After 10 days of competition, the curtain has finally come down on the Swan Hill Bowls Club’s 2024 May/Autumn Carnival, with more than 200 competitors taking part in the 58th edition of the annual event.
Included among the competitors were almost 150 players from outside the Swan Hill region, said carnival organiser Bill King.
“It’s a huge 10 days and a great event on the local bowling calendar that’s always well supported,” King said.
“The camaraderie between the players is always very good, they enjoy our meals and enjoy the company of each other, but as a club, we have to do a lot of things right to keep the standard high and keep those from outside our region wanting to return every year.
“We go to great lengths to look after them and make sure that everything is done right.
“At the end of the day, they enjoy our greens, they enjoy our weather, they enjoy our company and our hospitality and they enjoy meeting with other people from different places.
“It takes a lot of work, but we’ve already got entries coming in for next year, so my work is already starting for 12 months time.”
Starting on Saturday, May 4, and ending on Monday afternoon, the carnival is played under different formats each day, with events ranging from pairs events through to fours.
The weather remained perfect for nine of the 10 days, with the only hiccup taking place last Saturday, with the men’s and ladies fours events cancelled after the deluge of rain made the greens unplayable.
“The greens held up very well, we only missed the one day, which was a bit disappointing, but you can’t control the weather,” King said.
“There’s a lot of work that gets done behind the scenes, with the ground staff and the ladies catering in the kitchen especially, but there’s a lot of people around our club that hop in and help and we’re lucky in that way.”
One of the visitors to our region was Dave Matthews, who competed in the any combination 2 bowl triples event on the final day of the carnival, among several other events.
Matthews, who plays with the Truganina Wanderers, has been competing in the annual event since 2016 and was quick to point out that it’s not only the high standard of bowls that keeps drawing him back every year.
“You always have a good afternoon of bowls, meet a lot of nice people and catch up with the same people every year on top of getting to know the locals,” Matthews said.
“It’s always nice to win a few events as well, but it’s not always possible with the level of competition the carnival attracts.
“Bill (King) is a good bloke and they run a good competition, there’s a group of us that come up every year and we’ll keep coming back every year too.
“We live in an over 50’s resort in Truganina and although our group has dwindled off a little bit over the years, there’s still six of us that have come up this year.
“We enjoy playing bowls and having a good time with good company, that’s the big drawcard and the main reason we’ll keep coming back.”
