Alexandra Park
There were eight players this year, with handicaps ranging from -0.5 to 11: defending
champion, plus two Glasgow members, plus one newcomer from Newcastle, Derek Watts,
three from Edinburgh and one from Polmont. A near-standard American Block format
was used, with 2.5-hour time limits.
Saturday was cold and dull, with some sun after 4.00, but Sunday was a beautifully clear,
still, spring day. Alexandra Park has four bowling greens in a natural bowl setting,
with splendid heathers, spring flowers, and a persistent motorway traffic sound.
But at least two courts show great potential with some treatment, as they are firm
underfoot, and pretty flat, although one has a lot of small holes which can cause
problems. The hoops stayed firm in the ground without having to be attended to,
and nobody complained that their missed hoop was caused by its looseness, which can
happen on an adapted bowling green with a sand-based foundation.
In Round One, Bruce laid a sextuple leave against Alan, but the SXP was never going
to happen. Derek beat Campbell with minutes to go, and the other two games went
to time, setting a pattern for this early-season event. In Round Two, Campbell
beat Martin comfortably, Bruce finally overcame Tony, Joe beat Alan on time, despite
Alan hitting his last lift shot needing two to win, but not getting in front of rover
and Derek beat Fergus on the golden hoop after Fergus clanged 3-back which would have
been the winner.
In Round Three, Bruce beat Campbell easily, Alan did likewise to Derek, and this time
the two time games went to Joe and Tony. Round Four games were to be pegged
down overnight with one hour remaining, all were so interrupted, and three needed
the remaining time. Only Derek finished, beating Tony, while Bruce had his
first "T" on the card for years, managing to hold onto a 22-1 overnight lead to beat
Fergus 22-13, Joe and Alan being the other winners.
The final three Rounds were like the SPL end-of-season split, as the eight became two
mini-blocks, each camping on one of the two courts for the day. Joe got the short
straw as reward for coming down to handicap 10 overnight, having to play each of the top
three by ranking, putting up some resistance whilst losing all three. His game
against Martin could have gone either way in the three-ball ending, after Martin had
pegged Joe out with two peels giving contact, partner-ball being on hoop 2 against
Joe's hoop 6 - Joe got only two more but did have several chances to make progress as
Martin clambered out of a poor Saturday into a good Sunday - he really should have TP'd
Bruce in the final game. Bruce did TP Derek to win the cup with a round to go,
taking his winning sequence to 16 (a personal best), but Martin put a stop to that with
his first win ever over Bruce.
In the other half, Alan beat Campbell and Fergus beat Tony (both on time), then Tony
beat Alan and Campbell beat Fergus (both on time), and finally Campbell beat Tony and
Alan beat Fergus in the turn after time to clinch third place on his own.
Bruce Rannie
Results
Bruce Rannie bt Alan Wilson +20
Derek Watts bt Campbell Morrison +14
Tony Whateley bt Joe Lennon +2T (20-18)
Fergus McInnes bt Martin Stephenson +12T (19-7)
Bruce Rannie bt Tony Whateley +12
Derek Watts bt Fergus McInnes +1T (19-18)
Joe Lennon bt Alan Wilson +1T (17-16)
Campbell Morrison bt Martin Stephenson +20
Bruce Rannie bt Campbell Morrison +24
Alan Wilson bt Derek Watts +13
Joe Lennon bt Fergus McInnes +8T (24-16)
Tony Whateley bt Martin Stephenson +1T (16-15)
Bruce Rannie bt Fergus McInnes +9T (22-13)
Derek Watts bt Tony Whateley +19
Joe Lennon bt Campbell Morrison +1T (20-19)
Alan Wilson bt Martin Stephenson +6T (21-15)
Bruce Rannie bt Joe Lennon +11
Derek Watts bt Martin Stephenson +21
Alan Wilson bt Campbell Morrison +5T (22-17)
Fergus McInnes bt Tony Whateley +8T (23-15)
Bruce Rannie bt Derek Watts +17 TP
Campbell Morrison bt Fergus McInnes +14T (25-11)
Tony Whateley bt Alan Wilson +9T (21-12)
Martin Stephenson bt Joe Lennon +6
Martin Stephenson bt Bruce Rannie +25
Derek Watts bt Joe Lennon +20
Campbell Morrison bt Tony Whateley +16
Alan Wilson bt Fergus McInnes +18
1 Rannie 6/7
2 Watts 5/7
3 Wilson 4/7
4 Morrison 3/7 (127 pts scored)
5 Lennon 3/7 (110 pts scored)
6 Whateley 3/7 (103 pt scored)
7 McInnes 2/7 (108 pts scored)
8 Stephenson 2/7 (101 pts scored)
Joe Lennon's handicap came down from 11 to 10 after Saturday, and Alan Wilson's from 5 to 4.5 at the end of the tournament. Fergus McInnes's handicap went up to 3.5 at the end of the tournament.