The AGM was held on Wednesday 26th October in Castle Douglas BC clubhouse at 7.30pm.

President for 2012 is Jim Maginess from Creetown and his Vice is Murray Cairney from Kirkcudbright.

Graeme Maxwell is still Secretary/Treasurer.

The Hamilton Trophy fixture for 2012 are as follows

12th May - Ayrshire @ Kirkcudbright

19th May - Wigtownshire away

26th May - Lanarkshire @ Dalbeattie

2nd June - Renfrewshire @ New Abbey

9th June - Glasgow away

16th June - Dumbartonshire @ Castle Douglas

23rd June - Dumfriesshire @ Lockerbie

Hugh Robertson is once again team manager and he is looking for EVERY player in the Stewartry willing to play to put their name forward for consideration. Forms will be passed to every Club for this purpose.  If you are willing to play please ensure your name is on the list!!

KBA Cup

Following a good discussion the meeting agreed to try a different format for the Cup next year.  The format will involve an eleven man team in fours, triples, 4-bowl pairs and 2-bowl pairs.  Matches will be decided on overall shots. 

The format will allow smaller clubs, who have struggled to find sixteen players in recent years, to field a team.  Larger clubs will be allowed to field more than one team.  This will hopefully get more players involved from all clubs.

“County Junior Singles play off - the play off was held on Sunday 31st July at Dalbeattie, with Ronnie Gibson looking after the draw.  In the semi finals Bradley Walker (Kbt) beat Mark Henderson (Dbt) and Jack Cobban (Dbt) beat Robert Newlands (Spalding).  Bradley and Jack will meet in the final on Stewartry County Finals Day, Sunday 4th September at Spalding.”

“County Top Five Competition - The final will be between Castle Douglas, the holders, and Kirkcudbright on Tuesday 9th August at Creetown.  Castle Douglas beat Dalbeattie 3-1 and Kirkcudbright defeated Auchencairn 3-2 in the semi finals.”

“In the second County Pairs semi final George Brown and Robert McClune (Kbt) overcame Stewart Gilmour and Ian McBride Jnr (CD) to reach the final, where they will meet another CD pair, and holders for the last two years, Alan Davies and Scott Davies.  Can Alan and Scott make it three in a row or can Robert and George snatch the title from them?”

Stewartry Junior Singles 2011 - The play-down for the Junior Singles will be held at Dalbeattie BC on Sunday 31st July. Player to be registered by 10.00am. Any Junior who missed the original entry can turn up and their entry will be accepted.

In the semi finals Gatehouse will play Castle Douglas at Kirkcudbright, and Auchencairn will play Kirkcudbright at Dalbeattie on Tuesday 19th July.  The final will be played at Creetown (the Vice President’s green) on Tuesday 26th July

Hamilton Trophy v Lanarkshire South at Springwells

Lanarkshire 136 v 107 Stewartry

Stewartry skips first

K Shuttleworth 16 v 15 J Meikle

B McClune 22 v 30 D Gardiner

G Brown 20 v J Simpson 18

A Davies 13 v 26 I Campbell

S McCubbin 24 v 16 R Grant

S Richardson 12 v 31 S Forrest

” A management committee meeting will be held on Wednesday 8th June at 7.30pm in Castle Douglas clubhouse to make the draws for the county competitions.  All club reps are requested to attend with their club’s entries and capitation fees - £1 per male member.  A letter will be sent out this week by the Secretary with further details. “

The SBA Mixed Pairs competition has for a number of years been played over one day or weekend.  The SBA has intimated that, as the competition is a national event, it must be played over the full 17 ends (plus trials).  District 17 Councillor Iain McLelland has been looking for the best way to run the play off in our district and it is almost certain that arranging ties for Wednesday nights is the best option.  The ties will probably run alongside the gents’ SBA district ties which are played on Monday nights, and the district final of the mixed pairs may this year be held alongside the gents’ finals as these will be hosted by Maxwelltown.  A firm confirmation is still to come, and an update will be posted on this site as soon as possible.

At the Stewartry AGM one of the attending members suggested to District Councillor Iain McLelland that the gents’ district finals could be played on a weekend as a Finals Day, rather than on  the traditional Monday night.  Two good reasons for this suggestion were that the competitors would not have to rush from work to the venue and the host club could then select the better rinks for play as two or more sessions could be held, instead of every rink, good or bad, having to be used due to time constraints.  Iain has advised that this year’s finals will be held as normal at Maxwelltown, probably on 20th June, however he will canvass all clubs to seek opinions on the suggestion of a finals day for the following year.

Some early dates for 2011 for those planning their holidays!

League starts 2nd May 2011

KBA Cup      6th, 13th and the Final on the 20th May @ Spalding.

Top Ten      3rd, 10th and Final on the 17th June @ Spalding

County Singles @ Castle Douglas on Sunday 26th June

County Triples @ Kirkcudbright on Sunday 14th August

Finals Day @ Spalding on Sunday 4th September

The Stewartry has at last got a new secretary. Graeme Maxwell from Castle Douglas has taken on the job of replacing Stevie Conchar. I hope all the clubs and players in the Stewartry will give Graeme their full support.

I asked Graeme for a “Mission Statement”  and I am delighted to share I with all the Bowlers in the Stewartry.

My aims as Secretary are to provide a first class service to the President, Committee and each of the member clubs, ensuring all the competitions are run smoothly and fairly.  I would like to see as many people as possible playing bowls in the Stewartry and will do what I can to assist clubs in this.