CHAWTON Park Indoor Bowling Club’s last major event of the season was to host the Hampshire Indoor Men’s Finals. It was an apt venue because Chawton Park is the home club of John Kellow, the Hampshire president.

The seven finals were played over four well-supported days and Chawton’s Adam White featured in five of the matches.

The 0/60s two-wood triples proved a close contest between Victory and Palmerston. However, Adrian Ash’s Victory triple always had the edge over Bill Ross’s Palmerston and ran out winners by four shots.

This was the only final with no Chawton representative.

Victory were also in the triples final, with Trevor Bailey, Paul Lawrence and skip Adrian Snook up against Chawton’s Dick Holden, Dave Turner and skip Adam White. After some close exchanges through the early ends, a six-shot pick-up allowed Chawton to see out the match fairly comfortably, winning by four shots.

In the under-25 singles, Danny Brown of Chawton, after an impressive semi-final win at Rushmoor, met Loddon Vale’s Ashley Nethercliffe, one of Hampshire’s bright lights. Brown fought hard, but was always under pressure as Nethercliffe built up winning 21-9 margin.

The men’s final brought together Peter Cummins (Banister Park), playing his first county final, and defending champion Adam White. Once again, the early play was close, with both players peppering the jack, but the Chawton bowler had the answer to most situations, eventually winning 21-9.

The only final on the second day was an all-Chawton affair in the mixed pairs, with Margaret Holden and Adam White pitted against Sue Murray and David Sims. Holden and White started strongly and built an unassailable lead before winning 24-7.

Day three featured a new Chawton men’s pairs combination, Barry Smith and Adam White, against Charlie Bailey and Barry Starks from Victory. The latter pair were just back as part of a winning National Championship O60s four, but on this occasion it was the Chawton pair who dominated for long spells, with Smith in particularly good form as they built up a 10-shot lead.

The Victory pair then closed the gap to five and then to just two, but White was not to be denied a record fourth title, with the chance of a fifth in the men’s fours.

The fours was a titanic, if scrappy battle between Chawton and Victory, with the result in the balance until the last wood. With lady luck perhaps deserting Chawton, John Biggs’ Victory rink prevailed by one shot.

The previous weekend, during the Hampshire Ladies Finals, David Sims’ rink of Dave Turner, Lesley Johnson and Linda Habberfield contested the county mixed fours final at Victory IBC against the Morgans and Rice combination from Loddon Vale. After the lead had changed several times, Loddon came out on top by 22 shots to 17.

It has been a memorable county season for Chawton Park IBC, and especially that man ‘Whitey’.