Seven lawn bowling teams from across the province arrived in Port Alberni last week to compete for gold, as the Port Alberni Lawn Bowling Club hosted the Senior Women’s Triples provincial championship from Tuesday, July 30 to Thursday, Aug. 1.
Robin Forrest, of the Port Alberni club, said the competition went “superbly” from a hosting perspective.
“The organization was great,” she said. “The volunteerism in this club is fabulous—everyone is more than willing to help. Everyone was very happy, and it just seemed to flow.”
Thursday’s final games saw a bit of rain, but Forrest said this didn’t affect the tournament.
“The green is extremely well-prepared,” she explained. “And the players were all suited up. These are all seasoned, experienced players.”
The gold medal went to Mary Wright, Anne Van Bastelaere and Donna Blackstock (from White Rock, Juan de Fuca and Oak Bay), while silver went to Lynn Chwartacki, Mary Mulligan and Sharon Baldwin (from Qualicum, Nanaimo and Maple Ridge). Bronze medal winners were Sandra Mitchell, Christine Fereday and Carol Bucyk from Parksville.
“We’ve had an absolutely lovely time,” said gold medal winner Mary Wright during the medal presentations on Thursday. “We were last here in 2017 and it was sweltering. So now you’ve cooled me down.”
Port Alberni previously hosted the same tournament in 2017, when the home team walked away with gold. Although Port Alberni didn’t medal this time around, Forrest said she thinks the team played well.
READ: Port Alberni lawn bowling ladies win gold
“We had a really good time,” she said.
Qualicum Beach hosted the Senior Men’s Triples this week, and Jake Van Kooten, a member of the Port Alberni Lawn Bowling Club, earned the bronze medal. The winner of the Men’s provincials was a team from Parksville.
“It’s great that it stayed on the Island,” said Forrest.
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