A Surprise Win

I’m not crowing. It was probably a fluke of nature; but, if my recounting of my bowls experience is going to be complete, I must note it. Playing mens’ pairs with the buddy who got me into bowls, we won an open provincial tournament!
 In the province of Ontario in Canada, the draw puts winners against winners so it is not possible to just get three easy opponents. So that doesn’t explain it. It was just a combination of simultaneous good play by both of us and a string of luck. However, the outcome was impressive. Since each match was just 12 ends, the maximum score was 18 with anything more just plus points yet our scores in the three successive matches were 18+4, 18+1 and 18+3!

As I have noted elsewhere, I have only played in a few open tournaments this year, because the pressure to perform well gives me butterflies. In fact this is just the second open tournament I have played in 2017 and this probable fluke is not going to change my decision. The important thing is to have fun and playing at my regular club level and practicing regularly gives me more peace of mind. I know that all the books say to compete against the best if you want to improve but apparently, this regime is good for me.