Garfield Bowling Club opened its 25-26 season on Sunday September 21 with its now traditional skins tournament.
A full green of Garfield people and visiting teams from as far away, in opposite directions, as Korumburra and Heathmont put their whole hearts into the day.
The weather stayed dry during the whole day, but the wind was bitterly cold. Despite that, the players enjoyed the day.
Skins involves playing 15 games of just two ends each; this means that over the course of the day, you get to play against all of the other teams, renewing old friendships and making new ones. This makes it a perfect way to start the season off.
As well, unlike most other tournament formats, each team is rewarded for the games they win, so everyone goes home with something, even if only a little bit.
A very close second last year, the "Heathmont Hurlers" team of Lucas Protopapas and Mark Slade from Heathmont Bowling Club, along with Stephen Dare (all the way up from Stratford Bowling Club) stepped up to win the day this year, with nine games won. A very close second, with eight games won, was the local Garfield team called "Magic Man," consisting of Geoff Pumphrey, John O'Shea and Barry Morrison.
All the players are keen to be back for the event next year.