And to show you all what the real deal looks like. . .

The start of the 2018/2019 Winter League Season is right around the corner.
Last year, Newport Harbor won 1st place in both the Silver and Gold leagues. No pressure for this year, right?

I've posted a sign-up sheet on the board outside the clubhouse for anyone who is interested in playing this year. Only use the sign-up sheet if you are looking for a team to join. If you already have a team built, email me the names: andrew.m.dufresne@gmail.com

We will do our best to accommodate everyone who wants to play regularly by assigning them to a team. For those who have limited availability but still want to participate, we encourage you to sign up as an "Alternate." Alternates will be able to play on any team but will not be able to skip or play singles.

We are aiming to field 2-3 Silver teams and 4-5 Gold teams.

The cost is $30/team to pay for trophies. All players should expect to pay $1 in green fees to the hosting club each week.

Our current team assignments are:

Silver 1: Bill Buchanan, Julie Buchanan, Bill Blair, Jane Blair, Tory Zweigle
Silver 2+: (Open)

Gold 1: Ron Gill, Brian Stewart, Don Stewart, Patrick Senske, Bruce Williams, Jimmer Wysopal, Brian Mulvaney,
Gold 2: Ivan Hyland, Maryna Hyland, Norma Goodhart, Diana Wenzel, Jim White, Ted Farfaglia, Rita Greenberg
Gold 3: Andrew Dufresne, Tad Dutch, Steve Monfre, Keith McCabe, Doreen Mayo
Gold 4: Dave Breedon, Phil Luth, Jim Olsen, Chris Gaal, Debby Gaal, Mike Ruggles.

If you are interested in Winter League, you can sign up at the club on the form posted outside. Alternatively, you may email me: andrew.m.dufresne@gmail.com

Oaks North hosted a mixed triples tournament this past weekend. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the winning team which represented Newport Harbor in the form of Candy DeFazio. Instead, the shot above is of the 2nd place team (who also went undefeated on the day): Charlie Herbert, Georgie Deno, and Bill Buchanan.

Big thanks go out to the event organizers and hosts at Oaks North.

Other Newport Bowlers who participated:

Anne Nunes, Bill Brault, Fred Robles, Ron Cetta, Lou Cohen, Mike Ruggles, Shelley Cohen, Scott Roberts, Linda Roberts, Ed Quo, 

Earlier this summer, one of our talented bowlers (and easily one of my favorite people on the planet) - Debby Gaal has released her new novel and celebrated the occasion at her home. A project nearly ten years in the making, "The Dream Stitcher," is already generating quite a bit of buzz both locally and online. My wife ordered a copy from Amazon and read it cover-to-cover in just under 5 days and has raved about it since.

We all know Debby from the many tournaments, events, and social-bowls at our club. We know her as a fun, generous, and altogether too self-deprecating individual who is quick to cheer the accomplishments of others. I think it's important that we cheer for her a bit. When you see her next, take a moment to congratulate her and to learn a bit about the inspiration for the story she's crafted.

It's been a long labor of love for Debby and may it be only the next step in an even more fruitful literary career.

You can find the book on Amazon HERE. (Write a review after you read it!)

Santa Monica hosted the Beckley Quinell Rinks tournament on an absolutely gorgeous last day of September. As we've been documenting, Newport once again made a grand showing.

In first place were four Newport team members: Bill Brault, Ivan and Maryna Hyland and Candy DeFazio.
In second place were 3 more: Diana Wenzel, Doreen Mayo, and Ed Quo.

Other bowlers who participated: Mike Ruggles, Lou Cohen, Shelley Cohen, Andrew Dufresne, Steve Monfre, Charlie Herbert, Brian Stewart, Jimmer Wysopal, Ron Gill, Patrick Senske, Stephanie Johnson, Anne Nunes, Scott Roberts, Linda Roberts, Phil Dunn, Norma Goodhart, Don Stewart, Bruce Williams and Jim Olsen.

Special thanks to the sponsors for the event who provided a great lunch and dinner afterwards.

Long Beach hosted the Izzy Forbes Vet/Novice mixed triples tournament on Sunday. The weather was perfect and there were some great matches and some top finishes by Newport Bowlers.

Deciding the 1st and 2nd place finishers came down to point-differential with the winning team of Robert Alessi, Robert Busciglio and Suzie Houston just edging out Ed Quo, Doreen Mayo, and Bill Buchanan.

Finishing 3rd were two more Newport Bowlers with Diana Wenzel and Jane Blair.

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Other Newport Bowlers who participated:
Bruce Williams, Norma Goodhart, Stephen Monfre, Keno Shaw, Mike Ruggles, Julie Buchanan, Mary Spease, Jim Hempe, Pashi Vakiva, Bill Blair, Lou Cohen, Shelley Cohen, Carol Petyo, Phil Dunn, Candy DeFazio, and Michael Halberstadt.

One of the more fun formats that Bowls can take on is that of Australian Pairs. While each team officially has a Lead and a Skip, they alternate positions throughout the course of play. On the first end, the Leads roll two bowls and then the players swap - with the Skips bowling all four of theirs before swapping again and the Leads rolling their last two. This process alternates throughout the match, forcing both Skips and Leads to make tough shots.

This year, Ben Shaw and Bill Buchanan made more tough shots than anyone with Bill continuing to make a strong claim to being one of the club's best Leads. (His team would finish 2nd overall the next day in Long Beach at the Izzie Forbes)

Also undefeated but with just a couple fewer +Points were Mike Ruggles and Chris Gaal. Debby Gaal and Tad Dutch came in 3rd.

It was a beautiful weekend for bowling and huge thanks go out to Mike Ruggles for organizing and managing the event. 

An awful lot can be said about the tournament held at Newport on Sunday the 16th of September and yet it would be hard to do justice to the sheer volume of work that was put into making it as special as it was. From the countless hours of marketing and acquiring of sponsors on the part of Keno Shaw to the terrific hospitality put on by Cathy McDonald and Shelley Cohen the foundations were laid. Adding to those efforts was the extremely generous donation by Tory Zweigle of an inspiring trophy and commemorative bowl.

Twenty-Eight rinks teams competed on greens which had been diligently groomed by our greens caretakers, Bruce and Ramiro to roll beautifully (and fast!). 

The list of attendees was massive so please visit the Southwest Division page to see the list of competitors and finishers. For this entry, I really wanted to keep it simple and focus on the spirit of the day which was to have friendly competition and honor our country, its brave first-responders, and all those who worked so hard to make the day a special one.
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The Groves hosted another tournament of shenanigans - and by shenanigans I mean super-fun, mixed-up, format. Each end, the players rotate and play a different position. If last year was any indicator, it probably took each team a few ends to get the hang of it.

This year, a newport Trio took top prize - Anne Nunes, Candy DeFazio and Bill Brault.

Other Newport Bowlers who played:

Mike Ruggles, Jim Olsen, Rita Greenberg, Lou Cohen, Shelley Cohen, Keno Shaw, Bruce Williams, Norma Goodhart, Diana Wenzel, Steve Monfre, Bill Blair, and Jane Blair.