to see his ball going straight down the alley, lined up for a strike and then at the last minute veering sharply left trying its hardest to avoid touching any pins.  Tim suggested trying a heavier ball and that seemed to do the trick after which John almost trebled his score.

At first Don was using the wrong fingers but once that was resolved he started to bowl well and vows to improve.  Margaret on the other hand started off well scoring 107 but couldn’t sustain it.  Having both bowled previously they no doubt will improve rapidly.

After a break for tea round three proved interesting and I’m sorry to say Suzie that you have had your highest score of 175, the highest for the group so far, beaten – Diane scored 184.

Diane Caulkett