LONDON IRISH BOWLING ASSOCIATION (L.I.B.A.)

2011 Scottish Tour

1    Tour Report

Staying in the magnificent Beardmore Hotel with views over the Clyde London Irish Bowlers and their supporters, under Captain Frank Oliver, enjoyed a wonderful tour. Organisation by Frank Shaw was spot on and arrangements worked like clockwork from the time we stepped off the train at Glasgow central to when we re-embarked the following Sunday at Edinburgh.

Six games were played with two wins, a draw and three losses one of them by just one shot at Old Kilpatrick. Scottish hospitality was unbelievably generous and the wonder was that we won any games as we rarely stepped onto the green fully sober. At each club we were met by free drinks to welcome us and games were interrupted by frequent visits to Club Board Rooms for further “refreshment”.

The first game at Old Kilpatrick set the tone, tucked away under the Erskine Bridge the green was top quality. The general opinion was that if you couldn’t bowl on it you couldn’t bowl at all. After a closely fought game the result was a one shot win for the locals. Closely fought games were the order of the day from there on and only the very last game, when all the tourists were very tired resulted in a heavy defeat for the Irish.

The bowlers were supported throughout by London Irish ladies who valiantly turned out at each game. Two social days, one in Glasgow for the ladies to enjoy the shopping and the other a tour through Loch Lomond and the Trossachs were enjoyed by all except the few golfers who did their own thing. ON the last day the whole party heartily cheered tour organiser Frank Shaw when he was presented with a memento to mark his successful arrangements.

2.    Results of the games played

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