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Tournaments

This page is currently being prepared. Keep watching to as we add an interesting range of tournaments with scorecards, draws and scoring spreadsheets


Making Your Tournaments More Interesting

TRY ** Playing More Short Games
TRY ** Using Powerplays
TRY ** Using Sets Play and Finals
TRY ** Having a Singles Tournament
TRY ** Using Merge Files to produce brochures, table advertisements and entry sheets COMING SOON




Some Different Types of Tournaments

RUN ** Mix and Mingle - have fun meeting people
RUN ** One day Singles - the gold medal tournament
RUN ** Skins Tournaments - popular with many>
RUN ** A club Handicap Fours Competition- a great club building day
RUN ** Green on Green St Patrick’s Day - a very funny day



























Play More Games
  • Around Australia the most common game of bowls is three bowl triples. In many clubs they play this every week. A draw is made and the whole day then consists of 20 or more ends against the same opponent. If your team goes down a lot of shots early in the day then interest in the day’s procedures declines.
  • In many other clubs there are two games of perhaps 11 ends with prizes for the overall winner and for the best single game winner. This keeps up the interest and is good for a regular social game. However for an occasional day you can spice it up by playing more games. A good tournament for three bowl triples can have four games of 5 ends.
  • When you have more games the speed of the day is determined by the slowest finishing rink, so you must have ‘no dead ends, jack placed’ If you play four or more games in an afternoon tournament your afternoon tea break will get all games back on time

    The draw for a multi end tournament is easy to do.
  • Divide the total number of teams by the number of games you are playing and them into groups. For example in a five game comp with 30 teams you would have 5 groups of 6 , with 26 teams you have would have 4 of 5 and 1 of 6

    • Then when group A plays group C this means each member of group a plays a member of goup B. If A plays A this means that each member of group A plays another member of group A.
  • Three game (1) AvB CvC (2) AvC BvB (3) BvC AvA
  • Four Game (1) AvB CvD (2) AvD BvC (3) Avc BvD (4) AvA BvB CvC DvD
  • Five Game (more complicated)
    (1) AvB CvD EvE (2)AvE BvC DvD (3) AvC Dv E BvB (4) AvD BvE CvC (5) BvD CvE AvA
  • Six Game First five rounds is a six team round robin followed by group playing internally in the last game.


    • You have to watch these matters
  • The draw is done by allocating rinks to each team. Alter the orders of the rinks allotted to each group so that patterns of the draw do not develop – eg after the first game if group A plays on rinksteams 12346 and group E plays on rinks 11,12,13,14,15,16, the next tyime you put in those rinks use 561234 and 14,15,16,11,12,13
  • Where groups have different numbers of teams you have to take care when drawing the odd teams that a double up does not occur. This is not difficult as you do not have to check very many games


    • When we get our download page up and running we will provide a large number of draws set up to work for you
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    Powerplays are Powerful
    In the English ‘Premier League’ bowls shown on Foxtel their game consists of two powerplay sets of five ends of singles.

    The powerplay works like this
  • Each player/team can nominate one end of each game or set as his/her/their powerplay end.
  • On this end the nominator’s score is doubled while any score by the other player remains the same
  • The powerplay can be declared at any time from the completion of the previous end until the first bowl is delivered. (ie can be after the jack is played)
  • In a short game the powerplay usually keeps both teams in the game right to the last end



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    Use Sets Play and Finals
  • We see sets play on television, but most bowlers have never had an opportunity to play this exsciting form of the game. Sets play has the disadvantage for a one day event in that the whole tournament gan not wait for a couple of games to complete their tiebreakers
  • A one day tournament can have a final at the end of the day. For example you could run a one day fours competition with six games of five ends followed by a final of two sets of five ends plus tiebeaker. You would play two games, then morning teas, two games then lunch and two games after lunch. All would come in and the finalists would be announced and other prizes given. The final would then be played. This would encourage other players to stay around to watch the final increasing bar takings!! Suggestions for making a draw for a multigame tournament are below





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    Offer a Singles Tournament
  • Singles are not popular with clubs. When the state association ‘gives’ you singles you usually get about 16 players who don’t provide any revenue and you have to find markers for 24 games
  • Most players get few opportunities to play singles. In most clubs they can enter no more than two singles per year and so many only get two games and few get more than four.
  • In a one day singles tournament the participants get to play six games and mark three. You can have three times as many players as you have rinks. The organisation of a one day singles is set out below

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    • Mix and Mingle     The Concept
  • This is a good 'getting to know you' afternoon. It began when a small group playing winter Saturdays wanted to do something different. We tried this style and they liked it so much that we played it every week from then on. After the game the players would to sit around as one group and those with good scores would 'claim' the prizes
  • If you have the draw sheets it is one of the easiest of all tournemants to organise. As players arrive they get a card, and everyone who turns up can get a game without causing you any problems
  • During the day each player will play with or against most of the other players
  • Because the draw allows for any number between 16 and 48 anyone who arrives can play


    • The Draw
  • We provide two draws - four rinks for between 16 and 32 players and six rinks for between 24 and 42 players.
  • There can be up to four games during the day
  • When playing re-number the rinks you are using as 1 to 4 or 1 to 6.
  • To run the day you write the cards from the draw list which shows for example 'card 12 4A 3B 3B 1B'. This means that for the first game player 12 goes to rink 4 and plays in team A
  • Please email to getagameofbowls@gmail.com if you would like the draws and the file to print scorecards


    • The Game
  • With sixteen players you play three bowl pairs on 4 rinks. As the numbers increase some games change to two bowl triples. When the expected numbers are over 24 you use six rinks so that pairs are played up to 24 and triples up to 36. Where the expected number is over 32 you can print or mark two sets of four rink cards.
  • At the start of each game the players meet on the rink and decide who wil play each position in the pairs or triple
  • Where a triple plays a pair the pair bowls 4_2 to keep the changeover the same. Some people may criticise this because of the advantage gained by the player using four bowls. A reasonable compensation could be for the pair to play five bowls against the triples six.
  • If the numbers creep over 24 (four rinks) or 36 (6 rinks) and you have prepared only 4 or 6 rinks, some games will need involve fours. I suggest that if this happens the four plays 2_1_1_2 to avoid having to change the structure of the whole tournament
  • For pairs or triples and afternoon tournament could have four games of 7 ends and a full day four games of 12 ends
  • Some time is wasted at changeover because the slowest game sets the pace - it is best to go in for a cuppa after two games


    • Scoring
  • All players keep their own cards and at the end of the day there are individual winners
  • Alternatively you can give them a card with their draw and they write in win or loss, ends won and shots up for each game played. I will provide a template for a score card
  • At end of the game each player works out the number of points scored by your scoring system and writes it on the card.
  • Each game can be scored as 5 points for a win, three points for a draw and one point for each end won.
  • The player hands in the card so the organizer only has to check the top few cards to find a winner.




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    One Day Singles

    The History
  • Many players at my club have said to me that they wish to play more singles. In this conversation I always asked them if they would be happy to mark in a singles tournament and they always said they would.
  • I experimented with a variety of draws and tried playing a four game afternoon singles comp internal to my club. This afternoon included set play semifinals and finals.
  • The players liked it but the timing did not work. Someone arrived late and one first game finished late, which went out to two second games and before we knew it we were a whole hour behind schedule.
  • I then made changes to marker allocation and organised a full day, advertised it and got a field of 54, but was frustrated by hitting the only really wet day for months. Finally on October 18th 2009 we ran a very successful one day open singles which remarkably was won by 14 year old Nathan Pederson, the youngest player in the field
  • What follows is the method we used


    • Structure
  • We had six qualifying games of six ends in nine time slots
  • Quarterfinals and semifinals were of eight ends and the final was two sets of five ends with a three end tiebreaker
  • All games and sets included a powerplay
  • You can have 3 players for every available rink. We had 36 players and used 12 rinks.
  • Scoring was 10 for a win, five for a draw and 1 for each end won. Because we had six games and only 36 Players, three players who lost two games made the quartefinals. Even if you have 20 rinks it is very likely that all those who lose only one game will make the quarterfinals
  • We picked the top 6 players as 'seeds' and placed them in the same group (the draw had six groups of six players). This means that every player in the tournament met only one of these seeded players in the qualifying games. The winner was not seeded
  • Cards were printed for every player using word merging - these cards had space for 6 games of 6 ends and showed nine timeslots with the rink played on or the marking requirements at each time
  • Scores were placed in a spreadsheet which was kept up to date by having those marking hand in their cards and all hand in cards at the lunch break


    • Timing
  • We allowed 35 minute per six end game.
  • A bell was rung exactly 30 minutes after the starting time for each game and no new end could be started after the bell. No dead ends were allowed - jack was re-spotted
  • The week before the tournament had been wet and the greens were running only about 13 seconds. Most games were finished in 25 minutes and with the 35 minute allowance no one missed an end
  • I believe that the 35 minute timing would be quite OK for greens up to 17 seconds. If your greens are likely to be 18 seconds or more you would have to cut each game back to five ends to avoid a very late finish
  • Our game sarting times were 9.30, 10.05, 10.40,11.15,11.50, Lunch 12.25-1.00, 1.00, 1.35, 2.10 and 2.45 The quarter finals started at 3.30, the semifinals at 4.15 and the final at 5.00
  • An important factor in timing was that we only allocated a rink for markers for the first game, and after that the marker reported to a green and found players waiting for a marker. This meant that players could normally get on with their game as soon as both were ready, and one delayed finish did not cause three late sarts in the next game. Also no matter what time a game started no end could begin after the bell.


    • Feedback
  • The feedback from participants was positive. They liked the whole day and did not find it too long. The powerplays were very popular as was the format of the finals.
  • Most said they would jump at the chance to play in another such tournament
  • One of our veteran coaches who was in the surprisingly large croowd who watched the finals, said that he was thrilled to see bowls being played so well and with so much enthusiasm and enjoyment


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    A Skins Tournament
    In a skins tournament after qualifying the top two teams play a skins competition to determine how much of the prizemoney each team receives.Four example if the prize money for 1st and 2nd totals 600 and they play 5 skins ends, $120 is allocated to each end. On the first end a team which scores 2 or more wins the $120. Otherwise it jackpost to the next end. On the last end the winner of the end gets the current jackpot.

    Here are the instructions for a very successful skins fours day held at Brighton Bowling Club. In this tournament the top eight teams played off for prizemoney and the others for eight $2.50 bar vouchers

    GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
  • The draw was made by assigning a random number to every team, then sorting by the random numbers and then allocating rinks
  • Each team plays their first two games on the same green and their third and fourth games on other green.
  • Players may practice between 11.45 and 12.20, but not on the green assigned for their first game
  • We suggest that teams take a break for drinks or coffee after the first two games.
  • Scores must be reported at the end of the second game. At the end of the fourth game please report your score as soon as possible.
  • In the event of a rain disruption in the middle of an end the bowls should be left in place and the end completed as soon as possible
  • If a rain disruption is extended the organizer may declare that game with scores as at the end last completed
  • If rain makes completion of the skins section impossible any unallocated prize money will be shared between the two teams
  • While the organizers have ensured that an even number of teams have entered the tournament, if a team does not appear then the tournament will proceed with an odd number of teams. The teams drawn to play the absent team will receive a forfeit and 9 points for that game. They may practice on the allocated rink if they wish to do so


    • QUALIFYING GAMES
  • Four games of 5 ends
  • Scoring 5 points per win, 3 points per draw, 1 point per end won. After each game the second should write the score (out of 10) on the card and get the opposing skip to sign it
  • Since your second and fourth games are on the same green as your first and third, these games can start from the bank where the first and third finished
  • In the event of a tie in the total points after four games, shots up then least shots against, then last ends won
  • No dead ends – jack is replaced on the half rink mark on the 6 foot line on the side it goes out


    • SKINS PLAY
  • All teams play off for prizes. If two teams score equal points the team with the higher number of shots up will be ranked higher
  • The higher ranked side has the choice whether to take the mat or not on the first end
  • Teams ranked 1 to 8 play 5 ends, others play four ends. Equal prize money per end
  • On first four (three) ends the prize is won by a team scoring two or more. If the team winning the end scores 1 the prize jackpots to the next end
  • On the last end the prize is won by the winning team
  • In skins competition dead ends will be re-played


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    Club Handicap Fours Competition

    A handicap fours afternoon is a good method of to bring your club together at the end of a pennant season.

    This is how we ran such a tournament at my club.
  • We called the day the ‘Past Presidents’ Handicap Fopurs and asked our past presidents to make contributions towards some small prizes
  • On the last week of pennants we asked the side managers to tell players about the tournament. Players were asked to play in their pennant rinks and if there were absentees they were to try to fill a team from within the side.
  • The afternoon consisted of three games of seven ends and each team was given a handicap which was to be their starting score in each game
  • The handicaps we used were
  • 0 - top open side
  • 1 – second side, top ladies side
  • 2 - third side, second ladies side
  • 3 – fourth side, third ladies side
  • 4 – fifth and six sides, 4th ladies side, teams from night owls (bare foot bowls – get on the green)


    • 70% of the pennant players at the club took part in this competition. A team from our fourth side won the day and a team from the top side came second

    See our section below on draws for multiple game competitions to help with the draw

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    Green On Green Day
    This very funny day could be used on any occasion, but as the name implies, we used it for St Patrick's day.


    Advertise it as a special day telling prospective players
  • there will be a competition for the best green costume
  • some different and interesting things will happen (but don't tell them what you plan)


    • Play three bowl triples with two games of eleven ends and play 4 special ends in each game

  • End three - long bowls removed - Any bowl which passes jack high is removed and placed on the bank (this includes bowls knocked past jack high jack by other bowls)

  • End six - short bowls removed - Any bowl finishing short of jack high is removed and placed on the bank. If the jack moves, bowls then short remain on the green. If the jack goes into the ditch it is replaced on the central spot.

  • End nine - reverse order of play - The jack is not delivered. The skippers play their bowls, then the seconds. The leads then deliver the jack and play their bowls.
    Order of play
    ____Skips______3a,3b,3a,3b,3a,3b –skips go to head
    ____Seconds______2a,2b,2a,2b,2a,2b
    ____Leads______la-jack,la,lb,la,lb,la,lb

  • End 11 - powerplay end - The number of shots scored on this end is doubled


    Give the first prize to the team with the lowest score

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