Jacobs wins gold at Aussies

A OCEAN Grove lawn bowler has won big at the Australian Lawn Bowls Championships and secured her first gold medal at a national tier event.

Maddison Jacobs and team-mate Amity Bickley went undefeated in the under 18 division of the championships at the Sorrento Bowling Club in Perth, Western Australia.

Jacobs and Bickley stormed through their section, conquering all three early round matchups with a combined shot difference of 45.

The Victorian pair were then able to hold their nerve in the championship final and win an epic decider 19-17 over New South Wales.

Jacobs said being an Australian champion still hadn’t quite sunk in.

It’d always been a dream to get selected for the Victoria state team and to try and win the pairs with Amity at nationals.

“I won the club pairs this year and then the under 18 state girls’ pairs as well, so I really wanted to go out and win the national title as well.

“We just wanted to go out and have fun throughout the four games because we both knew that when we are having fun that we bowl our best bowls.

“We had a plan to dominate at the start and just continue with it throughout.

“To walk away with gold in my last year of under 18s is pretty special and something I won’t be forgetting.”

Moving into the open age divisions next year, Jacobs said she hoped to continue learning and improving her game.

“I am really keen to continue working on my own bowls but to also help inspire the younger kids who are a part of our junior program at Ocean Grove.

“In terms of the state team, I just want to keep playing great bowls and hopefully one day I can represent Victoria in the open side.”