One of Thailand’s major lawn bowls competitions was held at the Retreat Lawn Bowling Club just outside Pattaya on March 10-11 and was sponsored by a familiar face to all lawn bowlers in the city, Peter ‘Rolex’ Brown.
This event was a mixed triple competition and saw nineteen teams of three taking part with bowlers coming from Pattaya and Bangkok, plus the Thai Army and Navy. Some of those on show even had previous experience playing for the Thai national team.
Tournament winners Frank, Dave and Dennis pose for a photo with ‘Rolex’ (right).
The Retreat, run by Albert and Mai is one of the top bowling clubs in Thailand and their greens were in superb condition for this event.
With the high standard of teams, the competition was very keenly fought and after the preliminary group stages were played out on the first day and second morning, the final saw a team of expert Thais take on local talent in the form of Dave ‘the pro’, Frank and Dennis. The match seesawed backwards and forwards and because of a delay caused by a rain shower it wasn’t until 8 p.m. that one team could celebrate and the other be left to rue on what might have been.
The teams line up on the first day.
It was a very close fought match but eventually the local knowledge told as Dave, Frank and Dennis prevailed to keep the home honours intact. The winners were presented with a beautiful perpetual trophy by tournament sponsor ‘Rolex’ while the runners up and minor place getters also received smaller trophies for their efforts.
After the grand dinner and presentation a Karaoke was held with lots of singing, dancing, drinking and swimming (for those who were pushed or fell in the pool).
The sponsor Peter would like to say a big thanks to Albert, Mai and the staff at The Retreat for putting on a wonderfully organised event and also to all the teams who supported it. Next year’s tournament is already eagerly anticipated.
Top bowlers from around Thailand took part in the 2-day event.
