The City Ladies held another fantastic weekend of bowls over the May Day weekend. Each day had a full green, with Ladies Fours on Saturday and Mixed Fours on Sunday. The Marie Gravino Shield was won by Shirley Sturgeon, Anna Knight, Emma Pash and Dawn Field on Saturday. The shield was donated by Marie’s family in her honour. She was a long-time member of the Ladies Club, and held the position of Junior Vice for several years. On Sunday, the Mixed Team winners were R. Harris, P. Rintoul, R. Rin
Read the full storyWell Done to Mackay Club members Ian and Mary Cruickshank who were members of the Reil Team to take out third place in the restricted team event at the Barrier Reef Congress. Saturday saw the playing of the third GNOT event with members vying for coveted Gold Points. Fourteen teams competed, with team Bugeia the ultimate winners of the day. Weekly Results Monday 12 May 2025 –7 Table Mitchell Green Points **N/S E/W ** 1st Geoffrey Patterson / Noel Bugeia 1st David Ting / Eric Goodchild 2n
Read the full storyAfter two rain-soaked postponements, the sun finally smiled on the Marian Ladies Bowls Club as they hosted their much-anticipated annual Harvest Triples on Monday, 12 May 2025. With a full green of 16 teams, players were eager to hit the turf and enjoy two spirited games of bowls. Laughter, friendly competition, and fine form were all in abundance throughout the day. Alongside the on-green action, visitors also enjoyed a popular cent sale and browsed a delightful selection of plants and handma
Read the full storyLast Sunday, more than 40 runners and supporters took to the streets for the annual Farmer’s Long Gallop, featuring 5km and 17km courses that started from the Evans Avenue North residence of long-time supporter, Agnes Farmer. Agnes and her late husband Fred hosted the event from the club’s very first year, and following Fred’s passing from multiple myeloma 12 years ago, Agnes continued the tradition. A self-confessed non-morning person, she had now hosted the run an incredible 49 times, still m
Read the full storyThe Premier ladies continued their winning ways with a 9-0 victory over Dolphins. After a slow start, our ladies soon settled allowing the goals to flow. The central midfielders, Lena and Laura, directed much of the play once again, with strong supporting runs by Akema and Willow. Superb corners by Violet and Dani also created many goal scoring opportunities. The final list of scorers was: Lena with a hat-trick, doubles to Willow and Akema, and one each to Bre and Laura.
The Whitsunday premier Men played against Townsville side MA Olympic in the first round of the Champions League in Mackay. With the Townsville side unbeaten last year and winning 10 or 12 this year, they were clear favourites and expected to easily dispatch the Whitsunday side.
Our men came out firing and despite low numbers, not only managed to match the Townsville side, they bettered them and went into half time buoyant with a 1-0 lead that could have been more. The second half continued to bring chances with Harry Hodgen hitting the cross bar and Jimmy being denied only by a miracle save. Unfortunately, some rough play saw 3 red cards and Townsville ran out victors 3-1. An effort the Whitsunday lads can be super proud of.
Friday night saw the division 1 and 2 men come away with two losses against Wanderers in Mackay.
Under 13 Division 1 team had a cracker game on Saturday winning 5-0 against Dolphins. In a full field team effort the goals came from Lockie, Harley and Oli, Tyson who worked hard in the mid with Players of the day awards going to Harley and Sam.
The Under 13 prems took the lead against Dolphins through Cohen Springbett's goal. However the team were a few players short and despite the stand in keepers, Luke Sunter and Zac Allison, making a number of important saves, the team were unable to hold onto their lead eventually going down 3-1.
The U15 Premier Team faced a hardworking and committed Dolphins side. A great defensive from captain Reece Matthews was a stand out for the team but the final result was 3 nil to the Dolphins.
It was a tough game for our Ressie women who came up against a very young and energetic dolphins team. The ladies worked hard to keep them at bay but unfortunately the final score was 3-0 to Dolphins.
Contributed with thanks to Allan Milostic.
Whitsunday Premier Women continue to dominate and are closing on Number 1 spot on the ladder. Photo contributed
The Mackay City Redmen travelled to Airlie Beach on Saturday to finish off the first round of the MRU competition and play the Raiders for the first time this season.
It was listed as the game of the round due to the top three teams, Whitsunday, Moranbah, and Cities all having 20 competition points.
The Raiders had a game plan to counteract the physicality of the Cities forwards who were coming off a strong showing against Moranbah last week.
The Raiders had a bye last week and needed a strong hit out to improve their match fitness.
Both Connor and Aden Spence were running on for their 50th and 52nd caps respectfully for the Raiders and were keen to go hard.
Throughout the game the Raiders stuck to the game plan and by half time, had a lead of 41 points. Cities were always competing for the ball and their forwards running hard and straight.
By full time Connor Spence had run in three tries, Darragh Lynch and Rhys Ward had picked up doubles, Thomas Humphries had his first Raiders “meat pie” and Jack Briskey, Waikato Nepia-Katipa, Aden Spence and Tristian Sainsbury had each picked up a 5 pointer as well.
The Raiders finished with a 76 nil win and cemented the top spot at the end of round 1.
The hard yards are just around the corner as the 2nd and final round starts with another home game Friday night, 2nd June, against the Bowen Mudcrabs, which is also the second round of the Eclipse Financial Services Cup between these two teams.
Come on down and support the boys, kick off 7.30pm. Best on field for the Raiders Brodie Stallman 1pt, Rhys Ward 2pts and Joel Hoffmann 3 pts.
Contributed with thanks to Craig Spence
Niall Clancy stopping the big fella
Despite the cooler weather the past couple of weeks, the coaches were very impressed with swimmers’ attendance at training.
Congratulations to Nelson Malady who swam 1km last Saturday at the Townsville Open Water Strand swim. Nelson swam a terrific time of 21 minutes 36 seconds and was came 1st in his M10-11 age group.
On Wednesday, the coaches ran a swim session for 7 female swimmers who had attended swim training regularly since Easter. Celeste Orenshaw, Roxy Groom, Millie Groom, Evie Doherty, Tora Delac, Mae Carter-Attwood, and Andie Reynolds were invited to a special swim session on pacing. Coaches, Mark Erickson, and Ken Crittenden were very impressed with the girls and their efforts.
On Friday afternoon, there was a “Duel in the Pool”, Team Kenny vs Team Raylene. Kenny’s relay teams won 3 out of the 4 relays, but Raylene’s water polo teams were too strong in both shallow and deep water.
Well done to all the swimmers who participated – Tora Delac, Harris Delac, Charlie Doherty, Evelyn Doherty, Addie Sanders, Levi Smith, Indi Smith, Declan Dichieria, Maeve Dichieria, Connor Lee, Stevie Lee, Alessa Penglase-Fortunato, Millie Groom, Celeste Orenshaw, Andie Reynolds and Katarna Bunk.
Surprisingly, on Sunday morning there were 16 adults in the pool training. It was great to see Lesley and Dan Condon (and their family) back in the Whitsundays for a holiday. Coach Mark was delighted to see parents of swimmers and ex swimmers coming down and enjoying a swim.
Contributed with thanks to Raylene Rasmussen.
Cold winter days do not deter the Cannons
Semi Final Results
Mixed A
One v Two
In the Crear (7) defeated Trusty (6)
Three v Four
Raiders A (10) defeated Vipers (6)
Mixed B
One v Two
Slippery Salmons (4) defeated Ray White (2) (Forfeit Slippery Salmons)
Three v Four
G.E.T. Touch (9) defeated Touch It (4)
Mixed C
One v Two
Fumble This (5) defeated Flametree Flames (0)
Three v Four
Stingers (13) defeated Whitsunday Warriors (7)
Mixed C (Family)
One v Two
Mainlanders (2) defeated Untouchables (1)
Three v Four
Escapees Misfits (11) defeated Raiders Family (5)
Winners of One v Two progress straight through to Grand Final on June 12.
Loser of One v Two progress to Preliminary Finals next week.
Winners of Three v Four progress to Preliminary Finals next week.
Tuesday Ladies Bowls saw Ladda Purdie at skipper with Rick Galea at second and Nik Fernbach at lead with an overwhelming victory.
Wednesday afternoon Jackpot bowls saw Maureen Barnard with skipper Tony Whitehorn tie for the spoils with Keith Bates at lead with Ladies A Grade champion Betty Nicole, great bowling by both teams.
The final rounds of Men’s Pennants was concluded with outstanding results.
Firstly Division One Round 9 v Northern Beaches outstanding victory by Manny Isgro’s team and Warren Mills’s team with outstanding performances by John Trembath and Bob McMahon.
Shane Spann’s team lost but they earned 5 points and on Sunday v North Mackay wins to Shane Spann and Manny Isgro winning but overall score was a draw with Warren Mills team losing but they performed outstandingly.
In their second year of top competition Division 4 were outstanding and ended up as Champions and will be playing in Division 3 next season. Congratulations must go to Tony Whitehorn, Nik Fernbach, Neil Moore, Peter Barrett and Stephen Lawrie all playing as a team of champions.
Team 5 have also finished on top but because of bad weather they must play West Tigers Mackay next Saturday morning with the winner to progress to Division 4.
Division 6 were gallant in defeat.
Sunday afternoon bowls saw a great win to Margo Stanley, with lead Robin Brown and at second was Elaine Kippen.
Contributed with thanks to Mark Mawson.
Manny Isgro whose vision was for the club to play competitive bowls in the district pennants. Photo supplied
The Men’s Red Pennants were held at Bowen and Wangaratta Bowls Club on the weekend.
Winning the Cat Shield were Rod Haywood, Lindsay Coves, Jack Haywood, and Kerry Martin from Townsville Thuringowa Bowls Club A Team.
Winners of the Red Pennants 2023 were Thuringowa Bowls Clubs, including Rod Haywood, Glen Shimeld, Peter Day, Graeme Drabsch, Kerry Martin, Justin Foley, Jack Haywood, Lindsay Coves, Ken McLean,Matt Grundy, and Graeme Robinson Col Paine.
Congratulations Thuringowa Bowls Club.
Social Bowls at Club this Sunday.
Contributed with thanks to Joan Edwards
Townsville Thuringowa Bowls Club A Team winning the Cat Shield this past weekend
It has been fabulous to see the quality of bowls being played on the green this week in Pennants, Competition and Social play.
Pennants season has finished for 2023 with Division 1 having two away games winning 60 -56 against Sarina on Saturday earning 3 Match points and 1 rink win; a small loss 61 - 66 against Northern Beaches on Sunday winning 0 Match points and 1 Rink win.
Souths Suburban were the clear winners of Division 1 with Northern Beaches, Airlie Beach and Proserpine taking the next 3 places with very close results.
Division 5 finished off the season with two home games. On Saturday the team rallied to come from behind to win 45 - 39 taking 3 match points plus 1 Rink Win against North Mackay.
On Sunday the team were defeated by Souths Suburban 32 - 37 winning no Match points but scoring a draw on one rink to give the team 0.5 Rink Wins. This weekend's efforts moved us up into 5th position and saved us from relegation.
On Wednesday in Club Championship Singles Heather Brown defeated Pat Bownds 26 - 15. Thank you Mary Hedgelong for coming in to mark the game.
In Social bowls on Wednesday John Anderson and Mike Harrison defeated Alen Sanderson and Jim Quod 33 - 15; Arthur Griffith, Bruce Uhe and Sandy Daffara defeated Jim Bownds, Barry Zillmann and Philip Brown 20 - 18.
On Sunday afternoon Social bowls John Burnett, Arthur Griffith and Jim Quod defeated Margy Burnett, John Anderson and Kendall Watts 23 - 16; Alen Sanderson, Ken Watts and Mike Harrison defeated Lee King, Ken Watts and Heather Brown 19 - 14.
Contributed with thanks to Heather Brown.
Our visitors are gradually arriving, so it was great to see some playing on Tuesday.
Winners for the afternoon were Tracey Roach, Merle Elphinstone, and Kevin Jewell who defeated B Huppatz, Sue Shearing, and Bob Hyde.
The jackpot didn’t go off.
Men’s Red Pennant was held in Bowen over the weekend.
Clubs travelled from Thuringowa, South Townsville, Magnetic Island, Brandon, and Macknade as well as the local clubs Wangaratta and Bowen Bowls Club.
With a lot of stiff competition Thuringowa A were the victors.
Thanks to all the ladies who held the fort at the club and produced some great meals, as well as the ladies umpiring and keeping the bar open.
Best of luck and good bowling to our Ladies’ Blue Pennant teams who are playing in Townsville this week.
Contributed with thanks to Allan Rolfe
Wangaratta Men’s Red Pennants Tea
Wednesday’s competition was a single stableford event sponsored by Bowen Golf Club. Ladies’ winner on a countback was Elona Lynch 35 points, runner up Leanne Swan 35 points. Men’s winner Wesley Smith 40 points, runner up on a countback John Brown 39 points.
Saturday's competition was a single stableford sponsored by Bowen Sportspower. Thank you for your continued support of our club. Ladies’ winner on a countback was Trish Sellen 36 points, runner up Denise Bianco 36 points. Men's winner with a cracker score of 46 points was Vince Hargraves, runner up Gregg Aplin 42 points.
This weekend will be a split round for the June Monthly medals. Men play on Saturday and ladies on Sunday. Both competitions are sponsored by Bowen Meat Supply and Bowen Golf Club. Don't forget to check the club's Facebook page for this week’s dinner specials.
Contributed with thanks to Grace Nott.
Scott Mason was a clear winner in the Club's Tuesday Stableford, with 42 points, followed by Louis Neethling on 38 and Allen Roberts on 34 points. NTP's went to Trish McNeill and Allen Roberts.
Wednesday was a small field for the Ladies, Trish McNeill the winner on 38 points and Ann Gardel runner up on 29 points. Trish also won the NTP. Jalen Jarvis was the winner of the Men's Wednesday Stableford with 35 points ahead of Nathan Holohan and Michael Jarvis, both on 34 points.
There was a large field on Thursday, with Rehab Hull winnng the Ladies division on 34 points, with Pauline Redpath and Trish McNeill only a point away on 33, NTP's were won by Trish McNeill and Di Chard.
Dave O'Connor is showing great form and won the Men's Division 1 on 37 points ahead of the ever-consistent Allen Roberts on 35 points, Owen Clarke won 3rd place with 35 points.
Division 2 was taken out by Tim Langford on 37 points ahead of Barry Mortimer and Trevor Paroz, both on 35 points. NTP's were won by Sean Gower Trevor Nosworthy and Benn Ryan.
The Met's 9 Hole Run was won by Troy Smith on 17 points, closely followed by Brian Allen on 16 points and Chris Pirlo rounding out the podium with 15 points. Tom Petersby and Brian Allen took home the vouchers for the NTP's.
95 players turned out on Saturday for the MBW Stableford, Lew Tuck submitting a 40 point round to win the Men's Division 1 ahead of Fraser Simpson and Paul Gray on 38 points.
Division 2 was won by Billy O'Connor with a very nice 41 points ahead of Jim Sherrington and Benn Ryan on 39 and 37 points respectively. NTP winners: Fraser Simpson, Michael Cragg, Ross Tong and Scott Grigg.
Tiina Randmae's recent flurry of golf playing paid off to win the Ladies MBW Stableford carding a very tidy 38 points, 4 shots ahead of second place getter Jill Farinelli on 34, Di Chard in 3rd place with 33 points. Anna Winterbourn and Elspeth Scotford were the most accurate winning the NTP's.
Our new member Bailey Neumann was ahead of the field on Sunday with a handicap reducing 43 points! Ryan Wilkes shot a 5 under par round of 65 to win 2nd place with 41 points - very impressive golf Ryan!
Brendan Spann won 3rd place with 40 points. NTP winners: Brendan Spann x 2, Sam Deicke, Ryan Wilkes and Tessa Aitken.
Contributed with thanks to Proserpine Golf Club Pro Shop.
Whitsunday Golf Club fielded 28 players on a very nippy Sunday morning to play a 2 ball Ambrose.
A very cool morning and heavy dew made the first few holes harder than WGC are currently used to, but sunshine warmed the day as golfers changed from long sleeves and jumpers to short sleeves and no jumpers to enjoy the balmy winter day so typical of our “winter”.
Winners: Pam Casey and Lew Tuck with a nett 59.25
Runners-up: Darren Reynolds and Scott Vlismas with 65.75
3rd: Jason Bourke and Clay Coles with 66.5
NTP : were won by Darren Reynolds and Scott Vlismas on the 2nd, Mark McDougal and Brendon Meharry on the 13th and Anna Winterbourn and Ron Jamieson on the 16th
Longest Drives: went to Ritchie Atkins and Scott Vlismas, Tiina Randmae and Elise Hodgson
NAGAs: The NAGA drinks were won by Scotty Wardroper and Dean Kercher, but in their absence, a drink sponsored by Aaron and Tracy Watts went to Sally Little instead, as next up the list.
There is no WGC competition next week as PGC are holding the Men’s and Ladies’ Foursomes Championships.
Contributed with thanks to Tiina Randmae.
L-R: Sally Little, Darren Reynolds, Pam Casey. Photo supplied
No golf at Prossie this week as a contingent of 30 travelled to Gladstone to compete in the Gladstone Veterans Open.
Prossie was well represented in the results.
Andrew Albergo, Neil Cawthorne, Geoff Harrison, Lyn and Larry Muller and Vic Feldman all placed in a field of 112.
The winners for our own competition were Robyn Whitham,37, Kathryn Borer 36 and Lyn Muller 34.
The men: Neil Cawthorne 38, Larry Muller 37 on a countback from Andrew Albergo. Tuesday still at Gladstone, the results were ladies Lyn Muller 37 on a countback from Tessa Aitken, Robyn Whitham 35 and Helen Deighton 34.
The men: Peter Fox 39, from Mick Wright (our driver) 37 and John Strelec 35. Thursday, we played with the Calliope Vets.
The ladies winner was Jenny Hounsell 33 from Tiina Randmae 31.
The men: Geoff Harrison 35 and Gerald Lovell 33.
Next Tuesday we are hosting the next round of the Croker Shield.
Contributed with thanks to Paula McQuat
30 Veteran golfers travelled to Gladstone for Veterans Open
We had a huge day of darts at the Airlie Bowls Club on Sunday morning, with the Masters Round taking place. Jamie Woods, as the defending champion, was looking to take home his third trophy of the year, along with the Genesis Cup and the Celtic Cup already in his possession.
Round 1 as always is a Premier League round, with valuable league points up for grabs.
The top two went head-to-head in the first match of the day, with Jamie Woods putting a stop to Joe Wilson’s fine run of form, defeating him by 7 legs to 2, and taking top spot in the league for himself in the process.
Seumas Rose dispatched Gary Robbie in fine fashion by a 7/1 scoreline. Kameron Reason didn’t drop a leg in his 7/0 win over Hawkeye Rick, and Jamie Maher defeated Jayden Lloyd by 7 legs to 2.
In the Semi’s, Jamie Woods defeated Seumas Rose 4/1, and Arthur McMinn defeated Kameron Reason by the same 4/1 scoreline.
In the preliminary final’s, Jamie Woods defeated Art McMinn 4/1, and Jamie Maher defeated Kameron Reason 4/2 who qualified as best loser in the previous round.
The final was a repeat of the Genesis Cup final between Jamie Woods and Jamie Maher, where Woodsy won on that day by a 4/1 scoreline.
Jamie Maher scored well to begin this encounter and lead the way in both of the first two legs by getting to a finish before his opponent. Unfortunately for him though, he didn’t finish off his work, missing his doubles, giving Woodsy the opportunities that he so often puts away, and did again here, punishing his opponent by winning the first 2 legs, arguably against the run of play.
At 2 nil down though, Jamie fought hard and deserved to level the match at 2 all, giving himself a chance of lifting his first trophy at the club, but unfortunately for him, the doubles were hurting him, and where Jamie was slack, Woodsy was clinical, checking out in the 5th leg, and stretching his lead to 3/2, just one away from victory.
It was neck and neck in the 6th leg, with both players down to a finish, both finding themselves in the mad house, desperately looking for a double 1 checkout, Jamie to square it, and Woodsy to finish it, and after what seemed like an eternity, Woodsy finally pinched it, winning the Masters title for a second time in two years, by 4 legs to 2.
Congratulations to Jamie Woods, it was a great battle to the end, with many more like it to come.
Thank you as always to our sponsors Mika Airlie, Whitsunday Tattooing and Master Butchers Whitsundays.
Contributed with thanks to Jamie Maher.
Image: Jamie Woods adding yet another trophy to the cabinet at the Airlie Bowls Club.
The Abell Point Yacht Club in Airlie Beach in conjunction with the Whitsunday Sailing Club is hosting a brand-new yacht race on Sunday 18 June 2023.
With only a couple of weeks left to enter, this race will see participants racing around the four Molle Islands of West Molle (Day Dream Island), South Molle, Middle Molle and North Molle.
There will be three divisions - Multihulls, Monohulls with Spinnakers and Monohulls without Spinnakers.
The race will be altered depending on the weather of the day.
For entry forms, notice of race and sailing instructions go to abellpointyc.com.au and click on Round the Molles Race in the events page or follow the Abell Point Yacht Club on their Face Book page.
Presentations will be held after the race from 5.30pm onwards at the Whitsunday Sailing Club.
So come on, get your entries in now and be a part of this exciting new race around the beautiful Whitsunday Islands.
Contributed with thanks to Abell Point Yacht Club.
The sun rose across Sarina Beach as hundreds of runners and spectators gathered for the Cruisin’ The Coast Fun Run on Sunday, May 21.
With about 150 runners registered in the event’s fourth year, the 2023 Cruisin’ The Coast provided a competitive yet social event in challenging yet picturesque conditions across a variety of distances.
Raising funds for the Sarina Surf Life Saving Club and sponsored by Community Bank Sarina, Fun Run Coordinator Neil John said the event was about getting people onto the beach for a bit of fun.
“We’re on the beach every weekend with lifesaving and we want to share our beautiful beach with everybody in the area,” he said.
“We basically put all the profits back into patrolling equipment, nipper equipment and helping to run our programs on the beach.
“It’s a really scenic run and the weather’s beautiful.
“We’d love to see people down here for next year; the more, the merrier.”
Cruisin’ The Coast Fun Run Results
Permanent Way Solutions Under 10s Beach Run 1km
1st Baxter Allen – 4:34
2nd Caitlin Pearce – 6:15
3rd Phoebe Pearce – 6:25
Wilmar Sugar Beach Run 3km
1st Lane Brady – 16:10
2nd Lily Norrie – 17:32
3rd Brianna Renehan – 18:06
Ray White Sarina Beach Run 5km
1st Zane Saye – 21:02
2nd Kyran Holt – 25:04
3rd Rylan Gordon – 25:41
Community Bank Sarina Walk 5km
1st Carol Davies
2nd Maree Franettovich
3rd Ann Fordyce
Daly Bay Beach Run 10km
1st Aaron Ford – 41:57
2nd Nick Glass – 47:43
3rd Caroline Pigerre – 52:25
North Queensland Bulk Ports Half Marathon
1st Paul McKenzie – 1:37:52
2nd Mick Vivian – 1:41:06
3rd Rolly Lisle – 1:42:32
L-R Sarina Surf Life Saving Club President Trent Vernon, Rolly Lisle, Mick Vivian, Sarina Community Bank Chair and Deputy Mayor Karen May, Paul McKenzie and Fun Run Coordinator Neil John. Photo credit: Sam Gillespie