Australia Day, January 26, is always special at Gordon Bowling Club as it marks the annual Men's Invitation day to the Ladies, an absorbing day of mixed triples competition for the Century 21 Cordeau Marshall summer trophy.

The 2012 event got away to an uncertain start as overnight rain left the greens too soft for play during the morning. Nevertheless everyone arrived at midday for the luncheon feast provided by volunteers from the men's club. There was the usual stirring sing-along of "Advance Australia Fair" and, a new feature for 2012, the award of trophies for the 2011 Mixed Competitions.

Meanwhile, warmer weather and sunshine dried out the greens to allow a reduced program of competition after lunch, in which 18 mixed triples teams competed for the trophy and prize money. It was our great pleasure this year to see Craig Marshall, Principal of the Century 21 Cordeau Marshall Group, don his bowling gear and make his first appearance for several years on the bowling greens.

As the day drew to a close, the four best performed teams during afternoon play battled it out in our unique single-end, single bowl elimination round. The many spectators inside and outside the club room enjoyed the excitement and applauded a spectacular trail of the jack by John Sanders to take his team to "bronze medal" 3rd place.

However, the final was won by Jenny Mortimer, Betty Marsh and Brian Blow who held their nerve at the end to edge out runners-up Liz Garnett, Olwyn McAllister and Allin Cousens. In presenting the trophy, Craig Marshall observed that it had first been awarded 19 years ago in 1993, and that Betty Marsh had been a member of the winning team on that occasion!

Brian Blow (centre) with Betty Marsh and Jenny Mortimer,winning team in the Century 21 Summer Carnival 2012, pictured with Liz Hughes and Craig Marshall of Century 21 Cordeau Marshall.

Shizuko Hashimoto and Wilson Tan, winners of the 2011 Mixed Pairs Competition are congratulated by the Club Presidents David Magnusson and Nola Poyitt.

It was a huge result for Gordon in the 2011 Roseville Shield held at East Roseville BC on Saturday, 8 October. The competition involved 20 clubs from across Zone 9, and Gordon faced a tough draw against Asquith in the morning and Warrawee in the afternoon. However, our team of Tim Walton, Steve Gliddon, Peter Shlager and Siva turned on a top bowling display to finish the day on top with 2 wins and a +38 shot difference. The boys are pictured above, receiving the trophy from Zone 9 President, Bob Moran.

Winning Team in the 2011 Superbowl - Owen Thomas, Greg Horne and Garry O'Dwyer of Asquith - pictured with Sarah Davis of Century 21 Cordeau Marshall, Gordon Office and Gordon Club President, David Magnusson.

Click here for more photos of the day's action.

With wild storms and 20mm of rain the day before, it was with much relief that we welcomed a cool, cloudy but mainly dry day. After 3 rounds of tight competition, punctuated by a wonderful lunch prepared by Gordon's women bowlers, the organising team totalled the scores and Sarah Davis of Century 21 handed out the prizes.

Gold Pool winners, the only team in that pool to record 3 wins, were Owen Thomas, Garry O'Dwyer and Greg Horne of Asquith. The Silver Pool was won narrowly by David Moyes, Trish Tamaoki and Judy Moyes of the Mosman Club. Eight other teams shared the minor prizes for the day.

Warrawee President Chris Wood (right) and Bowls Secretary Hillar Poder are presented with the Ku-ring-gai Shield by Councillor Elise Keays.

In a very close finish Warrawee won their first ever Ku-ring-gai shield with 3 wins and an overall +9 shot margin. Second was Turramurra (3 wins  +5) with West Pymble 3rd (3 wins, +1). Gordon started strongly, Tim Walton winning in the singles while Wilson Tan and Steve Gliddon notched up a handy win in pairs. By mid-afternoon with Gordon leading on their triples and fours rinks, it was looking rosy. But bowls is a cruel game and our opponents staged strong finishes to hand us two losses for the afternoon. So, congratulations to Warrawee, who will stage the event in 2012.