Bendigo VRI Bowling Club in Bendigo, Victoria | Sport & recreation

Bendigo VRI Bowling Club

Locality: Bendigo, Victoria

Phone: +61 3 5443 8578

Address: 126-130 Mitchell Sreeet 3550 Bendigo, VIC, Australia

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24.01.2022 Read on, bowlers

24.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers- and Happy New Year First supplementary number for 2021 was 26 - Margaret Thomson. Marj has returned from Narrandera and will be out of isolation as soon she receives a negative test result. ... Social bowls on Tuesday. Midweek pennant on Friday. It’s all happening. Until next time - good bowling

24.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers As we’re released from lockdown at midnight and COVID restrictions revert to practically what they were, we’ve decided to have a couple of games of social bowls tomorrow, Thursday at 12:30. Ring the Club by 11 if you’d like a game. Yay. Until next time - good bowling

23.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers Thank you everybody who bought a number in our Lotto Supplementary Competition. All numbers have been sold We’ll kick off on Saturday - so remember your number. But don’t worry if you can’t remember your number - it has been recorded and the number and the name of the weekly winner will be posted on Sunday morning. Good luck everybody! ... Until next time - good bowling

22.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers The Supplementary Number winner this week is the President’s consort with the #12. ... Until next time - good bowling

21.01.2022 Social bowls every Tuesday (12 for 12.30 start) TOURNAMENTS: Tournaments for the 2019/20 season:... Mid Week Open Fours. 2 Oct 2019 Open Mixed Triples 10 ends. 2 bowl triples. Thursday 24 October 2019 Thursday 21 November 2019 TWILIGHT Thursday 23 January 2020 TWILIGHT Thursday 20 February 2020 TWILIGHT

18.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers I neglected to inform you all that the Bowls Preview Show on Freshh FM on Wednesdays at 5 and Fridays at 5:30 can be found at 101.5 on your radio dial. (It’s easy listening during the day, too.) Until next time - good bowling

18.01.2022 Greetings, Bowlers At the VRI AGM today, our Secretary, Marj Gorrie, was selected, amongst a group of others, as a Life Member of VRI. A well deserved honour! (Marj is already a Life Member of VRI Bendigo.) No doubt there will be an official presentation in the New Year. Congratulations!

17.01.2022 FYI, bowlers ....

17.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers Round 1 of Weekend pennant has been completed with mixed results. Our Division 9 team, which looked very strong on paper, played at Golden Square where it was as windy and cool as it was at our VRI base. Looking at the final scores it looks like Shirley’s rink was an even match with mostly singles won each end as they went down by 4 shots in a low scoring match. Unfortunately JD’s rink was very soundly beaten by a much stronger team. So it was a disapp...ointed team at the end of the day but optimistic that there will be better results in the weeks to come. Back at home Division 7 hosted Woodbury and had a fight on their hands contending with the temperature, the wind and the opposition. Phil’s team on Rink 3 were well down at the 10 minute break, however their muesli bars must have perked them up because they came home with a wet sail to pinch a narrow victory. On Rink 2 Maurice with his bandaged arm and his team of recruits were also well down at the break. Their muesli bars must have been a bit lacking as after the break they surged along to draw level before Woodbury kicked off again to take the win. However on Rink 1 Peter’s team got off to a good start and were able to hold off a defiant opposition, finishing with a lead of 8 shots, which was not quite enough to secure victory for the day, but good enough to give us a draw. VP Keith came in to cook our sausages and did a very good job, too. There was a good crowd at the Club but we’re hoping more will be able to come to the next one. Those that came were treated to snags, Brenda’s coleslaw, Shirley M’s pasta salad, Brenda’s fruit salad, Shirley H’s cream horns and Liz’s pav. All that for $5. Bargain!! The beer was cold, the wine was crisp and dry (well mine was anyway) and the conversation flowing. For the raffle Marj donated a meat tray from Meats on Mitchell and Liz was the lucky winner. (Steak for dinner tonight.) Round 3 of Midweek is to be played tomorrow and the temperature is forecast to be a very pleasant 28 with light winds. That’s more like it! We’re at home to Eaglehawk. Until next time - good bowling

17.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers This time next week we’ll have finished our first game of social bowls for 2021. So get your bowls all polished up ready for another year. This one has to be bigger and better than the mostly forgettable 2020. And we’ll be able to see whether Santa granted Maurice’s wish for a wheelie bag. The gum tree has almost finished shedding its bark but we’re still looking for helpers to pick it up before it blows onto the greens. There’s a bin inside the gate espe...cially for the bark. All help appreciated more than you can know. The shed door was jammed shut (or something) but Maurice and Peter have fixed it this afternoon. Good job, boys. Ray, a friend of the Club and tournament barbecue chef, last year donated an established magnolia tree. John and Brenda transplanted it into the garden by the front gate and have been coaxing it and nurturing it through the hot summer last year and the Covid restrictions recently - and now we are all rewarded by seeing this strong healthy young tree producing magnificent blooms to savour. So thanks for the tree, Ray and thanks John and Brenda for all your gardening work allowing us all to enjoy the fruits of your labour. Until next time - good bowling

16.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers Winner of the Tattslotto Supplementary Competition draw this week is Brenda Hawkins with 24. While the Premier’s press conference was airing on Friday two 21 up matches were played. It was something of a family affair. Shirley Morrison was defeated by Peter Williams; Graham Allen was defeated by Debbie Williams. ... Happy birthday, Marj and Shirley H Happy Valentines Day everyone Until next time - good bowling

15.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers Firstly, the semi final of the Pairs competition was played on Thursday afternoon. From all accounts it was very tight until the last couple of ends. It must have been a good game to watch. Sorry I missed it. Graham Allen & Gordon Fry were defeated by Howard Beard & John Dullard. Congratulations to the victors and good luck in the final...which will be billed as The Preacher & The Treasurer versus The Presidentials. ... Yesterday Midweek kicked off for the second part of the season at Golden Square. It was hot; the green played truly and ran at a good speed. The Sqaure were too good for us this time allowing us only 1 point, due to Brenda’s rink holding on to an 18-18 draw. Weekend pennant resumes next Saturday; Brenda and Maurice will be competing in Champion of Champions on Sunday 17th at Bendigo East beginning at 9:30. Bring along a chair, hat and drink and cheer them on. The gum tree has just about finished shedding its bark but there’s still a bit of cleaning up to be done. Until next time - good bowling

14.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers Last thing first- supplementary number last night: 41 - $10 Maurice McMahon Two pairs matches were played on Thursday afternoon. Both were good games to watch. Both were close. Howard Beard & John Dullard defeated Harry & Shirley Huggard. On Rink 1 Vern Evans & Keith Vitiritti defeated Phil MIlburn & Peter Simmons. Congratulations and good luck in the next round. ... Yesterday. Weekend pennant. So near and yet so far. Division 9 complied with the wishes of North Bendigo to play their match at 10:30. Play was on Stannard Green; conditions were mild-warm. We finished with a dead set draw with scoreboards on both rinks displaying exactly the same scores. But mirrored. It’s a step in the right direction and now we look forward to next week. A few minutes away, over the railway bridge at South Bendigo the Division 7 team were ready to take on the match and the weather. Play got underway on time with doubts regarding how hot it might get. The temperature didn’t get near the forecast 38. It was pleasantly warm with a bothersome wind. By 4.15 two rinks were finished with the score very tight. The last rink to complete their match had played 2 dead ends making for a later finish. And the final result had us giving victory to the opposition by just 1 shot. So close. We were lucky to escape the extreme heat experienced in other parts of the State. Midweek tomorrow at home against Kangaroo Flat. Spectators are now allowed. Forecast 31 with light winds. Just about perfect. Maurice will have the greens in perfect condition as usual. We’ll do our very best for a positive result. Until next time - good bowling

14.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers Supplementary Number Competition winner this week is Mike Derham with #45. Mike is not overly well at the moment so let’s hope this bit of luck will cheer him up a little bit. Second last week of Saturday pennant ended well for both teams yesterday. ... It started off overcast and very humid and not pleasant but after an hour or so the humidity cleared, the sun broke through and then it was just hot. Too hot!! Anyway ... Division 9 only just got underway with minutes to spare as their opposition were late arriving - at their home base. There had been a mixup regarding venue, apparently. It was a very tight match, finishing with a draw on one rink and a win on the other. Result - VRI defeated Marong by 1 shot. We’ll take it! Well done Division 9. Back home and the Division 7 side, placed 5th took on 4th placed Kangaroo Flat in a must win match if we are to play finals. Long story short and at the end of the day the 7s had a win and are back in the four. Now we face the ladder leaders at their home green next week. Another must win match - can we do it? They’ll be smarting after a surprise defeat yesterday. We’ll give it our best shot....we always do. This morning team mates and bar staff Peter Simmons and Shaun Wilkinson are playing their 21 up game. It promises to be a good game. Preparations are well underway for our mixed triples tournament on Thursday evening. Entries have been excellent - we’re looking forward to finally having our greens occupied by visiting clubs. There will be a barbecue for everyone after the last home & away next week. Until next time - good bowling

14.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers Another good attendance at bowls yesterday to play three 8 bowl games on Huggard Green. Maurice had a 2 o’clock appointment so proceedings were more subdued than usual. Graeme Veale called in for a while to stir the pot before having a quick practice. No team won all three games. Three teams finished with 2 wins and a loss and those three teams all scored 32 points. John Hawkins had to shut himself in the office for a few minutes to calculate the winners.... And they were Margaret Thomson, Vern Evans and Shaun Wilkinson (s) on 32 (+7) with runners up Sean Ryan, Bert Byleveld and Mike Derham (s) on +3. Liz Wilkinson won the raffle. Mike used his Supplementary Number dividend to purchase an extra book of raffle tickets. Thanks Mike, and good luck for more lucky draws. Our Immediate Past President, Don Robertson, called in at afternoon tea time to say goodbye to us all. He leaves for a new life in Queensland today. Safe travels, Donny, best wishes for a long and happy time in your new home and thanks for the memories. An anonymous generous benefactor has given an envelope containing $100 to Vern to pass on to our Treasurer. On behalf of the Club, thank you. Your donation is greatly appreciated. It will be put to good use. The Pairs competitions are getting underway. Good luck to all contestants. Spectators are now permitted so ..... come and watch the Huggards v John D & Howard and Phil M & Peter v President Vern and VP Keith tomorrow afternoon. The forecast for Saturday has been downgraded to 37 so expect to start pennant at the normal 12:30 time. If the forecast changes to affect pennant, you will be notified. Don’t forget your hat, water and sunscreen! Until next time - good bowling TEAMS for the next round DIVISION 7 to play South Bendigo away Maurice McMahon (s) Peter Williams Brian Ede Debbie Williams Phil Milburn (s) Brenda Hawkins Vern Evans John Hawkins Peter Simmons (s) Shaun Wilkinson Liz Wilkinson Neil Harris EMERGENCY - UMPIRE - DIVISION 9 to play North Bendigo at home Mike Derham (s) John Dullard Keith Vitiritti Sean Ryan Shirley Huggard (s) Graham Allen Jeff Winzar Harry Huggard EMERGENCY - Phil Cook UMPIRE - John Dullard MIDWEEK to play Kangaroo Flat at home Brenda Hawkins (s) Maurice McMahon Shirley Morrison John Hawkins Shirley Huggard (s) Liz Wilkinson Vern Evans Harry Huggard Marj Gorrie (s) John Dullard Margaret Thomson Phil Cook EMERGENCY - Phil Milburn UMPIRE - John Dullard

14.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers Midweek pennant on Monday was played on Stannard Green against Eagkehawk. The green ran fast and true; the surrounds and the gardens looked magnificent. The wind that was so bothersome on Saturday had died down and the sun shone warmly. Eagkehawk were way too strong for us this time, winning all rinks. Social bowls yesterday - the wind was back but not as strong as Saturday so we coped pretty well with that. It was a hot day. Shaun was supposed to rol...Continue reading

14.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers Yesterday at Campbells Creek our Midweek team received the warm welcome we were expecting but we were unable to make any inroads into their defence. All rinks were lost. The temperature was agreeable. The wind was not. Back up the Highway to the Club where half the team attended the November committee meeting. Decisions were made regarding Christmas dinner and a couple of other things. Details at the end of this post. ...Continue reading

13.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers Our Supplementary Number Comp is off and running. Last night the first supp drawn was 7. Our first $10 winner is MIKE DERHAM. ... 9 weeks to go. Good luck! Until next time - good bowling

13.01.2022 Social bowls every Tuesday (12 for 12.30 start) Names in by 11 am TOURNAMENTS: Tournaments for the 2020/21 season: TBA... Mid Week Open Fours. Open Mixed Triples 10 ends. 2 bowl triples. TBA TWILIGHT January TWILIGHT. February AFTERNOON. March.

13.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers I have just been given details of the Bowls Preview Show for season 2020/21. It’s different from previous years. ... It will be broadcast on Freshh FM as usual moving from Saturday mornings to different days - WEEKEND PENNANT : Fridays at 5:30 pm with Gary Beckham. MIDWEEK : Wednesdays at 5:00 pm with Susan Howes and Marian Craze (commencing next Wed 10th) You can have a or a now as you listen instead of a Thanks Geoff Howes for the info and Freshh FM for the broadcast. Until next time - good bowling

12.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers Before our pseudo Tuesday game yesterday a 21 up match was completed. Shirley Huggard defeated John Dullard and will now advance to the next round. Shirley then organised birthday cakes for our 2 new octogenarians, Marj and our other lovely Shirley and put a tray of cream horns in the fridge for our afternoon tea. Yummo! JD showed his stamina by participating in the afternoon games. 18 players came along for a roll yesterday to blow away the cobwebs af...ter our 5 day lockdown. It was a fun and happy day as usual. Three 6 bowl games of triples was the order of the day with a birthday afternoon tea break after the second game. Final scores were spread out. There was a draw in Game 2. At the end of the day Bert Byleveld, Graham Allen and Shaun Wilkinson (s) were runnersup with 32 points. Winners on 40 points were birthday girl Shirley Morrison, Howard Beard and Graeme Veale (s). Howard won the raffle. Some stragglers came along later for practice. VP Keith is recovering well after having a nasty looking lump removed from his hand. Catering arrangements have been finalised for our Mixed Triples Tournament next Thursday at 6:00 pm. It will be so good to finally run a tournament. Looking forward to it. A big thank you to Aviva Communities for sponsoring this event. TEAMS FOR THE NEXT ROUND Division 7 to play Kangaroo Flat at home Maurice McMahon (s) Peter Williams Debbie Williams Liz Wilkinson Phil Milburn (s) Brenda Hawkins Vern Evans John Hawkins Peter Simmons (s) Shaun Wilkinson Brian Ede Neil Harris EMERGENCY - UMPIRE - Peter Simmons DIVISION 9 to play Marong away John Dullard (s) Graeme Veale Shirley Morrison Graham Allen Shirley Huggard (s) Marj Gorrie Keith Vitiritti Harry Huggard Until next time - good bowling

11.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers Hope everyone is having a most wonderful, relaxing, stress free time during this Festive Season. The first supplementary number drawn last night was 25. That number is owned by LORRAINE DULLARD. Her dividend will more than likely be handed to JD for distribution. ... Until next time - good bowling

10.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers Well. After a long and lonely day, a peruse of the Bowlslink site shows that despite not playing pennant this afternoon our Division 9 side is one rung off the bottom of the ladder and thanks to mathematics and science and percentages our Dividion 7 team has climbed back into the four. Midweekers still languish at the bottom after a hellish season. All is not lost it seems. Once again we wish Marj a very happy 80th birthday tomorrow. We wish Shirley Hug...gard a very happy seventy something tomorrow. We wish Shirley Morrison a very happy 80th on Wednesday. And if we’re out of lockdown on Thursday and we can play social bowls - THERE WILL BE CAKE !! Until next time - good bowling

10.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers Loving this warm weather; what a contrast to Week 1 of Midweek last Monday. Week 2, Nov 2, and we were home to Golden Square. On Rink 3 Brenda got off to a flying start and held on to a good lead all day. Rink 2 with Shirley H in charge was a tustle with Golden Square taking a sizeable lead early on before VRI consolidated to peg them back to edge slightly ahead. From then it was cat and mouse until Golden Square took the last couple of ends to claim a wi...Continue reading

09.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers It was warm with a gusty wind on Tuesday 5 January as we played our first social bowls for 2021. We had quite a good turnup including a young visitor (who was more interested in the buses than watching bowls....) President Vern welcomed everyone, wishing all a Happy and successful New Year. He expressed his thanks and appreciation to all members who contributed so generously to the hamper raffle and for selling tickets. He also thanked Brenda and Liz for t...heir work in catering the Christmas dinner. The revenue raised from the dinner and raffle exceeded expectations. Three 8 bowls games were played as usual. No team won all games and no team lost all three games. There was a lot of interest around the scoreboard at the end of the day as just 3 shots separated three teams. Another good close competition. The runner-up on 33 points were Graham Allen, Mike Derham and Brenda Hawkins (s), two points better than Peter Simmons team of 4 players. Winners on 34, one point clear of the runners up were Sean Ryan, Liz Wilkinson and Maurice McMahon (s). Peter Simmons won the raffle. There is a pairs match this afternoon between Graham Allen & Gordon Fry and Howard Beard & John Dullard. The winners of that match will play the Presidentials later in the month. Good luck and good bowling, boys. Midweek pennant starts tomorrow at Golden Square. Roll up is at 9:00 for a 9:30 start. The forecast is for a hot day so don’t forget your sunscreen and hat. And water. It’s a bit late, but the team is at the end of this post. Round 2 of the Supplementary Number competition is now selling. See Liz to buy your number. The current competition ends on 30 January. Round 2 kicks off on 6 February. Good luck! Until next time - good bowling MIDWEEK TEAM to play Golden Square away Brenda Hawkins (s) Maurice McMahon Shirley Morrison John Hawkins Shirley Huggard (s) Liz Wilkinson Vern Evans Harry Huggard Marj Gorrie (s) Phil Milburn Margaret Thomson John Dullard EMERGENCY - Phil Cook

07.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers Where to begin? Still basking in the glory of having Marj installed as a Life Member of VRI, our Div 9 team skipped over to White Hills on Saturday. It was hot and sticky. Shirley’s rink went down by just 6 shots but John D’s team was fairly convincingly defeated. It was very pleasing to see most of the team return to the Club for a barbecue. Especially VP Keith who did the cooking. Back at home, the 7s hosted Heathcote. It was hard going in the humid c...onditions but a slight breeze at the Mitchell St end made things a bit more pleasant. At the end of the day all rinks finished with comfortable wins. The Heathcote boys joined us for a drink before hopping on their bus and heading home. It was a good day. With most of the 7s and 9s together with some extras there was a good attendance at the barbecue. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Keith won the Meats on Mitchell meat tray, donated by Vern and Marj. Mike was the first winner in the Supplementary Number competition on Saturday night and on Sunday, while Maurice was busy mowing and rolling ready for the Midweek team on Monday, our Premier made the welcome announcement that we can now play bowls without wearing a fitted face mask. After rain on and off throughout the night and thunder and rain early this morning, just after 8 am it was declared that play would go ahead. There was no sign of any more rain and the temperature was agreeable. Pity about the wind. Two rinks were very close with one going down by 1 shot and the other finishing with a draw but Harcourt were too good for us. Despite the recent rain Stannard Green played very well, running true and remaining faster than expected. And it was so good just having to have that mask in our pockets. Social bowls tomorrow. Practice on Thursday then it’s off to pennant play again on Saturday. Until next time - good bowling

01.01.2022 Greetings Bowlers On Friday afternoon the semi finals of the Men’s Championship was played on Stannard Green. It was in excellent condition. On Rink 2 Maurice McMahon defeated Vern Evans while on Rink 1 John Dullard was too good for Shaun Wilkinson. Both games finished at the same time which was very convenient. Maurice and John will now play the final on 13 December. Congratulations and good luck to both boys. ... Yesterday our Division 7 team played at Golden Square. We were on the front green where we won our premiership a few years ago - but no one had played in the North-South direction before so that was something new. Golden Square has been a happy hunting ground for us over the years, but yesterday, although the green was good to play on and the opposition was friendly we couldn’t manage to secure a win on any rink. Playing the last end, 2 rinks had a slight chance of stealing the game, but we weren’t good enough. It was warm and windless and sunny. A few people went back to the Club after the game where some ends were replayed over some cold refreshments. A few of the world problems were solved. There were exaggerated stories and lots of laughs before we headed off for home. Division 9 had a bye. Next week Div 7 is home to Heathcote and the 9s are a few blocks away at Woodbury. It is very likely that there will be a BBQ after the game. You know it will be good! Tomorrow our Midweek team heads down the Highway to Campbells Creek where we always receive a warm welcome. Roll up is 9:30 am. Until next time - good bowling