WHILE on the outside last Sunday\u2019s T.B. White & Sons Fours Tournament held at Learmonth Bowling Club might not have seemed out of the ordinary, it marked some key moments for the community institution.<\/p>\n
With over 100 bowlers rolling up, the club was not only celebrating a return to post COVID normalcy, it was also the first time an event of that size has been played on Learmonth\u2019s new synthetic green.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the largest tournament we\u2019ve held in several years,\u201d said Learmonth Bowls Club president Craig Findlay.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fantastic to have 28 teams of four competing. We\u2019ve been able to get a lot of teams from Ballarat and district but even much further abroad, which is really great.<\/p>\n
\u201cCOVID certainly has had its challenges, and it\u2019s been quite disruptive, but we\u2019ve been able to get our pennant teams underway.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new green was only completed early this week, so the timing was great in terms of getting this tournament underway.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Learmonth\u2019s brand-new synthetic green is the centrepiece of recent works at the club, it\u2019s not the only recent upgrade. There\u2019s also new shade structures, new benches and concreting.<\/p>\n
Along with the turf playing surface, the new synthetic green means the club is better placed to handle the region\u2019s unpredictable weather.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt very much future proofs us as a small country club for many years and gives us great flexibility to run tournaments, or practice, or our Saturday Pennant,\u201d Mr Findlay said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new green has been the hard work of a number of members within the club, particularly Graham Findlay and Dave Kelly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have worked very closely with the City of Ballarat and secured some significant funding for us, and we thank Cr Amy Johnson for her support.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WHILE on the outside last Sunday\u2019s T.B. White & Sons Fours Tournament held at Learmonth Bowling Club might not have seemed out of the ordinary, it marked some key moments for the community institution. With over 100 bowlers rolling up, the club was not only celebrating a return to post COVID normalcy, it was also […]<\/p>\n