BOWLERS from Tea Gardens Palm Lake Resort (PLR) celebrated a narrow victory in their twice-yearly bowls tournament with PLR Fern Bay, held at Tea Gardens on Sunday 3 March.

Palm Lake Tea Gardens hosted their counterparts from Fern Bay in a friendly ‘grudge match’ that has entered its twelfth year, with a total of 64 players competing.

More than two dozen members of the local Tea Gardens PLR cheer squad were also on hand to add their support in what was a veritable ‘David and Goliath’ battle, as Tea Gardens had not won the event for the last four years.

“Fern Bay is a very competitive group, with some bowlers participating in Newcastle pennant competitions, while Tea Gardens has no such committed bowlers,” Doug Webber, President of Tea Gardens PLR Bowling Club, told NOTA.

“We have been creeping up on the scoreboard each year, slowly but surely.”

The battle royale is played out ‘club vs club’.

All players’ scores are accumulated into an overall team score for their respective club on the master-board.

“It came down to the last game, the final score was Tea Gardens: 118, Fern Bay: 117,” Mr Webber triumphantly declared.

Afterwards, players from both clubs, and their supporters, enjoyed a very nice lunch of lamb burgers and sweets, put on by the Tea Gardens PLR Bowling Committee.

“The whole event is just a bit of friendship and fellowship, competition between PLR resorts, and also gives our players a reason to be more competitive in their play of the game,” Mr Webber added.

“We’ve worked hard for this victory, and enjoy sharing our facilities with the other clubs,” Mr Webber said as he accepted the plaque from Robert Hill, President of the Ferb Bay PLR Bowling Club.

This will, no doubt, make a nice addition to the trophy wall at Tea Gardens PLR Bowling Club, at least until the next showdown with Fern Bay.

The Club also hosts other Bowling Clubs from other Palm Lake Resort locations as well as retirement villages throughout the year.

By Thomas O’KEEFE