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Victorian Country Cup
History
1981 - WARRNAMBOOL - MARCH 14th & 15th
The inaugural Victorian Country Cup was first contested by eight country
Associations.
The original associations were Albury/Wodonga, Ballarat, Bendigo, Colac,
Geelong, Latrobe Valley, Shepparton and Warrnambool.
The first year was played over one round (7 games) - 4 games for Men and
Women on Saturday and the remaining 3 each on the Sunday. The eight
associations competed for a perpetual cup for the Overall winners.
The format was head to head for 1 point with 2 points awarded to the team
with the highest pinfall (Total of 7 points awarded per match).
After the Men and Women had all bowled 7 games, the Association with the
most points and winner of the first
Victorian Country Cup was Geelong with 62.5 points followed by Colac with 55.5
points and Third place went to the host Association - Warrnambool with 52.5
points.
Bendigo
Men bowled the first 1000 in Country Cup – 1001 in the last game of the
weekend.
1982 - SHEPPARTON - MARCH 6th, 7th & 8th
The
original format of one round was changed to two rounds.
The
event was moved to the Labour day long weekend where it has remained ever
since (except 2003).
The
one perpetual trophy for the Winning Association was expanded to three
perpetual trophies with the introduction of trophies for both the Victorious
Men’s Team and the Victorious Women’s Team.
Another
new innovation was the introduction of "All Star Teams" (for the Top
5 Men's and Top 5 Women's averages). The “All Star Teams” were also
entered into the State Championships as the "Country All Stars".
The
host Association, Shepparton, won all 3 Divisions
1983 - COLAC - MARCH 12th, 13th & 14th
This
year saw the inclusion of a new Association - Sale (changed to Central
Gippsland in 1996).
A
nine team draw meant a bye each round. It was decided that each Association
would automatically receive 7 points for the Bye (without bowling) meaning
that 16 games were bowled over 18 rounds.
Geelong
Won the Overall after finishing second in both Men & Women’s divisions.
Latrobe
Valley won the Men and Shepparton Women won for the second year in a row.
Dot
Deigan (Colac) topped the ladies averages with 188, including a score of 268
– which remained the high ladies game until 2006. The Colac ladies also
bowled the first 1000 game (1019) by any ladies team.
1984 - LATROBE VALLEY - MARCH 10th, 11th & 12th
Overall was won by Shepparton with the Shepparton ladies winning for the
third year in a row. Colac Men won for the first time (Average of 184.2 per
game)
Sportsmanship awards went to Judy Cloak (Latrobe Valley) and David
Whitham (Colac).
Men and Women commenced bowling each morning at 9.30am
A dinner dance on the Saturday night was held at the “Tower Gardens
restaurant”
1985 - GEELONG - MARCH 9th, 10th & 11th
The one and only time Country Cup was bowled in Geelong when it was still
in the middle of town.
Mildura bowled for the first time. This brought the total number of teams
to 10.
The draw was changed to 18 games - Men and Women bowling 7 games on the
Saturday, 7 on the Sunday and the remaining 4 each on the Monday. The draw
remained this way until 2000.
Geelong won the Overall and the Women’s division while Colac Men went
back to back wins.
David Whitham (Colac) was high average for the 4th time (1981 &
1983-1985 – he didn’t bowl in 1982).
This year also saw the introduction of the “Souvenir Programme”
1986 - BENDIGO - MARCH 8th, 9th & 10th
A close finish in the Overall which was won by Shepparton by just 1 point
from Geelong.
Geelong Men were victorious by 9pts and Shepparton Women won by 13pts.
Team colours in 1986 –
Albury
/ Wodonga – Burgundy & White
Ballarat
–
Sky Blue & Navy
Bendigo –
Royal Blue & Gold
Colac –
Navy Blue & Yellow
Latrobe
Valley – Navy Blue & Gold
Mildura –
Royal Blue & White
Sale –
Straw & Brown
Shepparton
– Brown & Fawn
Warrnambool – Bottlegreen & Gold
1987 - SALE - MARCH 7th, 8th & 9th
The host association narrowly won the overall trophy by 2 points over
Shepparton.
Geelong Men won for the second year in a row, while Shepparton Women made
it 5 wins in just 6 years.
Len Hogg (Geelong) made it 4 “All Stars” teams in a row - every year
that he bowled.
Sportsmanship awards went to Judy Cloak (Latrobe Valley) and Andrew Craig
(Albury/Wodonga).
1988 - BALLARAT - MARCH 12th, 13th & 14th
Geelong won both the Overall and Women’s divisions.
Host association, Ballarat, had their first win in the Men’s division.
They won by 1.5 points after going into the last game with a 0.5 point lead
over Geelong.
Sportsmanship awards went to Judy Cloak (Latrobe Valley) and Harry
Johannsen (Ballarat).
1989 - WODONGA - MARCH 11th, 12th & 13th
Geelong comfortably won both the Overall and Men’s divisions by more
than 10 points.
Warrnambool women were victorious - winning by just 1 point.
Sportsmanship awards went to Margaret Wilson (Bendigo) and Graeme Osborne
(Warrnambool).
Shepparton wore their now “famous” pink shirts for the first time
after changing from brown and biege
1990 - MILDURA - MARCH 10th, 11th & 12th
Mildura’s turn to host the 10th Victorian Country Cup.
It was a very low scoring year with just 3 bowlers (2 Men and 1 Lady)
averaging above 180.
Mildura won both the Overall and Men’s division for the first time with
Geelong women also victorious.
Winning Mildura Men’s team averaged just 174.7
Lane draw was changed so that host association will be team 1 and then
the rest will be alphabetical
Sportsmanship awards were replaced by a “King and Queen of the lanes”
award.
All Stars team no longer being entered into State Championships - a shirt
to be awarded instead.
1991 - WARRNAMBOOL - MARCH 9th, 10th & 11th
Scoring was in complete contrast to the previous years low scoring with 4
bowlers above 200 average and 3 scores of 280 or more bowled.
Shepparton won both the Overall and Women’s division, while Albury /
Wodonga Men had their first win.
“King and Queen of the lanes” award was replaced by the High
Women’s game and High Men’s game award.
1992 - SHEPPARTON - MARCH 7th, 8th & 9th
This was a year of firsts with Warrnambool winning the Overall for the
first time, and Bendigo Women also winning for the first time.
Albury / Wodonga Men won for the second year in a row, in the process
bowling a record 1121 game. They also dominated the Men’s All star team
providing three of the five bowlers.
Shepparton ladies broke the High series record with a 1021 game.
1993 - COLAC - MARCH 10th, 11th & 12th
Geelong Men won for the fourth time, while Shepparton Women won for the 7th
time in just 12 years.
For the first time all 5 members of the Men’s all stars were over 200
average.
Shepparton ladies again broke the High series record this time with a
1062 game.
1994 - LATROBE VALLEY - MARCH 12th, 13th & 14th
Latrobe Valley won the Overall trophy by just 2 points and Warrnambool
women won.
Colac Men won again in Latrobe valley after having also won there 10
years before. This time the margin was extremely tight – finishing a mere ½
point ahead of Geelong.
1995 - GEELONG - MARCH 11th, 12th & 13th
First time in the new Geelong Bowl was yet another high scoring year,
Andrew Craig (Albury/Wodonga) averaged 214 for the weekend.
Sunraysia celebrated their name change from Mildura by bowling an amazing
1201 series (still a record)
Warrnambool won both the overall and Men’s division, while Sale women
had their first win.
1996 - SALE - MARCH 9th, 10th & 11th
Due to a fire in Bendigo, Sale hosted the 1996 Country Cup.
Latrobe Valley won the Women’s division (Geelong 2nd)
Geelong won the Men’s division for the fifth time (Latrobe Valley 2nd).
The Overall division was a two horse race with Latrobe Valley winning by just 1.5 points from Geelong (3rd place was over 30 points behind 2nd)
1997 - BENDIGO - MARCH 8th, 9th & 10th
Bendigo hosted the event after the bowl had been re-furbished from the
previous year’s fire.
Colac won both the Overall and Men’s division narrowly winning the
Men’s division by just 1 point over Latrobe Valley.
Warrnambool Women won their division.
Sale bowled as Central Gippsland for the first time
1998 - BALLARAT - MARCH 7th, 8th & 9th
Geelong was victorious in the both the Men’s, for the 6th
time, and the Overall.
Bendigo won the Women’s division by just one point from Warrnambool.
Lyn Plowright (Bendigo) bowled all 18 games and averaged 196 – the
highest ladies average to date.
1999 - ALBURY - MARCH 6th, 7th & 8th
Latrobe Valley won the Men, while Shepparton won the Women’s division.
Andrew Craig (Albury/Wodonga) made the All Stars team for the 5th
year in a row.
2000 - SUNRAYSIA - MARCH 11th, 12th & 13th
We saw the introduction of the first new Association in 15 years - Oven's
and Murray (formerly part of Albury / Wodonga).
An 11 team draw meant the re-introduction of the Bye. 4 points were
automatically awarded to each Association for the Bye round (game not bowled).
Geelong streeted the field, winning the Overall by a record 28 points, in
the process winning both the Men’s and Women’s divisions.
Central Gippsland (originally Sale) bowled for the last time.
The 2000 Cup also saw the first perfect "300"
bowled by Jason Motta from Latrobe
Valley.
2001 - WARRNAMBOOL - MARCH 10th, 11th & 12th
Two new associations, Bairnsdale & Sale & District, competed for
the first time – making 12 Associations
The draw was changed to 8 games for Men and Women on the Saturday, 8 each
on the Sunday and the remaining 6 on the Monday (22 in total)
Shepparton easily won the Overall by 14 points.
Albury
/ Wodonga Men also had a commanding 9 point win.
Warrnambool had a narrow 1 point win in the Women.
Lyn Plowright (Bendigo) made the All Stars team for the 6th
year in a row.
2002 - SHEPPARTON - MARCH 9th, 10th & 11th
For the first time in Country
Cup, there was a tie for
first place.
This occurred in the Men's division between Shepparton and Geelong.
A one game playoff was won by Geelong (6 points to 1).
Shepparton easily won the other two divisions (both by 13 points).
2003 - COLAC - APRIL 18th, 19th, 20th & 21st
For the first time in the history of Country Cup the event was held over
the Easter long weekend.
This occurred due to the Colac centre only having 10 lanes and with 12
Men’s teams the extra day was needed to complete all games.
Only nine women’s teams competed, with Sunraysia, Sale & District
and Bairnsdale not fielding Women’s teams.
The Women's division had a bye, the game was bowled and 7 points
automatically awarded
Women bowled 18 games & Men bowled 22 games over 26 rounds.
Colac won both the Overall and Men’s division, while Shepparton Women
notched up win number 10.
Bairnsdale bowled Country Cup for the last time
2004 - LATROBE VALLEY - MARCH 6th, 7th & 8th
Back to 11 Associations competing. Both Men and Women played a bye round
and were awarded 7 points.
It was clean sweep for the hosts, with Latrobe Valley winning all 3
divisions.
Lisa Garioch (Sunraysia) fell just 7 pins short of being the first Woman
to average 200 – finishing with 199.65 average. (3393 pins, 20 games)
2005 - GEELONG - MARCH 12th, 13th & 14th
The 25th Country Cup
saw host Association, Geelong, sweep all divisions.
Their win in the Women's
division was hard fought. After losing the last two matches to Sale &
District and then Sunraysia, they finished in a tie for points with Sunraysia.
Geelong won the one game playoff
4 points to 3 - winning the pinfall by just 3 pins.
2005 was a very high scoring
year with 14 Men averaging over 200. Geelong Men bowled above 1000 series in
17 of the first 18 games to average 1046 for the tournament.
Anthony Flynn (Geelong) was high
average with 220 after being as high as 245 after 6 games.
In addition, two Women were
above 200 average for the first time.
Courtney Murdoch (Geelong)
averaged 208 and Lisa Garioch (Sunraysia) averaged 200.
Andrew Craig and Di Ryan, both
from Albury bowled in their 25 country cup.
2006 - BENDIGO - MARCH 11th, 12th & 13th
The
highest
scoring Country Cup so far with 37 bowlers over 200 average (32 Men and 5
Women) - including 15 above 210 average.
Warrnambool, lead by Jason Way
with an average of 234 won both the Men and Overall trophies.
Latrobe Valley won the Women's
division.
Natalie Shelley
(Albury / Wodonga) broke
the record for highest ever ladies game with a 289
Shepparton Men went within 1 pin
of beating Sunraysia’s all time high series with a 1200 game
Ray Martin (Sunraysia) 299, and
Tim Thompson (Shepparton) 296 went within one shot of perfect scores.
Merv Billing, Neil Thompson
& Ian Poysor (all from Colac) bowled in their 25 country cup.
The bye was not bowled and no
points were given.
Introduction of an award by OTB’s David McEwan of a new ball for male and female bowler with the most combined points from High average and points won. (Four points for each win plus their average)
Men’s award went to Jason Way
and the Women’s award went to Natalie Shelley
2007 - SALE - MARCH 10th, 11th & 12TH
Back to wooden lanes, after two
years on synthetics, and just one bowler managed a 200 average – Jason Way
(Warrnambool).
Very tight in the Men’s
division with 4 teams still a chance going into the last game. Albury /
Wodonga prevailed by just ½ a point from Latrobe Valley with Warrnambool a further
point behind in third.
Shepparton led all the way in
the Women’s to take out number 11. Shepparton also won the overall
OTB Award winners Jason Way and
Denece Jones
2008 - BALLARAT - MARCH 8th, 9th & 10th
A clean sweep for the team in pink - Shepparton.
The Women finished 13.5 points clear of Bendigo, giving Denece Jones her eighth trophy in the women's division. The Men's division went right down to the wire with Shepparton getting home by just 1.5 points from Sunraysia after trailing Sunraysia by 1.5 points with just one game to go.
The bye was bowled with Men needing 180 to win a point and the ladies having to bowl 170 for their point. These scores proved quite a challenge as the bye won 64 points against the men and 97 points against the women (only three women's teams actually scored more than 97 points).
Some familiar faces in the All stars teams, Lisa Garioch for the eighth time, Dean McKinnon for the seventh time, Kelly Jones for the sixth time and Jason Way for the fourth year in a row
OTB Awards
were expanded to a winner and two runners up in each division. It ended being
a family affair with Rob Garioch and daughter Alicia winning Men and Women's
award, 1st runners up Jason Way and Selina Threlfall and 2nd runners up Dean
McKinnon and Kelly Jones.
2009 - ALBURY - MARCH 7th, 8th & 9th
Back to 10 Associations with the closure of Sale bowl. This meant the draw reverted to 18 games with seven on Saturday and Sunday and 4 on Monday. This was basically the same as if had been from 1985 - 1999 except that it was decided to bowl all 4 straight on the Monday rather than 2 and 2.
Shepparton won both the Women's division and Overall Division for the third year in a row. The women won by nine (9) points from Sunraysia, while they dominated the Overall to win by 29.5 points. The Men's division went to Colac for the sixth time with a five (5) point win over Shepparton.
The women's division was a race in two for most of the weekend between Sunraysia and Shepparton. Sunraysia got out to a 3.5 point lead after game 12. They played head to head in game 16 with Shepparton winning 6 -1. This gave them a commanding 6.5 point lead with just two games to go which they extended to nine (9) points by the end.
Early on in the Men's, Geelong lead with Colac, Shepparton and Latrobe Valley not too far away. By the end of Day two it was down to Colac and Shepparton with both teams having a big Sunday (Colac 39 points in 7 games and Shepparton 41 points). Colac started Monday with a two (2) point lead which was extended to five (5) with one game to go. Both teams won 5-2 in the last game giving Colac a five (5) point win.
A tough weekend with no-one over the card and just ten Men and one Woman 190 average and above.
Josh Alvisse bowled just the second "300" in Country Cup history on Lanes 3 & 4 in the 16th game of the weekend.
A couple of new faces in the Men's All star team with both Bryan Woszczeiko (Latrobe Valley) and Paul Kerr (Shepparton) making the team for the first time after a number of top ten finishes in previous years. They were joined by Ian Poysor (Colac) and Kevin Wilkins (Shepparton), both for the second time, and another first timer Josh Alvisse (Geelong)
Some familiar names in the Women's All Stars with Lisa Garioch (Sunraysia) making the team for a record ninth time, Kelly Jones (Shepparton) for the seventh time, Nicky Buntman (Latrobe Valley) for the third time and a second time for both Selina Threlfall (Bendigo) and Michelle Hodge (Sunraysia).
MVP Winners were Tim Treloar (Warrnambool) and Kelly Jones (Shepparton). They each received a watch kindly donated by Shane Griffiths
MVP runners ups were Kevin Wilkins (Shepparton) and Merv Billing (Colac) and Selina Threlfall (Bendigo) and Michelle Hodge (Sunraysia).
Encouragement awards (Bowling balls and tote bags) were also donated by OTB's David McEwan to Nadine McDonald (Colac), Kirsty Menzies (Geelong) and Matt Hensgen (Sunraysia)
2010
- MILDURA - MARCH 6th, 7th & 8th
Women’s turn to bowl first with an 8am start.
Bendigo ladies lead after the first day with 38pts from Sunraysia 34pts and
Shepparton 30pts. By the end of the second day it had become a two horse race
between Sunraysia 69.5pts and Shepparton 64pts. They played each other in the
first game of the final day and a win to Sunraysia meant they had a clear gap
and went on to win the Women’s division for the first time.
The Men’s division was a bit closer with both
Geelong and Sunraysia getting off to good starts. Shepparton were slow to
begin but by the end of the second day they had a commanding lead of 8.5pts. A
loss to Sunraysia in the first game on Monday tightened things up and with one
game to go any of three teams could have won. Shepparton won the final game
7-0 and both Geelong (2pts behind) and Sunraysia (3.5pts behind) were both
beaten in the last game giving Shepparton their second win in the Men’s
Division in three years and their third in total. Shepparton 82.5pts, Geelong
76.5pts, Sunraysia 75.0pts.
With Sunraysia and Shepparton being top 3 in both
Men’s and Women’s division this meant they were really the only teams in
contention for the Overall trophy. With one game to go Sunraysia had a seven
point lead but when Shepparton won all seven it meant that Sunraysia needed to
get at least half a point in the final game to secure the overall. Going into
the final frame Sunraysia were only leading in one of the five head to head
matches. They eventually secured three points and won the Overall for the
second time.
High game in the Men’s was a flawless “300”
by Kevin Wilkins (Shepparton) in Game 14 on lanes 5 & 6, the third perfect
game in Country Cup history. It was the second year in a row a 300 had been
bowled against Wodonga.
All stars in the Women’s went to Lisa Garioch (Sunraysia)
for a record 10th time, Kelly Jones (Shepparton) 8th time, Alicia Garioch (Sunraysia)
4th time, Michelle Hodge (Sunraysia) 3rd time and Amanda De Lange (Geelong)
2nd time.
Similar story in the Men’s with Dean McKinnon (Sunraysia)
making all stars for a record 8th time and multiple all stars for Kevin
Wilkins (Shepparton) 3rd time and Ray Martin (Sunraysia) 2nd time. Lyndon
Quinlivan (Albury / Wodonga) and Mark Woodyatt (Ballarat) also made the all
stars for the first time with Lyndon being Top average for the weekend.
MVP
Winners were Kevin Wilkins (Shepparton) and Kelly Jones (Shepparton).
MVP
runners ups were Ray Martin and Michelle Hodge plus Dean McKinnon and Alicia
Garioch (all from Sunraysia)
2011
- WODONDA - MARCH 12th, 13th & 14th
Hot dry conditions greeted the bowlers in Wodonga.
The overall went down to the final game between Sunraysia and
At the half-way mark in the ladies division
Sunraysia lead by half a point from
In the Men’s division Warrnambool lead at the end
of day 1 from
Wodonga women had their best ever finish with a
fourth place on their home lanes. Tracey Halley became the first bowler from
Wodonga to make an All stars team. High game for the weekend was 277 to
Warrnambool’s David Altmann and for the Ladies Colac’s Marilynne Bagg top
scored with 268. The high series went to Colac Men with an 1149.
2011 also saw the first induction of 54 bowlers into
the Hall of fame and the elevation of 7 of these Men and 6 Women to Legend
status.
2012
- WARRNAMBOOL - MARCH 10th, 11th & 12th
Down to Warrnambool for the fourth time to compete
in the 32nd Country Cup
Latrobe Valley got off to a great start in the
Women’s division winning 22 pts in the first four games to lead by 4 pts
from Geelong and 4.5 pts from Shepparton. By the end of the first day they had
a 3.5pt lead over Geelong 39.0 – 35.5 and extended the gap back to third
(Shepparton) 31.5pts.
A slow start by Shepparton on the final day (1pt in
game 15) gave Geelong and Latrobe Valley a glimmer of hope but after taking 15
points in the last three games Shepparton women went on to win their 15th
title, with 90.5pts, Latrobe Valley second on 84.5pts and Geelong third on
80.5pts
Geelong got off to a good start in the Men’s
division winning 33.5pts on the first day to take a 6pt lead over
Albury/Wodonga and Geelong, with Colac and Latrobe Valley a further 0.5pt
behind.
Another 33.5pts on Day 2 meant Geelong ended Day 2,
4.5pts ahead of Warrnambool and 11pts ahead of Latrobe Valley and Colac.
Three wins in the first 3 matches on Monday meant
Geelong had an unassailable lead with one game to go (11.5pts clear) and
though they lost the last game they went on to win their 10th title
with 85pts, Warrnambool second on 77.5pts and Latrobe Valley third on 77pts
All stars in the Women’s went to Kelly Jones
(Shepparton) for the 9th time, Selina Threlfall (Bendigo) and
Nicole Bree (Latrobe Valley) for the 3rd time, Samara Murphy
(Shepparton) 2nd time and Wendy Thompson (Geelong) for the 1st
time.
Men’s All Stars
were Andrew Carmichael (Geelong) for the 3rd time and Mark Woodyatt (Ballarat)
for the 2nd time plus three first time all stars – Jackson Gamble
(Colac), Jason Motta (Latrobe Valley) and James Owen (Warrnambool)
MVP Winners were Paul Campbell
(Geelong) and Samara Murphy (Shepparton).
MVP runners ups were Jackson
Gamble (Colac) and Selina Threlfall (Bendigo) plus Mark Woodyatt (Ballarat)
and Kelly Jones (Shepparton)
Encouragement awards (Bowling
ball) were also donated to Jodie Tindall (Latrobe Valley) and Gerard Hinsley
(Wodonga).
Two bowlers have competed in all 32 Country Cups – Di Ryan and Andrew
Craig – both from Albury / Wodonga. Ian Poysor from Colac has bowled in 31
Cups and two other Colac bowlers have bowled in 30 Cups – Merv Billing and
Neil Thompson.
In 32 years
of Country Cup, the Host Association has won the Overall 12 times, the Men’s
division 6 times, and the Women’s division 6 times.
Between 1981
and 2012, more than 1100 different people have bowled in the event.
