2026 Tournament Report

Monday 20th July to Saturday 25th July 2026

The 72nd Annual Southampton Open Bowls Tournament, generously supported again this
year by the Southampton & District Bowling Association, took place at Atherley Bowling
Club and three other host venues, Banister Park, Pirrie Park and Woolston & District
Bowling Clubs.
This year we had two bowlers each qualifying for two Finals, Tina Chambers (Milton Park)
and Gary Starks (Southsea Waverley) which meant all six Finals could be played during the
afternoon.
As had been the case throughout the week, Saturday was blessed with glorious hot sunny
weather and a very good crowd of spectators at Atherley for the 2026 Finals, beginning at
12.00 with the Ladies and Men’s Pairs Finals.
The Ladies Pairs Final between Lorraine Longfellow and Sue Cockle (Atherley & Sun
Bowls) and Tina Chambers and Alex Tymon (Milton Park) was an absolute cracker with an
outstanding tension packed final end. After a steady start by both pairs, it was 3-2 to Tina
and Alex at 3 ends, who then picked up a 7 on end 4 to lead 15-9 after 10 ends. Lorraine and
Sue dug in and steadily caught up and then picked up a 2 on the 17 th end to lead 17-19 with
just the final end to play. A high-quality last end with a tightly packed head followed with
both pairs holding shots at various stages. Sue unfortunately opened a path to the jack
with her last wood and Alex drew close with her final wood to set up a nail biting wait while
the Umpire, David Lewis, very carefully measured the 5 woods around the jack before
finally declaring 3 shots to the Chambers/Tymon pair to secure them a 20-19 victory.
It truly was a game which did not deserve a losing pair and the crowd gave both teams a
well-deserved rousing round of applause!
The Men’s Pairs Final by contrast turned out to be a rather one-sided affair, with the very
experienced pair of Russ Kemp and Gary Starks (Fleming Park & Southsea Waverley)
dominating the first 10 ends to establish what proved to be an insurmountable lead of 21-5
against Dave Murray and Leigh Allen (Atherley) who conceded after 14 ends with a final
score of 24-7.
The Open Triples and Open Consolation Pairs Finals which had commenced at 1pm
mirrored the Ladies and Men’s Pairs finals, with the multiple title holding rink of Greg
Davis, Jamie Lawson and Luke Bell (Sun Bowls, Atherley & Sports Centre) dominating their

opponents, Mikey Comley, Brian Barber and Steve Rice (Banister Park) in the Open Triples
Final, with the Banister triple conceding after 13 ends with the scores 6-22.
It was a different story in the Open Consolation Pairs with a tight low scoring tussle
between Scott Wolfson and Martin Thorpe (Atherley) and Harry Barbet and Matt
Edmondson (Sun Bowls & St Saviours) Harry and Matt from Jersey were 2 shots up playing
the final end, but dropped a 3 to the Atherley pair with skip Martin drawing the winning shot
with his final wood.
The Blue Riband Ladies and Men’s Singles Finals at 3.30pm were both expected to be very
close given the quality of the four bowlers involved, but as is often the case Lynne
Cummins (St Brelade) was never behind to Tina Chambers (Milton Park) and secured the
title with a 12-21 victory.
It looked likely to be a similar story in the Men’s Singles Final with Chris Kane (Poole)
dominating the first 7 ends to lead 10-3, but Gary Starks (Southsea Waverley) staged a
comeback winning the next 5 ends to level the scores at 10-10 at 12 ends. Chris then
reciprocated by winning the final 5 ends to race to a 21-10 victory. As was the case in all
of the afternoon’s Finals, Gary sportingly gave Chris a warm handshake and embrace
graciously acknowledging his deserved win.
The Prize Presentation Ceremony followed at 5.30pm with 2026 Association and
Tournament President Adie Booth and 2026 S&DWBA President Lesley Mitchell presenting
the Trophies and Awards to all our finalists.
Due to my succumbing to a bug which had circulated Atherley all week on Friday night, my
Assistant Secretary, Steve Saunders hosted the ceremony and 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 Woolston & District
Bowling Clubs. Likewise, Steve also thanked all our Advertisers, our Umpires and their co-
ordinator Tony Prince.
The Prize Presentations, as ever, began with the Ladies and Men’s Presidents Prizes, this
year won by Sharon Varndell (New Milton BC) and Neil Stow (Moordown BC) who scored 16
and 17 shots respectively against the eventual Ladies and Men’s Singles winners. The
Trophies and Awards were then presented to all this year’s Winners and Runners Up.
Our 2026 Men’s Singles Champion Chris Kane then made a short speech on behalf of all
the Competitors. Chris thanked the Tournament Committee and everyone involved in
running the event at the Atherley Bowling Club and the three host Clubs, together with the
Umpires, volunteer markers and his fellow competitors for supporting the Tournament.
Tournament President Adie Booth then made one special final presentation on behalf of the
Tournament Committee to S&DWBA President Lesley Mitchell of a lovely Floral Basket.
Assistant Secretary Steve Saunders, flanked by President Adie and Committee Life Member
Ken Mason then said a lot of very kind words about my contribution to the Tournament
over my 25 years as a Committee Member and organising the event for the last 18 years,
assisting former Secretary Brian Hopper until 2024 when I became Secretary myself.
Steve then presented me with a splendid engraved Tankard, followed by President Adie
who presented me with a £50 Gift Card on behalf of both the Men’s and Ladies
Associations.

Finally, my very good friend, Ken Mason who has been our right-hand man in the
Tournament Office throughout Brian and my tenure as organisers presented me with a
lovely engraved clear Place Mat.
I managed a very short speech given my sore throat thanking the S&DBA, S&DWBA,
Tournament Committee and everyone at Atherley and the Host Clubs over the years for
their hard work and support. I also wished the incoming Secretary, Martin Thorpe the best
of luck for 2027 and beyond. My last thank you was as ever to all the competitors whose
friendship and support I have always very much appreciated and I urged them all to keep
supporting the event as it is unique in the Southampton summer bowling calendar and we
must keep it going for the following generations of bowlers to enjoy it.
President Adie Booth 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 I was delighted to sign off with a fantastic week of bowling fun played out in
the tournaments usual sporting and friendly atmosphere and blessed with glorious
sunshine all week.
Kind regards
Kerry Clements – Honorary Tournament Secretary