Helen Melon Properties keep the ball rolling on the Garden Route
Category Fun Times
Helen Melon Properties, keeping the ball rolling on the Garden Route
Bowls has come a long way from the time when it was considered “old man’s marbles” and was played almost exclusively by the elderly. Indeed, the older the game of bowls seems to get, the younger the players. It is now played by people by of all ages, sizes and colour. Bowls has shed its fuddy duddy whites-only attire and welcomes funky, trendy colours, unless you’re playing league of course, in that case, it’s still Wimbledon whites.
These days it’s not uncommon to see a group of young men, celebrating a friend’s bachelor party on the bowling greens, bowl in one hand, beer in the other. Companies have office parties and team builders at bowling greens around the country, and there is a barefoot bowling movement. Even kids are embracing the sport.
Helen Melon, always one to stay on trend, although we like to think we set trends, rather than follow them, has also taken to bowls, becoming the proud sponsor of the Plettenberg Bay Bowling Club Business League Bowls tournament, held twice a year in, January and October.
This family event is fun for all, with bowls, braais, boerewors and beers. Not to mention relaxing in the club lounge after a good day’s bowling. There is no dress code, all ages are welcome, and each year sees a better and better turnout.
Says Helen Ward, principal of Helen Melon Properties, “Bowls is a great community sport, allowing players time to have some competitive fun, meet new people, and become part of the growing Plettenberg Bay Bowls community.”
The league winners of the much coveted Helen Melon trophies, held in January 2016, were Plett Sports in Division A and Yellowwood Spur in Division B, with the team from Red Bourne Lodge winning the prize for the best dressed team on the final day of the tournament. All in all 108 players took part in the tournament, which comprised of 36 teams of three players each. Due to popular demand, the league has been extended from six weeks to eight weeks. The next league starts in October; please book now as the event is increasing in popularity each year.
Plettenberg Bay Bowls club was officially opened in 1984 and today enjoys a healthy membership in excess of 120 players. The club itself has three greens and a spacious club house with magnificent views of the Langkloof and Tsitsikamma mountains.
New players are always welcome, and free coaching is offered to beginners keen to learn the game, and to those who want to improve theirs. The club enjoys an active social programme with at least two events a month.
Some Fun facts on Bowls:
- Bowls or Lawn Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a “jack” or “kitty”.
- It is played on a bowling green which may be flat for “flat-green bowls” or convex or uneven for “crown green bowls”.
- It is normally played outdoors on natural grass or artificial turf, although there are many indoor venues.
- It has been traced back to the 13th and even 12th centuries. Round stones may have been employed in an early variety of the game and there is a record of iron bowls being used at a later date.
- The world’s oldest surviving bowling green is the Southampton Old Bowling Green, which was first used in 1299.
- The game came under the ban of king and parliament, fearing that it might jeopardise the practice of archery, then so important in battle.
- By a further act of 1541 – which was not repealed until 1845 – labourers were forbidden to play bowls at any time except Christmas and then only in their master’s house and presence.
- Today the sport is played in over 40 countries.
Author: Helen Ward