Kensi Newsletter 12/01/2026

President's Message

Welcome back to the second half of the season. We had a bit of a false start, with Wednesday and Thursday games cancelled due to hot weather.

During the break pennant bowls may have halted but activity around the club continued. Maintenance on C and B greens was undertaken and both are open again. The builders have returned and installed the cubicles in the toilets; hopefully it will be goodbye to the Portaloos very soon.

Pennant Results

Wednesday - all matches cancelled.

Division 2 vs Sturt
Division 4 II bye.
Division 4 III vs Prospect Broadview

Thursday - all matches cancelled.

Division 1 vs Happy Valley away.
Division 2 vs Beaumont away.

Saturday:

Division 2 vs Toorak Burnside away. Defeated 62 to 76.
Division 4 vs Toorak Burnside at home. Won 91 to 68.
Division 5 vs Hawthorn at home. Won 84 to 61.
Division 6 vs Tranmere away. Won 55 to 53.
Division 7 vs Toorak Burnside at home. Won 57 to 50.

Reminder — if you will be unavailable for a game, please write your name in the unavailable book with the blue cover. The book is located outside the kitchen door next to the blue box. Contact selectors as noted on selections as they are sent out each week.

Rinks of the Week

The club will endeavor to distribute the drink vouchers to the winners asap during the week. Friday night Happy Hour and the Friday Dinners are a great time to use your vouchers. For those vouchers not yet distributed, you will have a good chance on Fridays to collect your vouchers from either Ryan or Pip.

Round 10

Saturday: Ulli Kruse, Jan Kruse, Ken Watson, Russell Whitford
Wednesday: David Freeman, Ryan Wilkins
Thursday: NA

Round 11

Saturday: Russell Whitford, Ken Watson, Jan Kruse, Ulli Kruse

Advanced Notice for Mens Country Carnival

A note for your calendars. The club will be hosting the Men’s Country Carnival again this year from Tuesday February 3 until Thursday, February 5, 2026.

Singles: Tuesday, Feb 3rd — in due course I will be seeking volunteers to act as markers for the day
Pairs: Wednesday, Feb 4th — no pennant bowls on this day
Fours knockout: Thursday, Feb 5th — there will be ladies pennant on the same day.

The areas of kitchen umpire Bowlslink will be dealt with in due course.

Renovation

The builders have returned and installed the cubicles in the toilets; hopefully it will be goodbye to the Portaloos very soon.

Visit our Club Renovation Works page for more information.

Club Hires

The following is a list of club hires where social bowls has been requested and is expected to occur. If hirers request social bowls, bowls club members are expected to provide assistance.

Upcoming Hires

Where helpers have been requested, the following expectations provide a clear outline of the duties and responsibilities each helper is expected to fulfill, ensuring that all tasks are carried out efficiently and contributing to a smooth and successful day for everyone involved.

What is expected of you includes:

Help with the set up the greens. This involves placing mats, jacks etc. out for the number of rinks required, dependent on the numbers.
Provide assistance, if required, to participants to select the correct size bowl, demonstrate how to hold the bowl correctly, the bias etc, as well as the basic delivery method.
Provide supervision, particularly where children are involved, to ensure no damage to the greens from dropping or dumping of the bowls occurs.
Assist with the pack up of the bowls, mats, jacks etc. at the completion of the hire. Provide guidance to the hirers of where rubbish goes, cleaning products are located etc. to assist and ensure the hirers are able to clean up after themselves at the end of the hire.
You are encouraged to interact and make welcome the participants, particularly promoting the club and the opportunities we provide, like Tuesday and Thursday Night Owls, coaching etc. You never know where the next club member or champion might come from!

What is NOT expected of you includes:

You are not expected to address or coordinate the group per se, BUT, see point 2 above.
You are NOT expected to clean the clubhouse after a hire. That is the responsibility of the hirer. But, see point 4 above.
Unless you have an RSA, and have been contacted by Ken Mason, you are not expected to help behind the bar.

If you are available to spare a couple of hours to provide this assistance, please contact myself or Ken Watson.

Pat Lee 0449 018 849
Ken Watson 0488 033 945

Club Championship

Round 2 is well under way and a lot of games have already been played. All round 2 games must be complete by 2 January 2026. Please remember that some members might be away over the festive season, so games must be arranged to be played before this date.

If a member is away and has not scheduled the game by the required date, the game will be forfeited. To keep the tournament going, this is not negotiable. If you have played your match, please remember to put the results onto the sheet posted on the board. If no result is posted, I will assume that it has not been played and will record the result as 'forfeited'.

Finals Event

The club will host a luncheon for the finals on Friday 13 March 2026. Members (and non-members) are encouraged to come and watch the champions fight it out for the ultimate title of Club Champion 2025/26.
The following games will be played:

Mens Pairs, Ladies Pairs, Mixed Pairs @1pm Friday, March 13
Mens Singles, Ladies Singles, Mixed Pairs @3:30pm Friday, March 13

Times may vary slightly if required. Mid-afternoon tea will be served. If you are in more than one final's event, please arrange a date prior to 13 March to complete your games. Please join us for the Friday night dinner after the event.

Kim Draper

National Umpires Course

The club is keen to attract more members to become officials at games as markers, measurers and umpires, which eases the load on our current officials.

More importantly, we need to ensure that we have umpires present at home games each week rather than relying on visitors to provide umpires. Much of the training is available online with a short on green component required to complete the course. The flexibility of including online components means that more people who work during the week have access.

The club will provide reimbursement of expenses on provision of a receipt. The link for the course is below. To get started follow the log-in directions.

View the National Umpires Course page for more information

A Day in the Gardens (Mar 16)

Our annual open gender bowling tournament, A Day in the Gardens, will be held on Monday, March 16. That date seems a long way off, but the Tournament Committee would like you to start thinking about the tournament now and organise your triples teams as soon as you can.

Flyers showing tournament details are now displayed prominently on tables and on notice boards in the clubhouse, and the tournament registration sheet is also posted on the whiteboard on the southern side of the clubhouse. So start organising your teams now and get your names up on the registration sheet.

Furthermore, if you know of any bowlers from other clubs who may be interested in playing in the tournament, take a few A5 sized flyers to your next pennant game and hand them around. These flyers are located on a stand under the notice board in the clubhouse.

Allan Wilkins (Tournament Director)

Friday Night Happy Hour and Dinner

Reminder — get your name on the list in the clubrooms if you would like a meal or alternatively, give Pip a ring and she will add your name. Don't forget to invite your neighbors, family and friends to join us. Meals are bistro-style, pay when you order at the counter on the night. Although we prefer to know how many are coming, walk-ins will be accommodated. Take-away meals are also available.

Visit our Fun Feast Fridays at Kensi Club page for the menu.

Happy Hour

Happy Hour is on at the club again this Friday at 5.30pm.

Visit our Kensi Friday Happy Hour page for more information.

Sponsorship

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