They are proudly heading to their first State Pennant Finals in 20 years, while Woonona Men's BC have also crowned several club champions for 2021 with more finals to come provided the pandemic lockdown is lifted.
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Woonona rallied from third spot after the regular season to win the Zone Grade 5 Pennant flag and seal a spot at the rescheduled State Finals at St Georges Basin Country Club and Nowra BC in October.
The year began with Bernard Harding, Peter Bott and Barry Martin clinching back-to-back Triples Championships, with victory over Mick Cross, Robbie Baker and Neville Denham in the final.
Cross continued his excellent season by winning the Minor Singles, following a tight 31-28 win over Rodney Jackson in a final played on the last day before lockdown.
Both finalists battled a strong westerly to produce a high-quality decider, with Cross also a key figure in the club's Grade 5 flag success as a rink skip.
Cross defeated greenkeeper Jayden Cooper in the Minor Singles quarter-finals, then had a forfeit win in the semis, while Jackson reached the final with a good victory over Jacob Falcon. John Van De Voorde marked his return to bowls after several years away from the game by partnering Kevin Musgrove to win the Minor Pairs.
Musgrove plays social bowls and, with Van De Voorde looking for a partner, they proved the perfect combination.
Finalists Paul Bergman and John Wilkinson have been knocking on the door in the Minor Pairs and a breakthrough win is surely not far away.
The blue-ribbon Major Singles final at the oldest bowls club in Illawarra is down to the final with Baker to meet Denham in a rematch of the 2019 decider.
Denham won a thriller 31-30 two years ago and went on to reach the final of the Zone Champion of Club Champion Singles in which he was defeated by Warilla's Jackaroo star Corey Wedlock.
Denham and Baker teamed up to reach the Triples final and have been in terrific form in Singles.
Baker edged out Bott 31-30 in a semi-final thriller, while Denham defeated Warren Hamilton 31-21.
The Major Pairs final is also settled with Steve Cheney and Jim Tully showing no ill-effects of having a year off from Pennants. They are slated to take on Paul Robertson and Jared Hamilton for the title.
It is back-to-back Major Pairs finals for Cheney, who was a skip last year but now plays as lead for the experienced Tully, with the duo beating father-and-son combination Brian and Peter Bott in the semi-finals.
Finally, Woonona is back at the State Pennant Finals for the first time since 2001 with its Grade 5 side chasing the club's elusive second state flag.
Woonona had snared its maiden Pennant crown - also in Grade 5 - back in 1993.
Bowls bid for Brisbane 2032
Lawn bowls is becoming a younger-age sport every year but will still be battling to convince the Olympics bosses to add it as a competition sport for the home Games in Brisbane in 2032.
Bowls Australia and its members would love to have the sport included for the Games in Brisbane, with some of the best greens in the world in and around the Queensland capital.
Lawn bowls would fit perfectly into what the International Olympic Committee pitched for the just-completed Tokyo Games, with its emphasis on the ''most gender equal'' Games, given that bowls appeals equally to men and women.
The biggest hurdle bowls would face in selling itself as an Olympic sport is its perception as an older-person sport, even though the national and state teams are filled by younger players every year.
IOC president Thomas Bach promised to make the Tokyo Games "more youthful, more urban and include more women" and introduced new sports including skateboarding, sport climbing and BMX freestyle plus new mixed-gender disciplines were added to seven existing Olympic sports.
Still, it would be the perfect showcase for a popular international sport like lawn bowls, especially when you consider golf and tennis are at the Olympics.
Ladies shine on and off green
In a hugely-disrupted season in Illawarra women's bowls, the Thirroul Women's BC completed its 2021 Championship Fours and Major Singles before lockdown restrictions were introduced.
In an exciting Fours final, Mary Rogers, Kerry Vickery, Carol Joy and Callie Addison defeated Linda O'Neill, Julie Neal, Vicki Attenborough and Anne Clarke 22-14.
The Major Singles finished a week before the first stay-at-home orders were introduced in late June with Vicki Attenborough beating Kerry Vickery 25-18 in the final.
The Thirroul Ladies have been generous off the green, donating 22 bags of food to the Need a Feed charity which has been very busy during this extended lockdown.
The lady bowlers had bought in food donations just a couple of days before lockdown was introduced and supplied to Barbara Atkins, who runs Need a Feed.
At a District level, Pennants champs in Grades 1-4 are also looking forward to playing at the State Finals at Forster BC in October.
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