Bowls event set to get up and rolling

The Hastings Open Bowls Tournament will take centre stage at White Rock Gardens throughout the week

Proceedings will start at 9am today (Monday) with the official opening by the Mayor of Hastings, Cllr Bruce Dowling, and Mark Gardiner, of main sponsor Croft Glass Ltd.

That will be followed by the preliminary round of the Croft Glass Men’s Pairs at 9.30am, and early rounds of the ladies’ and men’s singles and the open triples in the afternoon and early evening. The action will continue throughout the week until the finals on the following Saturday afternoon.

Entries are just a bit down in both the ladies’ singles and ladies’ pairs compared with the successful tournament last year, while the other competition entries have very much held their own.

Weekly overstay parking permits and numbered concession tickets for free deckchairs and some council amenities will be available, to those eligible, from the tournament office this morning. Refreshments will be available all day from the clubhouse.

A tournament spokesman said: “We are once again indebted to Croft Glass Ltd, together with our other sponsors this year, The Brickwall Hotel at Sedlescombe, Mr Don Softley, husband of our committee member Gwen and chartered accountants Gibbons Mannington & Phipps.

“We also owe a great deal to all those firms and businesses that have supported us by advertising in the tournament programme and all those who have most generously donated prizes to our legendary daily raffle.”

Official programmes and competition draws have been sent out, together with details of the ever-popular Charity Tournament being held on Sunday September 28. Entries for this event will close on Wednesday August 29 and the beneficiary this year will be a local charity.

Still for sale are some centenary lapel badges, bowls stickers and centenary booklets giving a short history of the tournament with foreword by David Bryant MBE and a message from Amber Rudd, MP for Hastings and Rye. For further details, visit www.hastingsbowlstournament.com or call (01424) 443357.

Tournament dates for 2015 will be Monday August 10-Saturday August 15 and the charity event will take place on Sunday September 27. Entry forms for both events are obtainable from the tournament desk, the tournament website or by phoning the above telephone number.