The first round of the CRDBA 2017 Pennant season commences on Saturday, March 4. The Yamba Grade 3 side will attempt to defend its title commencing with its game against South Grafton Ex-Services away; Grade 4 is at home against Maclean; Grade 5 travel to GDSC; Grade 6 host South Grafton Ex-Services; and Grade 7 play at home against Iluka. Good luck to all involved. The semi-finals and final of the Yamba Major Pairs Championship will be contested on Sunday, March 5 at 9am and 1pm respectively. The semi-finals have Dave Atkinson and Alan Turnbull against Trevor Bardsley and Bob Ballantyne while Greg Johnson and Martyn Wood will pit their collective skills against Bill McDonald and Alan Abbott in what promises to be a great day of lawn bowls. The next series of CRDBA Championships will be the State Open, Senior and President’s Reserve Pairs Championships scheduled for next weekend (February 25-26) and Sunday, March 5. The draw for each category has been finalised and is displayed on the notice board with Yamba scheduled to host the State Open Championship. Members are encouraged to check the board for details. The Yamba Bowling and Recreation Club will host the 2017 CRDBA Veteran’s Day on Wednesday, March 8 and the Zone One Compass Shield, Schipp Shield and Schipp Cup on Sunday, March 19. Nominations for these events have closed and please check the notice board for details. The Yamba Community Bowls Battle is approaching its final two weeks of this season. This week’s matches will have a huge bearing on the finals to be played the following week. This week ‘Fork U 2’ from Yamba Kitchen to Table tussle with the Ron Moore led ‘One Fine Cup’, the ‘Scallywags’ will have a tough contest against One Stop Tyre and Automotive – Yamba, and Kaye Bruchert’s ‘All Overs’ will be up against ‘The Pros’ from the Bowlo. Social bowls continues with pairs on Wednesday and triples on Friday. All games commence at 1pm and names need to be on the respective nomination sheets by 11.30am on the day of play. All nominations are guaranteed a game and visitors are most welcomed. Results from last week are: Wednesday, February 22 Winners: Trevor Bardsley and Bob Ballantyne; Runners-up: Keith Smith and Cliff Hinton; Encouragement: Ron Clay and Chris Muldoon. Friday, February 24 Winners: Vern Gheller and Glenn Franklin (pairs game); Runners-up: Jake McHutchison, John Luchetti and Tony Jackson; Encouragement: Gordon Anyon-Smith/Ron Jurd, Jim Stone and Don Grant Don Freeman