Tournament directors Coral McMurray and Margaret Davies are engaged in final preparations for the upcoming Australian Over-60s Sides and Australian Champion of Champions events which will both be hosted by the Queanbeyan Bowling Club later this month. Photo: Andrew Johnston
QUEANBEYAN Women’s Bowling Club president Coral McMurray says this October is set to be perhaps the biggest month of lawn bowls in local history.
Over the next four weeks the club will play host to the Australian Over-60s Sides Championships and the Australian Champion of Champions tournament.
Winning hosting rights for either event would be considered a major coup for the club. To hold both over the space of two weeks is unprecedented.
“To have two majors here, it would certainly have to be one of the biggest months in [the club’s] history,” McMurray said. “We’ve hosted the national men’s and the women’s sides competitions separately but never as a combined event.
“This is a chance for us to showcase our club and Queanbeyan as well…if you get a chance to sell yourself to the best bowlers in the country you’d be silly not to take advantage of it.”
The last time Queanbeyan Bowling Club hosting a national level event was the Women’s Sides in 2006. Previously, the club held the Men’s Sides Championship in 2000.
This year’s Over-60s Sides competition will take place from October 16-19 with players from every state and territory expected to start arriving in Queanbeyan a couple of days prior to the tournament.
In total, more than 200 bowlers, team officials and spectators will spend at least six days in Queanbeyan providing a noticeable boost to the local economy.
And there will be a second influx in as many weeks when Queanbeyan plays host to the four-day Australian Champion of Champions tournament beginning on October, 26.
According to McMurray, Queanbeyan is one of only a handful of clubs in Australia to boast the full complement of five greens considered ideal in hosting major events.
McMurray is serving alongside Margaret Davies, Kevin Pearson and Dave Newham as one of four tournament directors for the two competitions.
And she said preparations for both events were so far running smoothly.
“We’re just getting everything tied up now to bring it all together,” McMurray said. “We’ve put in the hard yards and from now on it should just be fine-tuning.”
