The greens at Parksville Lawn Bowling Club got a good workout last weekend, as 38 players turned out for the 2012 BC Mens and Women’s Championships.
There were 10 local men playing and 16 from other clubs for a total field of 26. On the other side of the draw, there were four local ladies and eight from out of town.
According to PLBC’s Carol Bucyk, the men’s playdowns were held in Parksville and Port Alberni, while the women had theirs in Courtenay. Players for both groups came to compete from Parksville, Qualicum, Courtenay, Port Alberni, Nanaimo, Victoria, Vancouver, Richmond and Kelowna in a double knockout competition.
“By Sunday morning, all of the local Island clubs players were finished and those who were going for gold, silver and bronze came from the Mainland,” said Bycyk.
In the men’s final, Steve Santana, 31, knocked off defending champion Chris Grahame to win gold. Steve’s dad, German Santana, who has won the provincials himself, was third.
In singles, the winner is the first one to 21. The gold medalists advance to the 2012 Canadian Championships slated for Montreal Aug. 18-26.
On the ladies side of the draw, it may have been Josephine Lee over Rita Patterson in the final, but it was Katelyn Brierly’s bronze medal win that had the locals buzzing.
“It was great,” Bucyk chuckled after, adding Brierly, from Victoria, “is a young’en, she’s all of 21, and she’s just wonderful to watch.”
“It is important,” she confirmed. “A lot of time people have this perception of lawn bowling being only for seniors and retired people and that’s not the case. Some of the best bowlers in the world right now are younger, they’re coming up through the ranks... they’re dedicated and you can seen them improving, so that’s wonderful.”
“It was exciting, it really was — we had bowlers from all over coming to play here, and we saw some exceptional lawn bowling,” she said, adding “I love to play the game, but it’s great fun to just sit back and watch sometimes, especially at that level.”
NEXT UP: PLBC wil be hosting the annual Parksville Men’s and Ladies Triples tournament July 28-29.