From a few happy hour throws to bowling champions

Bolton Clarke Moreton Shores residents were no strangers to a casual game of bowls but one resident quickly realised the group’s potential after an afternoon get-together.

Retirement village resident Laurie joined the Thursday afternoon game at the village and was soon encouraging the team to enter in a local competition.

“We entered into the Redlands Indoor Bowls Association with about 12 teams involved and we ended up winning the competition,” Laurie said.

“There were four of us in the team - I’m 82 myself and one of my team members is in her 90s!

“I am more or less a coach now because the team didn’t know the official rules, so we had to start practising on the official Queensland-size mat.”

After around four months of training together, the team agreed to enter and made their way down to Donald Simpson Centre in Cleveland, coming back with the gold.

“I said to the team, the opposition is going to be great and hard to beat but if we put our heads down and concentrate on what we are doing we have a great shot – which we did!

“We have a plaque engraved and on display in the clubhouse here and we had a happy hour after the competition and we all walked in with all the other residents cheering and congratulating us.

“We will be training for the next competitions now, which are coming up later in the year.

“We average about 12 to 16 people who will come down to play at the village but I have a feeling this will encourage a few others to join as well – we might even be able to put more teams together!”