POLICE bowlers from around Australia have descended on Murray Downs Golf & Country Club for this year’s Australian Police Bowling Championship.
The event was held at Murray Downs for the third time, having last returned in 2018.
It will run until May 4, after Wednesday’s charity day and yesterday’s opening ceremony.
Teams from Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia are taking to the greens for the week-long competition.
Club chair Garry McCaig said planning for the event started before this year.
“It’s been a work in progress for a few years,” he said.
“We’d had meetings with a lot of people and committees to get it run smoothly.
“The class of bowlers that are here is brilliant, we’ve got a lot of state bowlers and premier bowlers. There are some very good bowlers out there.”
Victoria Police Bowling Club president Haydn Smith said the sides event was what most of the 170 competitors were vying for.
“We play a sides event, like pennant, which involves 20 players per team, but then we get a chance to play more individualised events,” he said.
“The sides competition is the one that involves the most people and is probably the most prestigious event you can win here.”
Mr Smith said that although competitors were desperate to win, the camaraderie between police bowlers was ever-present.
“It’s a very serious event, to get into the side is a a bit of an accolade to your bowling career,” he said.
“Even though it’s limited to police, there’s still high quality bowls played.
“The competition is fierce but because we’ve all served in the same job, even though we are rivals there’s a real bond between competitors.”
