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CSBC 2026 FINALS REPORT

What a wonderful Finals Weekend we had over 5th and 6th September! Congratulations to all our finalists, who gave it their all and provided us with some fantastic games.
We were also incredibly grateful that the weather was glorious — perfect conditions for our finals.
So, to the results, in order of play:

Mixed Open Pairs 

Hazel Davey & Jenna Kirkham were the winners against Janet Lewis & Angela Quinn, 2 sets to 0.
Kicking off Finals Weekend, Hazel & Jenna won the first set 7–3 and the second 5–4.
A great game with some very tight ends.

Mixed Handicap Singles 

Janice Hatcher succeeded against Bob Webb, 22–15.
Starting with a 4–4 handicap, Bob won the first end. However, after the 6th end, Janice started to pull away.
A total of 21 ends were played before Janice achieved the required 21 shots.

Joan Pont Memorial Trophy 

Mick Pont presented the trophy to the winners Barbara Gunns & John Kingswood and the runners-up Bob Patis & Jan Patis. The score was 17–11.
The scores were level at 5–5 after the first six ends, but Barb & John pulled ahead over the 7th, 8th and 9th ends.
Although Bob & Jan picked up a few ends during the final eight, they were unable to close the gap.

John Murdoch Mixed Memorial Novices Trophy 

Gary Ashby was the victor against Steve Norman, 21–19.
Gary got off to an early lead, establishing a comfortable advantage.
However, Steve fought back to level the score at 18–18 on the 21st end.
After some nail-biting bowls, Gary reached the 21-shot target on the 24th end. 

Ladies 100 Up 

Janice Hatcher was the victor against Sue Norman, 101–89.
The game was evenly matched until the 14th end, with Sue managing to keep within touching distance of Janice’s score.
Janice then began to push ahead and crossed the 100-mark finishing line on the 19th end. 

Ladies Drawn Pairs 

Jackie Hawes & Lynn Tyler were the winners against Barbara Gunns & Janice Hatcher, 19–13.
A long, hard-fought match. Jackie & Lynn took an early lead, helped by scoring a 3 on several ends and a 4.
Barb & Janice scored a 5 on the 17th end, but unfortunately it came a little too late to bridge the gap.

Men’s Drawn Pairs 

Bob Merriman & Malcolm Jones were victorious against Derek Luckhurst & John Kingswood, 12–11.
Bob & Malcolm got an early lead in this match, but Derek & John fought back, with the scores all square at 11–11 after the 17th end.
After the leads had bowled, Bob & Malcolm were holding 2 shots. John then delivered his last wood into the head, managing to get the shot. With his last wood Malcolm then played a fantastic shot with a bit of pace to come through the crowded head on to John’s holding wood and moved it just enough to claim the end and win the match by one shot. 

Men’s 100 Up

Steve Norman triumphed against Bob Webb, 103–67.
A tight start to the game saw Bob score a 9 on the first end, with Steve only two points ahead by the 6th end.
A 9 on the 7th end saw Steve start to pull away, and he crossed the 100-mark finishing line on the 17th end.

Mixed 2 Woods

Janice Hatcher succeeded against Brian Gunns, 18–1.
Janice gave a strong performance in this game, achieving a convincing win over 11 ends.

Ladies Championship 

Hazel Davey succeeded against Lynn Tyler, 21–19.
Lynn took the lead early in the game and was a few points ahead until the 7th end, when she strengthened her lead through to the 15th end.
From there, it was nip and tuck all the way to the 25th end, with Hazel nicking the last measured shot to take the win.

Men’s Championship

Gary Ashby was the victor against Matt Davey, 21–10.
A close game for the first seven ends, before Gary took the lead and steadily built on it to secure the win on the 19th end.

CONGRATULATIONS

Well-done to all our winners!

 A huge thank you goes to Sue Hughes, Julie Jasper & Glynn Harrington for keeping us fed throughout the weekend, and to our fantastic bar team — especially Louise Turner & Mick Holdeman — for keeping the drinks flowing (non-alcoholic options also available).

And, of course, where would we be without our Green Team? Our amazing team behind the scenes have kept us bowling throughout the season, despite some challenging weather conditions. Your hard work is hugely appreciated.

Last, but certainly not least, my special thanks go to Alan Jasper for helping me navigate my first season in the Club Competitions Secretary role, and to everyone else for their patience and support along the way. 

Well, that’s the end of our Club Competitions for 2026!

I hope this fantastic Finals Weekend has inspired all our members to enter our Club Competitions next year.
Remember: If you’re not in it, you can’t win it! 

Here’s to another great competitive year of bowling in 2027.

 Hazel Davey – Club Competitions Secretary

The Finals of our internal club competitions were held over the weekend of the 6th and 7th September, and players and spectators were lucky enough to have dry sunny weather both days.
Results and a brief report of the games follow: –

Ladies’ 100up

Hazel Davey won against Janice Hatcher 101-79.

Both players won ends and took turns in the lead early on until Hazel gradually found her form and went into a 20-shot lead between ends 8 and 14 which she maintained until she reached 100 points.

Men’s 100up

Alan Jasper was the winner against Stewart Lidster 103-57.

The early ends were close between Alan and Stewart but the gap in points scored started to grow as the game progressed and Alan won after 16 ends.

Ladies’ Pairs

Julie Jasper and Tracey Burton took the prize versus Jan Patis and Mel Webb 23-15.

With the score tied after 6 ends Julie and Tracey won 8 of the next 9 ends to open up a 10-point lead. The gap was closed when Jan and Mel scored 5 shots on end 15 but Julie and Tracey held on to win by 8 shots.

Men’s Pairs

Chris Jarrett and Bob Webb were the winners over Derreck Sherress and Gary Ashby 23-7.

Chris and Bob got off to a flying start leading 11-0 after 6 ends and with Derreck suffering from a leg injury he and Gary couldn’t close the gap, so they conceded the game after 16 ends.

Mixed Handicap

Alan Jasper won against Lynn Korff 21-19.

The closest game of the weekend and probably the best match for the spectators to watch. Lynn started with a 4-shot handicap advantage which after some fine play she increased to lead by 8 shots after 12 ends. Alan started to close the gap and led 19-18 for the first time on end 18. With shots being shared he managed to close the game out on end 21.

Two Woods

Stephen Webb overcame Maddy Gregson 18-7.

The two woods is often a very tactical game. Stephen went into an early lead and by casting the jack to the length he favoured left Maddy struggling to gain shot and alter the length. Maddy conceded after 18 ends when it became impossible for her to win.

Joan Pont Pairs

Mick Pont presented the Joan Pont trophy to the winners Stewart Lidster and Lynn Korff and a prize for the runners-up Hazel Davey and Brian Gunns. The score was 24-12.

With Stewart leading and playing very well, he and Lynn went into an 18-3 lead after 12 ends. Stewart went off the boil a bit and Hazel and Brian won the next 5 ends but with Lynn playing well as skip she closed the game out with an end to spare.

Open Pairs

Steve Norman and Richard Lyttle beat Alan and Julie Jasper 8-4 and 9-2.

With Derreck Sherress unable to play due to a leg injury, Steve Norman replaced him in the final. This was unfortunate for Julie and Alan as Steve had a great game. With Richard adding to Steve’s scoring woods or getting shot on the few occasions Steve didn’t and with Julie and Alan not playing to their abilities it proved an easy victory for Steve and Richard by 2 sets to zero.

Mixed Novices

Jenna Kirkham took the John Murdoch Novices Prize winning versus Gary Ashby 21-4.

After losing the opening end Jenna won the next 10 ends going into a 20-2 lead. Jenna seemed to find line and length early on while Gary struggled to find either.

Ladies’ Championship

Jenna Kirkham won the Ladies Championship against Lynn Tyler 21-14.

With both bowlers playing on the straighter line Lynn went into a 0-6 lead. Jenna switched to the wider bias line and started to gain control taking a 16-10 lead after 13 ends. Lynn switched to the wider bias side later in the game, but Jenna managed to hold on to her lead to win.

Men’s Championship

Alan Jasper became the Men’s Champion against Malcolm Jones 21-12.

Despite the final score a very close match. With both players favouring the same hand on each end there was a lot of tight heads with many ends only decided by a measure. Alan’s experience helped him to win after 23 ends.

Thanks to everyone who helped to make the weekend a success; the green team for preparing an excellent surface for the players; everyone who helped to set up the rinks; the markers who marked the singles games; Bob Webb for helping me organise the games; Alan Hughes for being umpire on Saturday and Tim for being umpire on Sunday; and especially to Sue, Glyn, Julie and Tim who kept everyone fed and watered.

Alan Jasper (with contributions from Jenna and Hazel)

NEW WEBSITE

Welcome to the new Civil Service Bowling Club (Chatham) website with the URL ‘www.csbcchatham.org’. This website had to be re-built from scratch and my thanks go to Ian Thomas of ‘bowlsclub.info’ who has built many websites over the years mainly for Bowls Clubs.  I hope you’ll agree when you take a look around that it is a quality replacement.

This time a lot more information can be viewed about the club on the website by the general public. Members of CSBC will not have to set up their own login details but will use a provided password to access the Members’ section that includes Club Documents and other information for example Minutes and Newsletters.

I hope you enjoy the website. I hope to increase the content with more photographs and news, although there will still be a Newsletter periodically. Any suggestions will be welcome.

Wishing you all an enjoyable and successful 2026 bowling season.

Bob Merriman
Webmaster