Sun City Center, Florida hosted the 2018 US National Championships last week and, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, Newport Harbor's representation kind of owned most everything.

Anne Nunes followed up her 2017 Women's Singles championship with an absolutely dominant partnership with Kottia Spangler. The two went undefeated and took home the Gold. Anne also was terrific in going live on Facebook to broadcast the Men's Pairs playoff finals!

Charlie Herbert also took on a competitive field and finished undefeated in the Men's Singles. Charlie has now won the US Men's Singles Championship for two years in a row. The last to accomplish that for the men was Anne Nunes' father, Bob back in 2001 & 2002. 

Mert Isaacman and Dave Stennes finished second in the Men's Pairs after a terrific 3-way tie resulted in a two round playoff which Anne broadcast on Facebook.

For those keeping score - there are 4 events and Newport bowlers finished in the top 2 on 3 of them. Certainly a testament to the talent we've cultivated at this club over the years and continue to generate as we look to the success Newport has had in recent years as well.

Congratulations to Anne, Charlie, Mert and Dave!

Left to Right: Adriana Sandoval, Joanne Hedgespeth, Lee Ang, Kottia Spangler, Charlie Herbert, Anne Nunes, Flor Wright, Dave Stennes, James Chang, Mert Isaacman, Alan Ngo, and Robert Busciglio (doing his best, "Am I in the right place?" expression)

In keeping with the theme of the National Championships, I had to take the opportunity to try out something I've been considering for a little while...A caption contest. When I saw this photo, I just couldn't resist.

Post your caption ideas in the comments below... (let's see how many people actually read this blog)

To begin, I need to apologize for not posting recent social-events at the club to the blog in a timely fashion. It's certainly no one's fault but my own on this and I promise to do better in the future.

So far this year, Barbara and her Social Committee team have put on a number of events which have blended Bowls with other activities and the support and feedback have been terrific. The next time you see Barbara, please take a moment to say, "Thank you," for all she and her team have been doing to help put on these fun events.

The Social Committee also came up with the idea of holding our holiday gathering at the 5 Crowns in Corona del Mar this coming Sunday, December 2nd. (Sign up at the club if you haven't already!)

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Blind Wine-Tasting event! I wasn't even there but I swear I'm seeing double on a few bottles there. . .


Lastly, the Committee hosted a Turkey Trot event this past Sunday (photos hopefully on their way so I can add them here).

Most of these events are bringing 30 or more people to the events which goes a long way towards helping members get to know one another, introducing new members to the club, and just building our community.

So, Barbara and team, thank you all for everything you've done (and continue to do!) this year!

Sun City, AZ played host to the 2018 US Open of Bowls and the turnout was massive with quite a few Newport bowlers participating.

The best place to see the results is the US Open main page which can be found HERE.

What you'll see in looking at the Flight results for the different events is that there were a LOT of competitors and teams vying for the trophies.

The US Open is a week long series of events for both Men and Women (Singles, Pairs, Fours) and anyone can register to participate.

Some of the standout bowlers were definitely Anne Nunes, Candy DeFazio and Scott Roberts who placed 1st in their respective 4's categories for Women and Men. Anne also finished 3rd overall in the Women's singles and Women's Pairs.

Additionally, Bill Brault won the 2nd Flight in the Men's Singles and the team Charlie Herbert played on came in 3rd overall in the Men's 4's. Jan Hargraves and Linda Roberts also finished 4th overall in the Women's 4's.

Congratulations to all the Newport Bowlers who made the trip and represented the club so well!

Brian Stewart, Mert Isaacman, Maryna Hyland, Mary Spease, Sheila Conti, Stephanie Johnson, Shelley Cohen, Ivan Hyland, Mike Ruggles, Lou Cohen, Gary Barnes, Ed Quo, Phil Luth, Brian Mulvaney, Ron Gill, Don Stewart, Tad Dutch, Bill Buchanan, Stephen Monfre, Fred Robles, George Petyo, Phil Dunn, Jimmer Wysopal, and David Breedon.

​HUGE Thanks to Stephen Monfre for sending the actions shots in the gallery below. 

Ladies and Gentlemen of Newport Harbor Lawn Bowling Club - may I present your Bowler of the Year, Chris Gaal!

This year's competition was extremely close. You can view the results HERE.

One point separated 1st and 2nd place this year and it came down to the final event to decide it.
Shout out to Ron Gill and Mike Ruggles who tied for 2nd place. 

Huge thanks to Chuck Muser and Mike Ruggles for organizing this year's club tournament schedule and events. This was Chuck's last year managing the club events and we're just so grateful for all the support and organization he's brought to the club in this capacity through the years.

Mike Ruggles did a terrific job of stepping in this year to first help and then manage the 2nd half of the year. Thank you Mike!

Thanks also to all the players who competed. These events are a lot of fun throughout the year and whether you're a new bowler or a seasoned one, it's a great chance to compete among friends. Another successful year is in the books and we'll look ahead to 2019's season.

The 2018 Newport Harbor Lawn Bowling Club Tournament schedule wrapped up on Sunday, October 28th with the Cutthroat Challenge. Going into the day, the standings for 2018 Bowler of the Year was a tight race between four bowlers: Chris Gaal, Ron Gill (last year's champion), Mike Ruggles, and Jim White. We'll post the official Bowler of the Year results soon...

For those unfamiliar, Cutthroat is a format where three bowlers match up with each playing for themselves. There are some different variables to scoring depending on the number of bowls used but it generally follows a ranked scoring system where the shot bowl is worth the most points and the next two or three bowls closest worth one less as you work your way out. For the purposes of this year's event, all bowlers used 3 bowls with the shot bowl worth 3, the next closest 2, and the third out worth 1.

In the example above, the shot bowl (Orange) would be worth three, the black bowl 2, and the green bowl 1.

Now that I've explained the format a bit I want to take some space here to thank Mike Ruggles for his management of this event. He's been terrific stepping in for Chuck Muser the second half of 2018 but deserves special recognition for the Cutthroat. 

To begin, he did a terrific job of filling out a full field of 24 bowlers. I know he did individual outreach to a number of people to achieve this and that extra effort paid off in a very competitive field which turned out to be very balanced overall. Next, he employed some kind of NASA Moon Landing math to randomize and assign numbers to the field which helped ensure fair draws all around.

Now for the rules he employed which made it possible to fit 6 matches in (four before lunch!):
3-bowl Cutthroat, 8-end games, 2-Jacks per rink with the shot-bowl winner placing the jack and the mat (no rolling the jack). The last detail shaved at least 10 minutes off each match length (if not more).

Lastly, in preparation for the day, Mike printed off the rink assignments and posted them on the benches beside the green so there was no confusion over which rink each bowler had to report to. 

Add to all that a perfect-weather day (which given the effort and success Mike put in on everything else, I'm going to go ahead and give him credit for that too) and the whole event was a rousing success. Thank you, Mike, for all your hard work!!

Now to the results...

1st Place: Robert Alessi
Robert was dominant for pretty much the whole day and took the final matchup by a healthy margin. Bruce Williams and Herb Glazeroff finished 2nd and 3rd respectively and it came down to the last end to decide between them.
2nd Place: Bruce Williams
3rd Place: Herb Glazeroff (welcome back after your time off from hip surgery!)

The images below were the 3 semi-final matches. While I didn't make the final match, my Red Sox won the World Series - so not a bad day at all.