Winning, Washing Up and Wondering What Might Have Been

Ladies Open Pairs – Thursday 9 July

Courtfield hosted the Ladies Open Pairs Tournament, with teams joining us from Wigton, Stanwix, Dalston and Silloth, as well as our own Courtfield pairs.

Four games of seven ends were played, with a break for lunch halfway through the day. Members provided a lovely salad lunch, followed by either lemon meringue pie or white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake.

The winners were M Price’s pair from Dalston with 23 points. E Coombes’ Courtfield pair finished second with 21 points and +17 shots, ahead of A Coulthard’s pair on 21 points and +12 shots.

A big thank you to Ma Doc for organising the day, to everyone who helped with the food and to Dusty, who somehow managed to wash every dish single-handedly.

125th Anniversary Celebration Match – Wednesday 15 July

Courtfield welcomed Bowls England for our special match celebrating the club’s 125th anniversary.

The sun shone throughout as the teams enjoyed an excellent 18-end game, with a very necessary hydration break after nine ends.

The day was rounded off with a fantastic meal provided by our brilliant catering team, helping make it a thoroughly enjoyable occasion from start to finish.

Rumour has it Captain Chaos is already looking for some new woods in time for the 150th anniversary.

Carliol League

With no fixture for the A Team, attention turned to the B Team and the long trip to Kirkbride, always one of the toughest places to visit.

Corrine, Tony and Evelyn faced Harvie’s trio and found themselves 7–1 down after six ends. They responded superbly, winning the next seven ends to move 10–7 ahead, but two shots conceded on each of the final two ends saw them edged out by a single shot.

Joanne and Tony A, skipped by Dave G, were involved in a competitive game against David Neave’s trio. They battled throughout, but conceding six on the final end made the scoreline look harsher than the game deserved, with Kirkbride winning 19–12.

Julie, Dave T and Mike D were always in control against Richard Peart’s rink. A slightly nervous finish saw them concede one and three, but they held on for a 14–12 victory and Courtfield’s two points.

Anne, Chris S and Ste B were behind for much of their game against Travers’ trio but never gave up, drawing level at 9–9 after 11 ends. On the 12th, Ste removed an opposition bowl to leave Courtfield holding four, only for Travers to somehow skim the jack with the final bowl and turn it into three. Kirkbride eventually took the rink 13–11.

The overall result was a 8–2 defeat, but all four rinks were competitive and the match could easily have gone either way.

Carliol League – Rearranged Fixture

The B Team were back in action with a rearranged home fixture against West End and produced an excellent 8–2 victory.

Anne, Dave G and Ste B endured a nightmare start, dropping four on the opening end and finding themselves 13–2 behind after eight ends. A handful of singles and a couple of twos gradually closed the gap to just four shots before an incredible finish. A brilliant five was followed by a four on the final end to complete a remarkable 18–13 comeback victory.

Tony R, Tony J and President Dawes had a tougher evening. The game was evenly balanced until a dropped five on the eighth end allowed West End to pull clear, eventually taking the rink 19–7.

Corrine, John and Gill followed a very different script. A count of five got them up and running before they took control of the game, producing a commanding 19–11 win.

Julie, Aileen W and Evelyn were equally impressive. They raced into a 9–0 lead after six ends, before a six on the eighth end put the result beyond doubt as they completed a convincing 19–8 victory.

A fine all-round team performance secured an excellent 8–2 win for Courtfield.

Friday Afternoon – Over-55s Carliol League

A strange game and very much one of two halves, although not in the usual sense. Two Courtfield triples struggled, while the other two could hardly stop scoring.

John M did not want to skip, so President Dawes stepped in, with Tony Ashbridge making up the triple. The change worked perfectly as they lost only four ends all afternoon and won comfortably 26–5.

Brian Lightfoot, Dave M and Mike D dropped singles on the opening two ends, but quickly took control and eased to a 21–5 victory.

The other two rinks had a much tougher afternoon.

George G, Chris S and Dai D found themselves 10–1 down after five ends and 16–3 behind after ten. They managed to recover another five shots before the finish, but eventually went down 19–8.

Ian B, Alan Dobson and Glen R had an eventful game against Sal’s triple. Courtfield were lying seven shots on the first end before Sal somehow found the shot. They then trailed 10–1 after five ends and 15–4 after 11.

A late fightback brought six shots over the next three ends, and Courtfield were lying five on the last, which would have levelled the game. Once again, Sal found the shot with his final bowl to deny them, leaving the rink score at 16–10.

Despite the two defeats, Courtfield won the match 6–4 and took the shots 65–45.

With three late drop-outs before the game, it was still a very good result.

Monday Afternoon – Stan Bragg League

Courtfield travelled to Port Carlisle knowing a victory would keep them firmly in contention.

George P, Tom and President Dawes were in excellent form and were never really troubled, running out convincing 17–6 winners.

Ste G, Dai and George G were handed what was later described as a “tricky rink” — excuses already being prepared. They led 8–6, but the game slipped away from them as Port Carlisle finished strongly to win 19–9.

Mr Chris, Mike D and Ian B had no such problems. They were in control throughout, sealing the aggregate early before completing an emphatic 29–6 victory.

A strong afternoon’s work gave Courtfield a 6–2 win and kept them right in the hunt.

Courtfield Gents 2 Woods

A beautiful Sunday morning saw 14 members take to the green for the Courtfield Gents 2 Woods competition. While the sunshine was welcome, the bare-looking green proved far trickier than it appeared, with the conditions catching plenty of players out throughout the morning.

Midway through the competition, everyone took a well-earned break to enjoy some pizza before returning to battle it out for the semi-final places.

By early afternoon, the field had been whittled down to the last four. On Rink 6, John B booked his place in the final with a victory over Lee, while the other semi-final saw Dave T edge out George G in an extremely tight contest that could have gone either way.

Congratulations to John B and Dave T, who will now meet on Finals Day to decide the 2026 Courtfield Gents 2 Woods champion.

Ladies Finish League Runners-Up After Stunning 8–0 Victory

Courtfield Ladies signed off their league campaign in style with a superb 8–0 victory over Solway (the combined Kirkbride and Port Carlisle team) in a rearranged fixture on Wednesday afternoon.

Knowing a big result was needed to keep the pressure on at the top of the table, the ladies produced one of their best performances of the season.

On Rink 2, Joanne, Leslie and Aileen M faced S. Simpson's triple and raced into a commanding 12–0 lead after eight ends. Solway briefly hit back with four on the ninth, but Courtfield responded immediately with a four and a three before finishing strongly to record an impressive 29–6 victory.

Over on Rink 3, Julie, Aileen W and Evelyn were equally dominant against Diane's triple. Leading 19–5 after 11 ends, they allowed their opponents to score on just four of the 15 ends, cruising to a 26–7 win.

On Rink 4, Anne, Corrine and Gill took on S. Rudd's triple and made a flying start, storming into a 21–1 lead after 10 ends. Solway again only managed to score on four ends as Courtfield completed a convincing 25–5 victory.

The result sealed a fantastic 8–0 win with an outstanding +62 shot difference on the afternoon.

Unfortunately, despite the perfect finish, it wasn't quite enough to claim the title. Courtfield finished joint top on points with Wigton, but Wigton's superior shot difference (+131 compared to Courtfield's +101) saw them crowned champions.

While missing out on the title is disappointing, finishing league runners-up after such an excellent campaign is a tremendous achievement. Every lady who has represented Courtfield throughout the season should be incredibly proud of their contribution.

COUNTY FINALS WEEKEND

Courtfield have three finalists competing across the County Finals weekend.

On Saturday at Wigton BC, Gill Dawes faces Vicky Cook of Workington in the Women’s Singles Final at 10am.

At 1pm, Kev, Dai, George G and Ian P take on Bluey, Jeff C, Paul P and Gib of Aspatria in the Men’s Senior Fours Final.

Then on Sunday at Whitehaven BC, Chaos, Mr Chris, John and Carsy face Aspatria’s James Fuge, Harry Creighton, David Wilson and Jack Wilson in the Men’s Fours Final at 1pm.

Good luck to every finalist competing over the weekend—but especially to our own Courtfield superstars.

The full County Finals programme is below.