Meadows Open 2006

1-2 July 2006, Meadows

The 2006 Meadows Open was a six round Swiss.  Manager Fergus decided we should draw for first round opponents with the numbers meant for delineating bowls' ends and play began, all in the blue unclouded weather.

The lawns were well watered so playing easily.  No real excuses then for games going to time, or for the lack of TPs.  There were plenty of failed TPs though, including one from Martin against Duncan when he took off from after hoop 5 to behind the peelee (just through 4-b) and rushed it back into the jaws, doing only one more peel before breaking down at penult, and one from Rod where he ended up trying to leave his partner ball in the jaws of penult and instead sent it almost to the peg.  Rod later trumped these failed TPs with a failed sextuple, again with two peels done.  In the main results went with the form book.

Read more: Meadows Open 2006

Scotland v Canada 2006

23-25 June 2006, Meadows

The series of matches between Canada and Scotland for the Maple Shield, played in even-numbered years, began in 1998, and Scotland has yet to win one, although we did achieve a draw in Edinburgh in 2002.

This year's line-up did not bode well for an improvement in the Scots' record.  Canada was fielding Leo McBride (handicap -1.5) at no.1 and Dave Lewis (0) at no.2, while the only available Scottish player at a similar level was Chris Dent (-0.5), and he could play only on the second day of the match.  Completing the Canadian team were Pat Little (estimated handicap 4) and Chris Loat (5) - both veterans of the previous two matches, having played in 2002 alongside Leo and Paul Emmet, and in 2004 with Dave and Ken Shipley.  The other Scots involved were Brian Murdoch (2), Fergus McInnes (3), Bill Spalding (6), Alan Wilson (6, Sunday only) and Jamieson Walker (7).

Read more: Scotland v Canada 2006

Wilkinson Sword 2006

11 June 2006, Glasgow

Players

Geoff Caldwell (6), Maria Limonci (14) - Edinburgh
Steve Barnett (7), Robert Lay (11) - Glasgow
George Anderson (6), Jamieson Walker (7) - Meadows

Results

Glasgow beat Meadows +7T (22-15)
Meadows beat Edinburgh +8T (23-15)
Glasgow beat Edinburgh +2T (21-19)

Read more: Wilkinson Sword 2006

Middle Bisquers 2006

17-18 June 2006, Meadows

This year's Middle Bisquers tournament covered a very wide range of handicaps, from David Appleton (4) to Joe Lennon and James Hopgood (both 14).

With seven entrants, the format on Saturday was one block of four and one block of three.  On Sunday the top two from each block played a knock-out, and the remaining three played in a block.

Read more: Middle Bisquers 2006

Pendle and Craven Advanced Weekend 2006

10-11 June 2006, Pendle and Craven

The 10 players in this year's Pendle and Craven Advanced Weekend were almost symmetrically distributed in both latitude and handicap.  Two came from Scotland, two from the South of England, and the other six from nearer at hand in the northern counties of England.  (The lawns are in Lancashire, but less than half a mile from the boundary with Yorkshire - a circumstance which caused one visiting player some discomfiture in the bar on Friday night when he rashly assumed that the inn where he was staying was in Lancashire too.)  Ian Lines had handicap -2, Martin Stephenson was a 5, and the rest ranged from David Barrett at 0 to Robert Essler and Fergus McInnes at 3.

Read more: Pendle and Craven Advanced Weekend 2006