Norm Walford goes all the way to the Zone 3 Champion of Club Champions Singles final

Norm Walford went all the way to the final of the Zone 3 Bowls’ Champion of Champions Singles tournament at South Tamworth Bowling Club on the weekend but was forced to settle for second after being defeated in the decider.

Narrabri Bowling Club’s 2021 club champion was one of 17 club champs across the zone who nominated for the event. Fourteen of those actually competed in South Tamworth.

After winning both of his games on Saturday, Walford challenged Inverell Sporties’ Scott Hamilton in the final on Sunday morning. Hamilton prevailed 31 shots to 14 in that match to be crowned champion.

Four rounds of bowls were played on Saturday to determine the event’s two finalists. Only one game went ahead in the opening round as 15 competitors received byes.

Hamilton took on Tamworth City’s Tim Austin in that opening round and scored a 31 shots to 25 win to advance to round two, during which he made light work of Armidale Ex-Services’ Malcolm Ahoy in a 31-4 rout.

Woolford progressed to the quarter-final by default after his round two opponent forfeited their match.

Woolford’s quarter-final opponent was Bingara’s Graham McManus, who was also playing his first game in the round of eight after receiving a forfeit from Wee Waa Bowling Club’s 2021 A-grade Singles champion Toby Reynolds in the second round.

Walford scored a convincing win in that game as he outscored McManus 31 shots to nine before he went on to defeat North Tamworth’s Graeme Pennell 31-26 in the semi-final.

Hamilton beat South Tamworth’s Kenneth Trow 31-27 in the quarter-final before outscoring Walcha’s Kyle Goodwin 31-22 in the semi-final on the other side of the draw.

In Sunday morning’s final, Walford began on the front foot as he claimed the first end to establish a 1-0 lead.

However, Hamilton won five of the next six ends a combined 10 shots to one to go ahead 10-2 after seven ends of play.

Walford reduced his deficit to six shots after scoring a point on the eighth and ninth ends, but Hamilton went on another commanding run as he won seven of the next eight ends to establish a commanding 25-5 lead after 17 ends.

With Hamilton requiring just six more points to be crowned the zone winner, Narrabri’s 2021 champion responded in style when he went on his best run of the game by scoring six points to none across the next five ends, which made the score 25-11
after 22 ends.

The two finalists claimed three ends each across the next six ends of play as Hamilton went in front 29-14. The Inverell Sporties bowler then scored a two on the 29th end to win the match and the entire tournament.

Hamilton will now represent Zone 3 Bowls in the State Champion of Club Champion Singles competition at the South Tamworth Bowling Club from June 3 to 5 this year.