Woonona clinched its second Zone 16 Champion of Club Champion Fours 20 years after winning the inaugural title following last Sunday's triumph at Shoalhaven Heads Bowling Club.
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Skip Barry Martin was part of the winning Woonona team in 1999 and partnered John Holze (replacing Bernie Harding), Paul Hancox and Peter Bott to a 29-15 victory over Dapto Citizens in the last championship event for 2019.
Woonona beat the Wiseman Park rink of Scott Bateup (replacement for Matt Constable), Luke Cocksedge, Mick Thorne and Guy Vozza 20-13 in the semi-finals.
Citos' Graham Tootell, Andrew Lynn, Warren Haviland and skipper Phil Reynolds qualified for the decider with a come-from-behind 27-18 win over Warilla's Jim McRorie, Robert Glen, Eric Haynes and Jeremy Henry.
It's 20 years since Woonona enjoyed success in the inaugural Zone Champion Fours, which is not a state event but carries plenty of prestige in featuring thirteen Fours champions from across Zone 16.
After a first-round bye, Woonona beat Towradgi 22-19 to reach the semi-finals in one of the best matches of the tournament.
The final Zone championship event for 2019 was also one of the longest to complete with gale force winds cancelling the opening day in early September, while the semi-finals were rescheduled with players unavailable.
The Champion of Club Champion Fours, along with the Pairs and Singles were held at Shoalhaven Heads BC which earned plenty of accolades for their support and hosting three major zone events.
Warilla's Aaron Teys was the last Illawarra player to win the State Champion of Club Champion Singles, beating Chris Herden (South Tamworth) in the 2015 final.
Ted Clarke and Matt Sargeant while playing for Thirroul won the 2008 State Champion Pairs, while Warilla's Blake Hopper and Jesse Noronha reached the 2016 decider.
There was a slice of history in this year's Zone Champion of Club Champion Pairs with Phil Power and Mick Anderson playing in front of their home fans to clinch the first Zone 16 title for Shoalhaven Heads.
Power and Anderson beat Dapto Citizens' Adrian Jones and Dylan Skinner in a final-end thriller, with Anderson playing one of the year's best bowls to pick up three shots with his last bowl when trailing 27-25.
Power and Anderson joined Shoalhaven Heads BC this year after combining for Austral BC to win the Zone 5 Champion of Club Champion Pairs in 2018.
They went on to reach the State semi-finals, with Power saying his move to Shoalhaven Heads BC was about a fresh challenge after almost two decades at Austral.
The Shoalhaven Heads combination now join Warilla's Corey Wedlock at the NSW Finals which begin this Sunday at South Tamworth BC.
Wedlock booked his final's spot with victory in the Zone Champion of Club Champion Singles in August.
Having already won arguably the toughest Major Singles crown in Zone 16, Wedlock was impressive in his five wins to clinch the Zone crown.
Wedlock defeated Woonona Singles champion Neville Denham in the final, with Denham having a great tournament with four victories, including an upset win over Wiseman Park's Robbie Warren in the semi-finals.
Conditions for the Zone Champion Singles were tough with cold weather and gusty gale force winds for the later rounds.
With Wedlock part of the Jackaroos squad and one of the rising stars of Australian bowls he'll be one of the players to beat at the State Finals.
