Feathers flys to Masters Win

by Aaron Delaporte on February 26, 2019

The Key Choice Ladies Masters Singles was held at Mosman Park over the 22-24th February in near perfect conditions.

This year not only was Mosman Park’s Lisa Featherby an integral part in running the event she also won it.

This event is part of the Dyenamic Masters Series and was well supported with some great sponsors Key Choice Financial Solutions based in Subiaco; the Foot Studio Podiatry and some local sponsors contributing to a $3,400 prize pool. With a full field (64) of quality club singles winners the competition was fierce and it was great to see past and present State squad/team members; country league/zone players and bowlers from 27 different clubs fighting hard on the green.

After DAY 1 the first 32 players were down to 4 with 3 straight wins.  Jenni McLaughlin from North Beach took out some big scalps along the way beating State 4’s title holder Lisa Smith (Perth Tatts); last years winner Laura Merz (Manning). Jenni Rogalski also did some damage beating a previous winner Maureen Beard (Safety Bay) and State squad member Sian Smith (York). Two Mosman Park players Bev Baker and Lisa Featherby made the final four; Bev with a close game against Irene Kozak (Port Bouvard) 21/20 and State over 60’s team mate Pauline Bourne (Sorrento) 21/17. Lisa had a slow start in her first two games against Helen Hutton (Port Bouvard) and new State player Lisa Brannan (Melville) but eventually got over the line; but with a more consistent performance against Julie Savell (Osborne Park).

DAY 2 also saw some great match ups and some close outcomes. The final four were Linda Warburton (Mosman Park) who had to battle her team mate in Renate Coote and then Robyn Jolly (Manning)  a current State third amongst others. Kerry Andersen (Mosman Park) had a tough road with close encounters against Liz Marshall (Sorrento); Toni Madigan (Mundaring) and then Jenny Parker (Mosman Park) all State players in recent times. At the bottom of the draw Rinske Butcher (North Beach) defeated Pam Chalmers (Osborne Park) in the final round and Helen Morss (Manning) had to contend with Squad member Jo Lancaster (Beacon) and State Player Noelene Abe (Corrigin) in two close games. The final game of the day with Noelene could have gone either way but a great final draw bowl by Helen won the match.

The Sunday saw the final 8 do battle. Conditions were changeable as the wind started to pick up. The 4 Mosman Park girls against each other with Lisa Featherby prevailing over Bev Baker 21/18 and Linda Warburton over Kerry Andersen 21/14. Helen Morss was on fire against Rinske Butcher winning 21/6 and Jenni McLaughlin was defeated by Jenni Rogalski 21/13.

The semi’s were played to 25 up and this influenced the result. Linda was well up against Helen but a change in strategy by Helen to play minimum length ends and force Linda onto the wide side changed her rhythm and although Linda would have been victorious at 21 up Helen showed great resilience to win 25/23. Lisa had a great battle with Jenni but with some telling conversions and consistency won out 21/13.

The final battle of two State skippers under what was quite windy conditions at that stage saw Lisa jump out of the blocks with an 11 shot lead predominantly playing medium to long ends. Helen had the opportunity to again pursue short ends when Lisa lost the jack in the ditch a couple of times and this changed the momentum with Helen picking up shots in 7 of the next 9 ends to get within 4 shots. Lisa challenged the jack length at every opportunity and so it became a game of contrasts. Both players demonstrated some great draw bowls; some cracking drives and great spirit on the green but with Lisa winning her first Masters Singles Title 25/18.

The Mosman Park Bowling club and its members with Lisa Featherby and Linda Warburton as the main drivers of this tournament is a fantastic venue to host this prestigious event and did a great job with the organisation; provision of quality greens and the “Million Dollar View”. Thanks to the generous sponsors Key Choice Financial Solutions; The Foot Studio Podiatry as local sponsors and Dyenamic Sublimation as overarching sponsors of the Masters series.

Lisa Featherby now climbs to the top of the Women’s Masters Series rankings just ahead of the Pairs winners Krstic and Heal however two events still remain for points with the Osborne Park Masters Triples now open and the Mixed Masters Pairs also yet to be played.

All Masters results available via this link