Weekly Region Wrap: Murray Mallee Bowls Region
“It’s a big step up for us! Everyone in the side is loving their bowls at the moment. Last year we made the regional finals and won that so we said to ourselves that we should take the positive step in joining a more competitive league,” says Kevin Reid, Birchip Bowling Club.
Last year was a first for the Birchip Bowling Club. They won the Tyrrell Pennant competition and then won their regional finals. For the first time in their club history, Birchip would play at State Pennant Championships representing the Murray Mallee Bowls Region.
“I think we’ve been competitive before but we’ve never really made the distance and when we did, that was a real eye opener for our club.”
Since then, they’ve joined the Northern Valley Division 1 competition and compete against teams along the Murray river such as Barham, Cohuna, Kerang, and Murray Downs. Being the only team from the Tyrrell playing area, they have a fair bit of travelling to do as their closest away game is over 100km away from the club.
Northern Valley Division 1 have just completed round 6 and last year’s grand finalist Cohuna Golf sit on top of the ladder at 4 wins and 1 loss, while Murray Downs, Kerang, and Racecourse all sit at 3 wins 2 losses making up the top 4. Birchip sits just outside of the top 4 at 2 wins and 3 losses after a 1 shot loss to Kerang Golf. It’s quite a competitive competition in the early stages, as each round shakes up the ladder.
“We’ve been lucky enough to pick up 4 or 5 good bowlers. And that was the catalyst of us joining the Northern Valley league. There’s a few teams that might be above us but they’re not unbeatable, you just gotta be your best on the day.”
“We play on good greens every week. That improves your bowls. We’re playing a lot more aggressive than before due to the greens and the quality of opposition which is suiting our playstyle.”
The Weekly Region Wrap is a new weekly feature of Regional Victorian Pennant. If you have an interesting region story and photo, please send it to cooper@bowlsvic.org.au
