The Club is gearing up for the annual Easter Bowls Carnival and looks forward to welcoming back many regular bowlers who contest this event each year and greeting the new participants that will be here to try and win a share of the generous prizemoney on offer. As is the case each year, the greens will be filled to capacity with 40 teams contesting the pairs event and 22 teams in the fours. Many of the competing teams are from Sydney based clubs such as Denistone, Toongabbie and Dee Why but there is also strong representation from regional NSW including a few of the local Forbes teams. The pairs and fours will be played throughout Friday and Saturday with the finals and triples scheduled for Sunday. The greens and surrounds are looking in top order thanks to the efforts of greenkeeper, Scott Andrews, his assistant, Terry Molloy and the band of volunteers. With the weather forecast looking favourable and a line-up of high-quality bowlers it should be an ideal opportunity for anyone wishing to view some top-class bowling.

Wednesday: Undeterred by the overnight rain, twenty-eight bowlers took to the rinks on Wednesday morning to try their luck on the heavier greens. Terry Molloy and Alf Davies had no problem handling the damp conditions and piled on plenty of multiple shots in their game against Cheryl Hodges and Lyall Strudwick. Terry was relentless with his lead bowls and laid the platform for a comprehensive 41 to 8 win.

Geoff West and Peter Mackay were also in good form and kept Bill Scott and Barry White on the back foot throughout their game. Bill and Barry found it hard to get shots and trailed 15 to 2 after 10 ends and went down 26 to 9 after 21 ends.

Dale Scott and Tony Bratton played Trevor Currey and Paul Doust in a 23 end game and ran out 23 to 11 winners. The game was evenly poised at 5 to 6 after 9 ends but then Dale and Tony went into overdrive and piled on a further 18 shots to win 23 to 11.

It was a similar result for Noel Jolliffe and Kerry Dunstan in their game against Sid Morris and Rob Priest when they got home 22 to 12 over 22 ends. Noel and Kerry were always in command and led 13 to 3 after 11 ends and 18 to 5 after 16 ends.

The closest result of the morning went to Robyn Mattiske and Ray Dunstan when they just edged out John Brown and Geoff Coles 16 to 15 after 20 ends. This game was all square at 15 all on the 19th end with a single on the last end getting the win for Robyn and Ray.

In another low scoring encounter Lesley Dunstan and Annette Tisdell got a close win over Irene Riley and Lyn Simmonds. Lesley and Annette got off to a dream start to lead 10 to nil after just 5 ends but Irene and Lyn found some form and came back to trail by a single shot at 11 to 10 after 14 ends. Unfortunately they couldn't maintain the momentum and went down 15 to 13 to Lesley and Annette after 18 ends of play.

Sue Smith and Don Craft may have won their game against Bill O'Connell and Sue White, but the result could have gone either way as the lead changed 6 times over the course of the 24 ends played. At the halfway mark it was a slender 10 to 9 lead for Bill and Sue and after 22 ends Sue and Don had just edged in front to lead 21 to 20. From there they went on to score single shots on each of the concluding ends to get home 23 to 20.

Thursday: Organisers thought the very mild autumn sunshine may have enticed a bigger turnout last Thursday with only 14 players participating in two games of pairs and a game of triples.

In her first game as a Thursday Skip, Tara-Lea Shaw showed that she is more than capable of playing in that position when she teamed up with Laurie Crouch to get a win over Terry Molloy and Viv Russell. Tara and Laurie were always in control of the match leading 10 to 4 after 10 ends and 15 to 9 after 18 ends. Terry and Viv rallied to finish strongly but Tara and Laurie held on by the barest of margins, winning 16 to 15.

In the second game of pairs, Paul Doust and Dale Scott had a fair day out with a big win over Ron Thurlow and Denis Byrnes. Paul and Dale were never headed in this one and piled on plenty of multiples against their luckless opponents. At the finish it was a 35 to 11 victory to Paul and Dale.

The triples game saw Bill Cowell, Bob Grant and Tony Bratton up against the husband and wife pairing in Max and Cherie Vincent and Al Phillips. Tony's team found it tough to score in the first 5 ends but got back into the game with a 3 on the 6th end to trail 8 to 4. Unfortunately the only bright spot for the remainder of the game for Billy, Bob and Tony was a 4 on the 12th end but from there Max, Cherie and Al won all the remaining 4 ends to record a 21 to 10 victory.

The winning rink draw went to Tara-Lea and Laurie and the losing rink draw went to their opponents, Terry and Viv. As luck would have it, their rink also came out in the $600 jackpot draw but the cash didn't go off and will be on offer next Thursday. Tara-Lea and Dale also earned a free drink with resting touchers during their games.

Bob Asimus Memorial: Bowlers are reminded that play next Thursday afternoon will be in the annual Bob Asimus Memorial event. Bob Asimus was a legendary bowler whose achievements while playing at the Forbes and then Maitland Bowling Clubs are remarkable. Bob represented NSW on no less than 44 occasions and those that were lucky enough to see him play will attest that he was one of the best to grace the Forbes Greens. This afternoon of bowls is sponsored by the Asimus family and is sure to attract the usual locals and the early arriving visiting teams who use it as practice for the Easter Bowls Carnival.

Sunday: The greens were again heavy after rain on Saturday but 24 bowlers still turned out for a friendly roll last Sunday morning. Robert "Pooch" Dukes teamed up with his former A and B Pairs partner, Terry Molloy, but they couldn't emulate their previous success and they went down 28 to 8 against Clint Hurford and Christian West. The game was 6 all at the half-time break but in similar fashion to his beloved Bunnies, Pooch could not stop the runaway scoring by his opponents in the second half, including a maximum 6 on the 14th end.

Peter Tisdell and John Cutler started well to be leading 7 to 4 at the break and they continued their good bowls to record a 14 to 9 victory over Geoff Coles and Scott McKellar.

Viv Russell found some form (and a fair bit of luck) when he teamed up with Jamie Dukes to get home with a convincing win against Alan Hilder and Laurie Crouch. Jamie and Viv lost the first end but from there they powered on to win 23 to 6.

Back for a visit and having a roll was former Club barman Cagey Cowell and he played lead for Dale Scott in a tight tussle against Ron Thurlow and Peter Mackay. Nothing went right for Cagey and Dale and they were well behind 13 to 3 at the break. We are not sure what they had at halftime but when the game resumed, they hit back to win the last 5 ends to record a 16 all draw.

In another close game, Bill Cowell and Cherie Vincent were 19 to 14 victors over Pat O'Neill and Kerry Roach. Bill and Cherie got on top with a 5 on the 6th end but Pat and Kerry drew level to be 13 all on the 11th end. Bill and Cherie got back on track to win 5 of the 6 remaining ends and take out the game.

In the final game it was Max Vincent and Brett Davenport up against Peter Greenhalgh and his son-in-law, Shane Staines. The score was tied at 8 all on the 8th end but Max and Brett kept their side of the scorecard ticking over for the second half for a 19 to 13 win.

The winning rink draw went to Jamie Dukes and Viv Russell and the losing rink prize was shared between Cagey Cowell, Dale Scott, Ron Thurlow and Peter Mackay. To top off their day they also came out as the jackpot rink and Cagey spun up the correct winning margin for them to take home the $160 jackpot.

Jamie Dukes, John Cutler, Clint Hurford and Christian West recorded resting touchers.

While there will be plenty of bowling action for spectators, the Club will be open to the public as normal over the entire Easter weekend with the usual round of raffles on Friday night and Sunday morning bowls. The Club has also engaged a band called Riff Raff to provide musical entertainment for visitors and locals on Saturday night and with the Chinese restaurant in full operation it should be an ideal opportunity for a night out.