History

Hi, and welcome to the official website of the Lancefield Bowling Club Inc.

In 1959 a group of people decided that Lancefield needed a bowling club. The first move to
consider forming a bowling club was made at a public meeting held in the Mechanics Hall on
23 March 1959 (34 men and 2 women attended this meeting). The meeting was convened by a
local policeman, Mr Ernshaw, and was chaired by the then Shire President, Mr George Hall.
They agreed that a bowling club should be formed and a Committee of 6 (L Conlon, E Ernshaw,
A Wallace, G Hall, K Richmond and J West) was elected to progress the project.
Unfortunately, there is a lack of documented records for any meetings held between 23 March
1959 and the next meeting on 5 June 1961 (held at the Lancefield Police Station). Mr Joe West
was elected as the first President and Mr Doug Rainey elected as Secretary/Treasurer. The
committee was increased to 8 members with power to further increase that number.
It was decided that, at the third meeting on 28 June, funds would be raised by seeking
debentures of £25 from each member in order to raise approximately £2000. By 26 July £700
had been raised.
Now it was time to lay the green. On 14 October 1961 the Shire Engineer, Mr R Linston, helped
with the levels and laying out of the green at Lancefield Park and Dr O’Loughlin helped with the
sowing and later, on 20 June 1962, inspected the green and advised on the cutting and rolling
and the laying down of water pipes. Pope sprinklers were purchased at a cost of 5 guineas
each.
The Constitution of the Lancefield Bowling Club was adopted and various Committees were
formed. Committee meetings would be held on the first Wednesday of every month (and this still
continues today). Membership fees were struck at 6 guineas for members and 3 guineas for
Associates.
The President of the LBC (J West) called a meeting of interested ladies at the Mechanics Hall on
7 September 1962 for the purpose of forming an Associates’ Club. The office bearers elected at
this meeting were Cassie Parks (President), Madge McKinley (Secretary), Mrs D Rainey (Vice
President) and Mrs N Hemphill (Jnr. Vice President/Treasurer). The first meeting of the
Associates was held on 21 November 1962. By the end of the first season the Associates’
membership increased to 23 and they presented a cheque for 100 guineas to the Members. This
tradition has carried on to the current day. The first Presentation Night was held at Mr and Mrs D
Parks’ home where billiards, cards, competitions and other forms of enjoyment were indulged in
along with the presentation of trophies.
During the first year of the green being opened, visitors from Kyneton and Moonee Ponds
attended to show the new bowlers (which was mostly everyone) how to play the game.
Members of Lancefield also visited Moonee Ponds, Strathmore and Clifton Park
Affiliation with the VLBA was accepted in November 1963 and in 1965 the club entered its first
Association Pennant team and won the premiership. Over the years since then it has been
successful with several Division 1 Pennants and also several more in a lower grade (being forced
to drop down as they were unable to field the required number to remain in Division 1).
The green was officially opened on 15 December 1962 by Ken Francis, the Shire President,
before an attendance of 150 people and a lease was signed with the Lancefield Parks
Committee. Doug Rainey was the winner of the first Club Singles. Doug, and his mother, Myrtle
had played bowls before and, of course, this was greatly appreciated by the other members.
On 3 April 1963 the Committee agreed that the Club affiliate with the Royal Victorian Bowls
Association and approved in July 1963.
It was then decided that a Clubhouse was needed for members to relax after their game of bowls
and on 6 March 1963, the Committee agreed that a quotation for the building of a Clubhouse be
obtained. At a meeting held on 23 April 1964 it was agreed that a Clubhouse be built at a cost of
£960. The clubhouse was officially opened on 24 October 1964 by Sir Kenneth and Lady Luke.
The first Pairs competition was held on 2 August 1963 and was won by G Wiburd and J McKay.
The first Club Champion of the Lancefield Bowling Club was Doug Rainey. By this time the Club
had 48 members and 23 Associates.
The first Tournament was held on 4 April 1964 and there was a lengthy debate as to whether a
booth should be provided. Voting was 5 for and 3 against the provision of a booth. Ken
Richmond was in charge of this booth and he continued with bar duties for many years.
Lancefield first played Pennant in the 1965/1966 season and a team, made up of S Pattinson,
R Notman, P Linehan and T Connors, won the CHBA Fours. The 1966/1967 season saw
Lancefield win its first “A” Grade flag. The club had 40 members.
In 1973 Kevin Brew was appointed to assist the Greens Committee with the mowing and rolling
of the green which he continued to do until he retired in 1998.
In 1976 the Club changed its constitution allowing 18-year-olds to join and the Club to be able to
conduct raffles.
In 1979/1980 a 5000 gallon tank was installed.
Lancefield became an incorporation in August 1985 with several changes to the Constitution
being made and approved by members. There have been no major changes to the actual
constitution apart from allowing for liquor license requirements and junior bowlers.
On 4 April 1987 the Club celebrated its 25th Anniversary.
Early in 1989 a quote was received to extend the existing Clubhouse with work to start in May
1989. The cost of the extension was $18,632. Extensive repairs to the green were required at a
cost of $16,620 and by 1995 renovation of the green was completed. Renovations were carried
out using volunteer work by the members and the use of Ian Mustey’s earthmoving equipment.
Debentures of approx. $6,500 were raised to pay for the works and by July 2003 these
debentures were repaid in full.
In 2000 Lancefield introduced coloured shirts and in July 2001 it was decided to make the
Lancefield Bowling Clubrooms a non-smoking venue.
In 2002 a decision was made not to renovate the green but to persevere with it as it was and,
through excellent green-keeping and hard work, it remained one of the best greens in the
Association.
In 2004 the Club decided to have a drive for new sponsorship and this resulted in the Club
gaining several new sponsors thanks to the tireless efforts of Kevin Kishere and his committee.
In approximately 2005 the Club installed facilities for the disabled including toilets and ramps.
The Club also started a Schools Program with the local schools which enabled the local children
to come down to try their hands at bowls. In 2010 we were lucky to acquire the services of Bowls
Australia’s Barry Lester to attend the Club to show that bowls is not just for ‘oldies’.
Approximately 70 children participated and many icy-poles were consumed on the day.
December 2010 then saw the Club renovate the green and plant the current Tiff Dwarf grass
and, again, with hard-working volunteers, the green has now taken shape.
In 2012 a decision was made to renovate the exterior of the Clubrooms at a cost of
approximately $38,000 and this has now been completed with the financial assistance of the
Macedon Ranges Shire Council ($15,000) and the Lancefield Community Bank ($2,000) and
also the generosity of Bruce Ferguson (builder and major sponsor) and Chris Jolly (painter and
club member).
Since those early days, the Lancefield Bowling Club has gone from strength to strength and has
had many Pennant victories, both in A and B grades but, like most bowling clubs, we have had
our ups and downs with struggling for numbers to field teams. Many of its members have also
been successful in going on to win individual and team events.
I’m about to wrap up my part in this but I would like to mention a couple of facts, one being that
the Associates, in their 50 years of existence, have had only 5 secretaries – Madge McKinley,
Cassie Parks, Doreen Linehan, Pat Ryan and Joy Godbolt. The second fact is that over the past
50 years we have had very few green-keepers. It is also noted that in 1962 the then President,
Joe West, mentioned that the upkeep of the green was going to be their greatest challenge and
that still stands today.
The Clubroom and green is also made available for corporate functions and barefoot bowls
which have been enjoyed by many companies visiting the local conference centres.
….so it shows that we weren’t just playing bowls and drinking hard over the past 50 years –
many manhours have gone into the club and its surroundings and thanks go to the members,
both past and present, who helped to make the Lancefield Bowling Club the happy and
successful one it is.

Located in the geographical centre of Victoria, the Lancefield Bowling Club is a family inclusive club with new members welcome.

Come and give bowls a try – you will be pleasantly surprised.