Groep A eerste plek - vlnr A Snyman, S de Jager, S Steyn en MP Olivier (Bredasdorp) , Ivan Giles (President) en De Wet van Niekerk - Borg SPAR
It is December 2013 and the Franskraal Bowling Club has, for the 12th time, successfully hosted its biggest annual event on 6 and 7 December ~ The Whale Classic. A total of 26 teams from all over the Boland and WP area including a team each from Robertson, Swellendam, Bredasdorp, Wellington, Worcester, Paarl, Durbanville, Oakdale and Stilbaai, as well as 2 teams each from Kirkwood and Stellenbosch, 3 teams from Hermanus, 5 teams from Old Oak and finally, 5 teams from Franskraal, took part.
Each team’s skip was handed a program for the two day event which included some of the rules and the format of play. After enjoying a hearty breakfast, Franskraal’s President, Ivan Giles welcomed everyone warmly. He asked all present to stand for a moment of silence for the passing of former President, Nelson Mandela. Reverend Dirk van Dyk opened the tournament by reading a passage from the scriptures and lea-ding in prayer.
After lunch the final games of the followed and everyone retired to the clubhouse for a welcome cold drink and discussion of the days play.
After breakfast on Saturday the competition commenced at 08:30 sharp. Match Official, Una Conradie split the 26 teams into two groups according to their positions on the lead board after the first days play. The top 12 teams formed group A and the rest, group B.
After the final games of the day the prize giving got underway. President Ivan Giles thanked Superspar for sponsoring the largest event on the Franskraal Bowls Club’s calendar.
Franskraler Doekies Hayes
He made a special mention of all the hard work that goes into this very important tournament with special thanks to Marie & Gert Pretorius with help from all the ladies who had worked tirelessly, in the kitchen and at home, preparing the food, Tommie the Green Keeper assisted by Jaco, Johan and Chris, Una Conradie for her tireless adjudication of the score cards, Piet & Dalena Wessels together with the other assisting Barmen and Bar ladies, Archie Chambers and Mattie Neethling the Official Umpires for the duration of the competition. He went on to thank all the people working tirelessly behind the scenes and finally to Hettie Lass for the beautiful flowers. President Ivan then made a very special thank you to his right-hand-man who has tirelessly supported him, Secretary Marius de Wit, to a rowdy applause.
The final results for Group 2 were awarded as follows:
In 3rd place were Durbanville with Danie Tredoux and his team with 32 +10. In 2nd place were Stellenbosch with Willie Breytenbach and team with 32 +16. In 1st place were Robertson with Pauline Viljoen and her team with 42 +16.
The final results for Group 1 were then awarded as follows:
In 3rd place were Old Oak with Hennie Hablutzel and his team with 42 +20.
In 2nd place were Paarl with Francois van Deventer and his team with 44 +37.
In 1st place and overall winners of the tournament were Swellendam with Santjie Steyn and her team with a winning score of 45 +53. MP Olivier, the Third for the winning Swellendam team made a short speech and thanked Franskraal for a wonderful tournament and SuperSpar for their sponsorship on behalf of his whole team. Then the Boland President, Almarie du Toit, stood up and congratulated and thanked Franskraal for a wonderful 2 day tournament. De Wet van Niekerk, the owner of the sponsors SuperSpar said a few words and thanked everyone for their participation and look forward to continuing sponsoring this tournament in the years to come and wished everyone a Merry Christmas.
Congratulations to all the winners in both sections and a BIG thank you to everyone who participated and contributed and especially to the hard working and committed team that worked tirelessly, behind the scenes, and made it all possible. Let’s all hope that we have many, many more Whale Classics to come in the future at the Franskraal Bowls Club.
Chris Malec & Pieter Conradie
Groep B eerste plek - vlnr Pauline Viljoen , Billy Diedericks ,Wally Nimb en Magda Diedericks, Ivan Giles (President) en De Wet van Niekerk - Borg SPAR
