​It was a hot and muggy afternoon but spirits were high when we journeyed to Chardstock yesterday. It’s such a lovely setting and their players are always so welcoming, but we always forget how quirky their green is! Most of the rinks as so problematic and they challenged even our best players. On one rink our Budleigh players Ralph, Darren and Ann won well, but the others were defeated and the final result was a 5 point loss.
A good but very tiring day.

​A beautiful afternoon for our home match against Pinces, from Exeter. Scores were close up until half time but in the end only one Budleigh rink had a significant win, thanks to Mike, Gordon and Jackey. Sadly it wasn’t enough to sway the final score as the other three rinks were defeated, resulting in an overall loss to the home teams. Well played everyone.

​Our annual Victory Cup invitation match yesterday was won by Phear Park. 
An enjoyable afternoon in the sunshine. Thanks to all who participated and made it such a success. The home team were disappointed that they could not regain the cup which they have held previously, but congratulations to Phear Park on their well-deserved win.

Another win for our teams against Ottery this week. A very hot day but that didn’t deter us from a win of 53-51 overall, though I understand only one of our rinks won. Well done to all

​Another hot afternoon for the Budleigh bowlers as they visited Phear Park yesterday.
Despite the heat, they won on two rinks and also overall, with a score of 67-62. Well done to everyone.

​We are lucky that our club is high up and has some breeze as the heat didn’t stop play yesterday when the teams from Seaton came to visit Budleigh.
Two teams from both sides won on their rinks and, using poetic licence, as I am known to do, this would normally have been declared a draw, but in this case I declare that we won 54-51 overall!
Very well done to all.

The friendly teams from Broadclyst visited us yesterday. A small club, but they always manage to get teams together, even if it means Brian cutting his holiday short.
It was a competitive game, but full of banter and at half time we were evenly matched. But after tea the Budleigh players came into their own and we won on all four rinks, with a final score of 75-56. Well done to all for a lovely afternoon of bowling.

​Our second visit to St Thomas this season, it’s beginning to feel like home! A very warm welcome from the home players and a very warm afternoon for the match, despite the clouds. 
We initially struggled with the slow green, which tested the best of us, but we managed to achieve a win on two of the four rinks and so the final result was declared a draw again. Well done to all.

​We have just returned from our three day bowls tour to Suttons and The Island Bohemians in Reading and Windsor Great Park bowls clubs. It was a great success, with mixed match results, but that didn’t spoil our enjoyment. 
The Island Bohemians own part of an island in the Thames, which is accessed by a ferry and is a very special and fun place to bowl. We had welcomed them to Budleigh last year and they returned the favour this year. 
Our teams were made up of mainly Budleigh players and we extended the invitation to some members from Ottery, who had joined us on last year’s tour.
Our final match was at Windsor Great Park, which was a splendid location, made more exciting by the preparations for the Royal Ascot week, though no royals were spotted on the bowls green!
We were very lucky with the weather and the sun shone on us for three days. Not so lucky with the scores though.
Grateful thanks go to Tony Mackness, who sadly couldn’t join us on the tour, and Ralph Cartwright, for organising the whole thing, which we know was a lot of work and made it such a success.  
Gerard mentioned them in the last speech of the tour and everyone showed their appreciation by a round of applause.

​We travelled for our third friendly match at Broadclyst, on a chilly, windy afternoon.
The green was still damp and running slow from the earlier rain, but our four teams accepted the challenge and triumphed on all four rinks with a total combined final score of 67-52.
It’s a small club, but very welcoming and friendly and it’s a pleasure to play there. Very nice cake as well. Well done to all.

We had a lovely afternoon at Pinces on Saturday. It looked like an impending defeat for us in the first half, apart from Derek, Ted and Jackey’s rink, which was ahead (and stayed ahead). 
A break for tea and very welcome cake changed things for us and we came out and played like different teams. We certainly played better the second half and Terry, Annie and Russ got to grips with the quirky green and managed to turn a heavy defeat into a one point victory on their rink.
The final score was a win on two rinks and loss on two so declared a draw. A great afternoon with good company. Well done to all.

​Well, we may not be able to practice on our own green, but it’s not deterring us from putting up strong competition in our friendly matches recently. We had a lovely afternoon at Seaton, who are always friendly and welcoming. I should really report, as I have done in a couple of recent matches, that as we won on two rinks and lost on two, that it was a draw, but I am happy to say that the final score was 70/67 in our favour. 
Very well done to all our players.

We are pleased to announce a win at Sidmouth on 18th.
Despite the cold and rain, our teams were 22 up at tea, and although a few points slipped through their fingers, the final score was 70/64. An enjoyable game with hospitable hosts.
Well done to all.

​On a lovely sunny, but windy afternoon we paid our first visit to Topsham this season. A slight confusion about the start time meant we all arrived a bit late, but this didn’t put us off and we managed to achieve our first win of the season. Three of our teams won and the final score was 59-50. It was a well fought, close match and it was good to see our players getting used to and enjoying playing outdoors. Thanks to all who played and to Topsham for their friendly hospitality. Thanks also to match captain Mike, who seems to be really enjoying his first season in the role.

It’s always a pleasure to play at Ottery, they are very friendly, welcoming, and enjoy a good bit of banter.  It was a competitive game and our ladies only team did very well to win on their rink. Well done ladies.  The overall score was magnanimously declared a draw by the Ottery Captain, with two rinks winning, and two losing.  Well done to all. A lovely afternoon.

Our popular annual Ladies v Gents match was played in good spirits on the 18th and 30 members took part. As there were more gents than ladies, three of the men got in touch with their feminine side and played as ladies (but thankfully they couldn’t find skirts to fit them!).
It was a jubilant win for the ladies with a score of 86-68 and a jolly afternoon with a fair amount of competitive banter. A wonderful tea of cakes and scones was prepared and served by Ann and her willing helpers. Thanks to all who made this a successful event. I’m sure the men will get their revenge when we meet on the indoor rink.

The finals of the Internal Outdoor competitions took place over the finals weekend. The winners and runners-up were presented with their trophies at the prize giving buffet that took place on Sunday evening. Congratulations to all the winners and runners up.
Thanks to all those who took part in the competitions and to Marilyn and Andy for the organisation of the competition throughout the season.

​Sadly rain stopped play this afternoon in our friendly home match with Ottery St Mary. But it didn’t stop everyone from enjoying a cuppa and chatting about how things might have been!

A​ lovely sunny afternoon for our home match against Exonia yesterday. We had a win on one rink, with Les, Wendy and Judith, (well done), but sadly the skills of the Exonia players on the other three rinks outshone our own players.

We started off in the rain when we visited Topsham yesterday and initially things were going well for us. By tea time the rain had stopped and scores could have gone either way. Unfortunately they didn’t go our way and the end result was a heavy loss for Budleigh. The only saviour was our team on the only rink playing against a Topsham team of men only, who had a good 16-8 win. Well done Brian Membery, Russ and Jackey!
An enjoyable afternoon and we were made very welcome.