Sea Gypsy win Garden Route Casino Business League

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Mossel Bay Bowling Club had a tense evening on Thursday,7 March, as grim-faced warriors arrived at the club, armed for war.

All day long urgent emails and WhatsApp messages had been circulating between the combatants and organisers.

Everyone knew things could get nasty before the sun set on that day. The uncertainty and fear was almost a living, breathing thing.

As the ties and work boots were removed and they lined up to receive their weapons of mass distraction and a final beer, it was obvious: bowling would never be the same again, because the weather had changed….

Despite six weeks of fantastic late summer weather, the final round of the Garden Route Casino 2019 Business League was played on a bleak rain-threatened evening. The organisers were never quite sure if rain would stop play or not.

With the last game shortened to just eight ends, it was a case of making every shot count as the top six teams battled it out for top honours.

The Sea Gypsy team went into the last round with a five-point lead, but their opponents Correctional Services are past winners and everyone knew that with enough motivation, they were quite capable of causing an upset yet again.

The last two ends of that game gave spectators plenty of excitement, with their supporters alternately holding their breaths, cheering and checking their calculators.

Sea Gypsy held their poise and focus, losing the game by four points but ending as the overall league winners.

Just four points separated the top four teams, making this one of the closest finishes yet. Well done to the winners for keeping everyone entertained.

The top six teams this year:

First: Sea Gypsy

Second: Correctional Services

Third: Fork 'n Bowls

Fourth: Mesco Bolts

Fifth: Rudman & Visagie

Sixth: Hi-Q

A huge thank you once again to Garden Route Casino for sponsoring this annual event and to each and every member of the 28 participating teams and their supporters.

It is an honour for Mossel Bay Bowling Club to host more than 120 players in this event annually.

At the risk of singling out individuals, we do need to acknowledge some specific unofficial awards.

The "Sport-gees-van-die-toernooi" award must go to Wayne from Mass Hire, who gave his all every game to inspire, guide, exhort and generally entertain his team.

A video exists to prove that he plays bowls like no one else. Never before have we seen a skip doing push-ups over his team's incoming bowls. Thank you Wayne for your enthusiasm.

Then we have the Dragon Award which goes to Ryan from GRC, who regularly disappeared in a cloud of vape smoke, much to the consternation of our fire marshals who did offer to extinguish him.

A final thank you to Stat Warehouse for challenging all teams to support a floodlight fund for the club to allow this tournament to be played later in the evenings especially during early Spring.

R6 000 has already been either pledged or donated towards this fund and we hope to receive further support now that businesses have begun their new financial year.

Mossel Bay Bowling Club looks forward to welcoming all the teams back again later in 2019 for our Spring Business League.

Second: Correctional Services.