The Cobourg lawn bowling club was the host venue for the 2024 Ontario ladies novice singles championship on Saturday and Sunday, September 21st and 22nd and we had a hometown winner with Laura Mounce claiming the gold medal.
An opening ceremony was held on Saturday at which Town of Cobourg Mayor, Lucas Cleveland welcomed the bowlers to Cobourg.
Sixteen ladies competed from clubs throughout Ontario. A novice is defined as someone with 5 years or less of bowling experience. The eligibility period was extended because of the pandemic and bowlers registered from 2018 onwards were eligible for this championship. In this singles format the first to 18 points is the winner.
Play on Day 1 was round robin play. There were four groups, each with four players. The top two in each group went forward to elimination play on Day 2.
Mounce of Cobourg won all three of her round robin games to top her group.
In her quarter final game she won 18-14 and followed that up with a dominant performance in her semi final, winning 18-10.
The gold medal game was between Mounce and Karen Manfredi of the Beeton club. There was some great shot making by both bowlers but Mounce got off to a fast start and her lead was never seriously challenged by Manfredi. Encouraged by the home crowd Mounce ran out the gold medal winner by a score of 18-10. Including the District playdowns (the qualifier for the championship) Mounce won 12 consecutive games and was indeed worthy of being crowned an Ontario champion.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
