Southampton Open Bowls Tournament

2024 President: Mr Dave Hughdie – Woolston & District  B.C.

 

2025 Tournament Report

 

The 71st Annual Southampton Open Bowls Tournament, generously supported this year by the Southampton & District Bowling Association took place at Atherley Bowling Club and three other host Club venues, Banister Park, Pirrie Park and Southampton Old Green.

This year we had bowlers from both the Ladies and Men’s Competitions reaching all three Finals. Greg Davis (Sun Bowls) and Luke Bell (Sports Centre) for the 2nd year running, and Sue Cockle (Sun Bowls) playing with Ethel Southern (St Brelade) and Nikki Northcott (St Saviours) in the Pairs and Triples, a wonderful achievement as this was their first time coming over from Jersey to play in our Tournament.  

Our Saturday finals day was blessed with lovely hot sunny weather and a good crowd of spectators for the climax to the week, beginning at 10am with the Ladies and Men’s Pairs Finals.

In the Ladies Pairs final Ethel Southern and Sue Cockle (Sun Bowls & St Brelade) played Tina Chambers and Alex Tymon (Milton Park) The scores were level after 5 ends, but from then on, the Milton Park ladies outscored their Jersey opponents to secure a 9 – 25 victory.

In the Men’s Pairs final Greg Davis and Luke Bell (Sun Bowls & Sports Centre). faced their Triples teammate Jamie Lawson (Atherley) partnering Brian Bisson (St Saviours) It was an exciting high-quality battle and they could not be separated after 18 ends at 16 – 16. In the extra end lead Brian Bisson drew a fine wood inches short right in front of the jack, which Greg and Luke were unable to remove, to secure the win 17 - 16.

The Ladies & Men’s Triples finals followed at 1.30pm, with Nikki Northcott joining Ethel Southern and Sue Cockle to play Diana Lawson and Pauline Mathews (Atherley) and Ann Bisson (St Saviours) in the Ladies final. The Lawson, Bisson, Mathews trio started well and were 0 – 5 up after 2 ends, but then the Jersey ladies rallied to lead 11 – 6 at 9 ends and maintained their advantage to win 19 – 14.

Many had expected a tight tussle in the Men’s Triples final between John Mohindra and Phil Hunt (Sports Centre) and Paul May (Banister Park) against the defending Champions, Jamie Lawson (Atherley) Greg Davis (Sun Bowls) and Luke Bell (Sports Centre) but the Lawson, Davis, Bell trio unexpectedly dominated throughout and the Mohindra, Hunt, May triple conceded at 12 ends with the score at 5 – 25.

 

 

The Men’s Singles Final followed at 3.40pm with a rematch of last year’s final between Greg Davis (Sun Bowls) and Luke Bell (Sports Centre) As per last year it was a highly enjoyable exhibition of high-quality singles play between the two very good friends, with Luke coming out on top on this occasion picking up a 4 on the last end to win 17 – 22 and secure his first Men’s Singles title.

The Ladies Singles Final between Sue Cockle (Sun Bowls) and Sonia Watts (SO19 Ladies) followed at 4.25pm with Sue Cockle mustering all her remaining energy, after her earlier Pairs & Triples finals, to gradually stretch away from Sonia Watts and win the Ladies Singles crown with a final score of 21 – 8. 

The Prize Presentation Ceremony followed shortly after the Ladies Singles final with 2025 Association and Tournament President John Gunson and 2025 Atherley President Mario Spring joining me to present the trophies, awards and cheques to all our finalists.

I began by thanking all our associates without whose support we could not stage the event. All the Officers, Bar and Catering staff, Green Keepers and volunteer staff and markers at our Head-Quarters Atherley and at our three host Clubs, Banister Park, Pirrie Park and Southampton Old Green Bowling Clubs. Likewise, I also thanked all our Advertisers, our Umpires and their co-ordinator Tony Prince.

The Prize Presentations began with the Ladies and Men’s Presidents Prizes this year won by Sharon Varndell (Ringwood) and Steve Spreadbury (Fleming Park) who scored 20 and 16 shots respectively against the eventual Ladies and Men’s Singles winners. The Trophies, Awards and Cheques were then presented to all this year’s Winners, Runners Up and Men’s Semi-Finalists.

Our 2025 Ladies Singles Champion Sue Cockle then made a short speech on behalf of all the Competitors. Sue thanked myself, Steve Saunders my Assistant Secretary and the Tournament Committee and everyone at the Atherley Bowling Club. Sue then expressed her gratitude for how welcome she, Ethel and Nikki had been made at all the Clubs they had played at during the week and how much they had enjoyed their experience at their first Southampton Open.

Tournament President John Gunson then made one special final presentation on behalf of the Tournament Committee to Janet Whitehead who stepped down last year as our Green Stewardess at Banister Park. John presented Janet with a splendid floral basket as a small token of our gratitude as I thanked Janet for her invaluable contribution to the Tournament over many years.

I then invited Tournament President John Gunson to address the competitors and spectators. John began by stating how well the week had gone and commented on the high standard of bowls played, especially at todays finals. He then echoed my previous thanks to all our associates before making two significant announcements:

First that the Tournament Committee had brought our 2026 Tournament dates forward to Monday 20th July to Saturday 25th July 2026, and to ignore the previous dates of Monday 27th July to Saturday 1st August 2026 published on the back cover of this year’s Tournament Programme. He added that we had done so to avoid clashing with the 2026 Bournemouth Open dates. 

 

 

Secondly, he announced that I would be stepping down as Tournament Secretary at the end of the 2026 Tournament and that we are seeking someone to take over as Secretary from 2027. He added that ideally, we would like to have the new Secretary in place before the 2026 Tournament so they can shadow myself during the 2026 Tournament.

President John then formally handed back the green to Atherley President Mario Spring before thanking everyone for their support this year and wishing everyone safe journeys home.

In conclusion, despite the low entry numbers this year, due to the unfortunate clashes with the Bournemouth Open Tournament week and the Bowls Hampshire Last Eights Pairs Area Finals taking place on our Finals Saturday, the 2025 Southampton Open Bowls Tournament was a very successful, enjoyable event with smiling faces both on and off the green throughout the week.

We are optimistic, with the change of dates for our 2026 Tournament and hopefully a favourable response to our request to Bowls Hampshire to avoid scheduling any of their Last Eight Finals on our Finals Saturday next year, that we will welcome back many more competitors to enjoy the 72nd Southampton Open Bowls Tournament.

Kind regards

Kerry Clements – Honorary Tournament Secretary