Golden Greek
New Member
For those people not in Melbourne over the Easter weekend, I would like to bring your attention to the other national tournament that was contested. The VIC150 at Keon Park. A tournament that is one of only a few women only events.
At a time when very few compliments are being handed out and people are not complimented for their efforts I think this is one time that it should be done. Sue Raphael and all the people involved with this tournament should be congratulated on what appeared to be a great tournament.
There was a fantastic turnout of 81 bowlers over the 2 divisions. It was virtually split down the middle with 42 open and 39 graded entries. The people running the event showed great initiative by increasing the advertised final to 12 bowlers from the original 10 as advertised. Hence increasing the payout by approx an additional $1,000.
Now I think what needs to be highlighted here is the type of bowler that participated in the event. Whilst the better female bowlers could have chosen to bowl in the Australian Open at Highpoint (and probably would have kicked a few of the guys) they chose to support this event. Not only did you have 4 out of the best 6 female bowlers in the country (Putney, Bradley, Kotteakos, Wilton - Sue & Deb didn't make the trip) you also had a great range of averages and ages in the graded division.
I'm going to mention 3 of those ladies that were in the graded division. I personally don't know them but why not give them a rap.
Betty Maude - I had the pleasure of speaking to this lovely lady before she bowled on Saturday. Without sounding disrespectful she would be past her 50's maybe her 60's. She took great pleasure in telling me how excited she was to be bowling in this tournament and couldn't wait to start her next 8 games. At the time she was placed 35th with little chance of making the final but do you think that mattered. She told me she loved her bowling and loved watching the "good younger" bowlers. She went on to tell me how last year she made the final and got to bowl with Nat Shelley and they ran 5th. She couldn't speak highly enough of Nat and about how much fun she had.
Monique Stute - she ended up winning the event with Amanda. Based on her handicap she must have had an entering average of around 162 - 164. Monique averaged 192 in the final. What an outstanding effort. Put it all into perspective she has bowled her brains out averaging nearly 30 pins a game better than average. Good on her.
Doreen Webster - now this could sound a little biased as she was paired with my wife but it should be mentioned. This young lady at age 78 (no I didn't type it wrong - 78) entered this tournament and made the final. She was 55 years older than her partner. From what I was told I believe Doreen bowls 3 games a week but yet gave this a go because she loves her bowling. She averaged 163 in the final. Now when you look at her entering average of around 160, her age and the fact she had just bowled 28 games in 3 days - I think her effort was as good if not better than any of the "younger" bowlers. Add to that if you had seen the look on her face when she was told she'd run 3rd - well a picture is worth a thousand words.
This is just a few people that bowled. I'm sure there are other great stories about this tournament, either from this year or in the past. Now tell me isn't this why we all started bowling in the first place? Isn't this why we still bowl? Simply because we love the sport. There is always going to be politics (just read some of the other posts) but in the end we bowl because we want to ...
Sue Raphael and the others (I'm sorry I don't know your names), however you got the bowlers to bowl - keep it up.
To who ever at AMF that writes your articles for you quarterly newsletters that go to each of your centres - you need to cover this event and spread the word to your league bowlers. What a perfect way to promote the sport.
*** Headline *** 160 average bowler wins VIC150 - 78 year old comes 3rd ******* Who knows you may get a few more people say what the hell lets give it a go next year.
To all the ladies that bowled - well done the scoring was excellent. To the ones that couldn't make it this year - think about it for next year. At the very least you might have some fun.
Greg Kotteakos
At a time when very few compliments are being handed out and people are not complimented for their efforts I think this is one time that it should be done. Sue Raphael and all the people involved with this tournament should be congratulated on what appeared to be a great tournament.
There was a fantastic turnout of 81 bowlers over the 2 divisions. It was virtually split down the middle with 42 open and 39 graded entries. The people running the event showed great initiative by increasing the advertised final to 12 bowlers from the original 10 as advertised. Hence increasing the payout by approx an additional $1,000.
Now I think what needs to be highlighted here is the type of bowler that participated in the event. Whilst the better female bowlers could have chosen to bowl in the Australian Open at Highpoint (and probably would have kicked a few of the guys) they chose to support this event. Not only did you have 4 out of the best 6 female bowlers in the country (Putney, Bradley, Kotteakos, Wilton - Sue & Deb didn't make the trip) you also had a great range of averages and ages in the graded division.
I'm going to mention 3 of those ladies that were in the graded division. I personally don't know them but why not give them a rap.
Betty Maude - I had the pleasure of speaking to this lovely lady before she bowled on Saturday. Without sounding disrespectful she would be past her 50's maybe her 60's. She took great pleasure in telling me how excited she was to be bowling in this tournament and couldn't wait to start her next 8 games. At the time she was placed 35th with little chance of making the final but do you think that mattered. She told me she loved her bowling and loved watching the "good younger" bowlers. She went on to tell me how last year she made the final and got to bowl with Nat Shelley and they ran 5th. She couldn't speak highly enough of Nat and about how much fun she had.
Monique Stute - she ended up winning the event with Amanda. Based on her handicap she must have had an entering average of around 162 - 164. Monique averaged 192 in the final. What an outstanding effort. Put it all into perspective she has bowled her brains out averaging nearly 30 pins a game better than average. Good on her.
Doreen Webster - now this could sound a little biased as she was paired with my wife but it should be mentioned. This young lady at age 78 (no I didn't type it wrong - 78) entered this tournament and made the final. She was 55 years older than her partner. From what I was told I believe Doreen bowls 3 games a week but yet gave this a go because she loves her bowling. She averaged 163 in the final. Now when you look at her entering average of around 160, her age and the fact she had just bowled 28 games in 3 days - I think her effort was as good if not better than any of the "younger" bowlers. Add to that if you had seen the look on her face when she was told she'd run 3rd - well a picture is worth a thousand words.
This is just a few people that bowled. I'm sure there are other great stories about this tournament, either from this year or in the past. Now tell me isn't this why we all started bowling in the first place? Isn't this why we still bowl? Simply because we love the sport. There is always going to be politics (just read some of the other posts) but in the end we bowl because we want to ...
Sue Raphael and the others (I'm sorry I don't know your names), however you got the bowlers to bowl - keep it up.
To who ever at AMF that writes your articles for you quarterly newsletters that go to each of your centres - you need to cover this event and spread the word to your league bowlers. What a perfect way to promote the sport.
*** Headline *** 160 average bowler wins VIC150 - 78 year old comes 3rd ******* Who knows you may get a few more people say what the hell lets give it a go next year.
To all the ladies that bowled - well done the scoring was excellent. To the ones that couldn't make it this year - think about it for next year. At the very least you might have some fun.
Greg Kotteakos
