Competitions 2026 - first round-up

It was a tale of two comebacks – one successful and the other falling agonisingly short – in the first set of matches in this season’s internal competitions.

In possibly the most astonishing turnaround this club has been associated with, Basil won a remarkable first-round Handicap match against Paul Palmer after trailing 17-1.

Already yielding 10 shots on handicap, Basil quickly found himself even further behind, with Paul a model of consistency on the wet surface.

But as the sun dried it out, Basil claimed one back to make it 2-17 – and then conjured up a piece of Larkins magic familiar to many of us – he took the mat up!

The ends were won in multiples – twos, threes and fours – bringing him within touching distance at 15-18.

He sealed the most amazing victory with successive fours to leave Paul stunned and set up a second-round match against Kevin McGee, who had a first-round bye.

There was another dramatic finish just a few days earlier, in the drawn pairs. Linda and Peter – coincidentally drawn together – found themselves three shots behind as they began the 18th end of a close-fought encounter with Marge Breading and Mark Gooch.

Over to Linda: “We were holding one shot on a long jack. Peter had one bowl left. I said do anything to hit that jack back. He did! He hit the jack back to give us three.“

That took the game to an extra end – which Marge and Mark won to seal a stunning victory.

Former champions out

Despite Basil’s sensational comeback in the Handicap, he was unable to replicate it in the Men’s Championship, where the former champion was beaten in impressive fashion by Peter Huntley, 21-10.

Basil’s defeat – combined with Andrew’s absence from competition this year and reigning champion Mark Gooch’s decision not to participate (see above) - means there is a good chance that there will be another new name on the Men’s Championship trophy this year.

Tony Ashby, the only former champion still in the competition, carries the hopes of all champions past.

Another former singles champion, Nicola, has been eliminated from both the Ladies Championship and Handicap competition.

Nicola led Marge 12-1 in the singles, but when her opponent did a “Basil” and took the mat up, the game was transformed, and Marge triumphed 22-17.

Marge will meet Anne McGee in the semi-final after the debutant defeated Judy Aldis 21-15.

Linda had another agonising defeat in the Handicap, where she took title-holder John Box to 29 ends in sweltering conditions. She had fought back from 10-15 to 19-19, only for John to squeeze out the two shots he needed for a 21-19 victory.

Fiona beat Anne McGee by the same score, also in the Handicap, and Stephen pipped Marge – again 21-19 – in the John Martin Shield.

Linda and Peter had more joy in the first round of the Mixed Pairs, where they defeated Jennie Evans and John Milsom 22-3.

Foot faults for Graham

While Anne was shining against Judy, her husband, Kevin, was doing much the same against Judy’s husband, Graham, in the Men’s Championship.

Struggling with a foot injury, Graham was soundly beaten by his in-form opponent – 21-10.

Graham has since withdrawn from several competitions.

Despite her Championship defeat, Judy is at least through to the next round of the Handicap after overturning a two-shot starting deficit to beat Sheila Fletcher 21-6.

One person not struggling for consistency in the early part of the season is Clive, who, as well as performing well in club matches, has sailed through a couple of internal competition games.

With a surprising four-point handicap advantage over Tony Ashby, he breezed through to win 21-4.

He did even better against John Chapman, triumphing 24-1 in the John Martin Shield.

And he is also through to the second round of the Men’s Championship after defeating an ailing John Box 21-9.

Also through is Bob, who pipped Stephen by just one shot in a very close-fought first-round match.

For all competition results and draws, select the required event from the Club Competitions dropdown menu.