The Club holds its own competitions and hosts a range of Regional, Open, Charity and  Fun events in the course of a year.

In 2009/2010 we will be hosting the major Championship on the coast the Winter Championships sponsored by Banco Halifax Hispania & Miraflores Bowls Club (click on the link above for more information) and the Costa del Sol Men's & Ladies' Singles Champion of Champions sponsored by Costa del Sol News. So a very busy season lies ahead!

The Club holds one Major Championship each year known as "The Miraflores Open" (click on the link above).

The palm trees being tidied up in preparation for the Open

Among the less competitive events that we hold annually are the Mothering Sunday Ladies v Gents match (where the men get to do the washing up and the ladies seem to invariably win!).

The Spring of 2010 saw the running of our slightly different club competition which was named "The 2's". It is a singles competition but in a format not previously seen anywhere else that we are aware of. Matches are on a timed basis of an hour and a half, but the factor that makes it different is that only scores of 2 or more shots in an end count towards the total, the idea being that only consistent bowling is rewarded. If scores are level at the end of the time, then a sudden death extra end is played. The competition saw a number of close fought matches and all were agreed that it was an excellent format. The competition was first played in 2006 and each time Derek Shemmings has appeared in the final. This year was no different with Derek up against Frank Tofts. The match was very close early on until Derek opened up a lead which Frank fought hard to reduce but ultimately to no avail. So, Derek has now won twice and lost twice. Anyone offering odds on next years finalists??

Derek & Frank

The Club Championship Drawn Triples  took  place in the middle of February, some excellent games were held over the week, with a number of clashes between partners! Derek and Pam Shemmings played each other in the Semi-Finals, Derek's team was Dorothy Sutcliffe & Grant Frost while Pam had Anne Rowley & Mike Kinane. The game was very tight with some great shots by all players, but a magnificent firing shot by Derek on the 16th end picked off Pam's shot wood and won 5 shots, which virtually killed the match. In the other semi-final Brenda Davidson, Sybil Ferguson & Pam Kinane played Brian Hurst, Neil Sandwell & Frank Brown. This turned out to be a much easier affair for Brian's team who won comfortably. No-one likes playing in the rain, and with a dry start on Finals Day, but with conditions looking ominous an early start seemed wise to try and beat the weather. Unfortunately this tactic was to no avail and the game concluded in wet conditions, but with a fair crowd egging them on from the dry Club house. All the players struggled to cope with the conditions but Derek, Dorothy and Grant emerged worthy winners, although the score was close and at the conclusion of the 15th end Brian's team led by one shot. Derek and his team then went on to win the last 3 ends and the trophy.

Drawn Triples Winners (From L to R): Dorothy Sutcliffe, Derek Shemmings & Grant Frost.
Drawn Triples Runners-up (From L to R): Brian Hurst, Frank Brown & Neil Sandwell.
 

The Club Drawn Pairs competition took place in the last week of January 2010, which due to inclement weather on one day was not completed until the Saturday. Dennis Wood partnered by Ann Rowley played against Derek Carr and Sybil Ferguson and with four of the best players in the club we knew it was going to be a good match. After going into an early lead Dennis and Ann suddenly knew they had to pick up their game when Sybil started her usual great draw game. The players matched each other perfectly and the large crowd of spectators were entertained to a full afternoon of superb bowling. With Derek and Sybil picking up a couple of fours along the way the score was a tight 18-16 going into the final end. Both girls drew close woods but Ann's was just the winner at the end making the score 19-16. This is certainly Dennis Wood's year with him winning three of the major Club championships.

Drawn Pairs Winners (From L to R): Ann Rowley & Dennis Wood.

Drawn Pairs Runners-up (From L to R): Derek Carr & Sybil Ferguson.

The club completed its Singles Championships on 9th December 2009 in the same absolutely beautiful weather conditions that had prevailed throughout the competition. Finals day was probably the best day for bowling as in addition to the warm, sunshine there was no breeze to talk of, so the scene was set for two excellent finals. The finals were between Dennis Wood & Derek Carr in the Men's and Wendy Wood & Brenda Davidson in the Ladies'. As a side note, Dennis & Wendy had been victorious in their semi finals against another couple Graham & Ann Rowley.

In the Ladies' final, Brenda established an early lead but Wendy fought back to equal the scores at 9-9, the next few ends went backwards and forwards between both players with Brenda retaining a slight advantage and eventually running out as champion 21-15 after picking up 3 shots on the last end. The score, however was not reflective of the bowling as all ends were very closely contested and with the marker being asked to measure on many occasions the result could easily have gone either way.

 In the Men's final Dennis roared into a 13-2 lead, albeit with some excellent heads that could have given shot to either player. Derek wasn't going to give up that easily and gradually clawed his way back into the match until the match was finely balanced at 20-19. For the last few ends Derek had been giving the mat away to take advantage of delivering the last wood into the often tightly clustered heads and this tactic had worked well. Dennis, however finally managed to draw the shot he needed finally winning the match 21-19. Both winners go on to represent the Club in the Costa del Sol Champion of Champions event being held at Miraflores in March 2010.

Brenda Davidson & Wendy Wood.

Derek Carr & Dennis Wood.

The Handicap singles competition took place in early December 2009. The Handicap system had worked well during the week, and all Semi-Finalists had to achieve the required 21 shots. The game between Derek Carr and Frank Tofts was a very close affair with Frank just edging over the line to win. On the other rink the only lady left in the match was Doreen Macdonald against Dennis Wood, unfortunately Doreen could not come up to Dennis´ standard on this occasion. The Final between Frank and Dennis was an excellent game but  the score did not reflect the full potential of the match. Frank fought hard but could not outplay Dennis who gave an excellent  performance to take the title. 

Handicap singles finalists (From L to R): Dennis Wood (winner) & Frank Tofts (runner-up).
 
The beginning of November 2009 saw the finals of the first event of the season in the club calendar, namely the Men's and Ladies' 2-wood singles. The Men's event saw Alan Abel beat Derek Carr, this was an excellent match with Alan going into a commanding lead against Derek, who then started to pull back and with the score at 19-20 to Derek, Alan played two super woods to win the title 21-20. The Ladies' final saw Sybil Ferguson up against Marie Hurst this match was also very close but Sybil eventually overcame Marie to win her first singles title at the club.

Alan & Derek  Sybil & Marie

At the end of October 2009, the Costa del Sol Ladies Annual Triples Competition was held at Benalmadena Bowls Club. Miraflores members have enjoyed success in this competition in recent years, in 2008 we took 1st & 3rd places. This season was also to prove succesful with 2 of the 3 winners in October 2007 going on to reclaim the title. An excellent achievement against the top lady bowlers on the Costa del Sol, so congratulations to Sybil Ferguson, Wendy Bannel & Ann Rowley.

Costa del Sol Ladies Annual Triples winners (From L to R): Sybil Ferguson, Wendy Bannel & Ann Rowley.

For information on other clubs and events in Spain visit www.bowlinginspain.com