HAPPY 80th
Is this local bowls’ longestrunning club event?
ONE of the most enduring and decorated trophies in lawn bowls reaches a milestone this weekend.
The annual Munday Trophy will be contested for the 80th time on Sunday at the Geelong Bowls Club.
Event manager Brian Scorgie said the competition, which was originally held by the Corio Bowls Club in Latrobe Terrace, continued through World War II.
It also survived the merger of Corio with the Geelong Bowls Club.
“There’s been no gap — when the Corio Bowls Club closed down in the late 90s it merged with the Geelong Bowls Club and the Munday family wished to continue the competition at the Geelong club,” Scorgie said.
The knockout competition is open to all club members who haven’t won a club event and will be contested by men and women of all abilities.
“We’ve got players from our lowest level division team and they’ll be playing players from our top level team,” Scorgie said.
“There’s no handicap — everyone enters and participates in the event as a single player in their own right.”
Starting up in 1937, just before World War II, the event has been sponsored by Des Munday & Sons Engineering Supplies every year since its inception.
Scorgie said the sponsorship partnership was hot on the heels of the Geelong Football Club’s famous long-running deal with Ford, which dates back to 1925.
To put that into perspective, the Cats believe their deal with Ford is the longest-running continuous major sponsorship between an elite sporting club and a business in the world.
“We’re a few years short but it’s close,” he said.
“Of course this isn’t an elite sport like the Geelong Football Club, but we’re pretty proud of continuing this tradition after all these years.”
Previous Munday Trophy winners, such as current club president Adam Green, have gone on to become the club champion.
Medal of the Order of Australia recipient, and former Member of Parliament, Rod Mackenzie is also a previous victor.
Scorgie said the event had come a long way since the earlier days of lawn bowls.
“I was sitting around after a game of bowls and picked up a ruler with a big black line marking 15 inches,” he said.
“I said what on earth was this used for?
“It was used to measure the length of the ladies’ dresses. They would actually line them up at the start of each season and go along and measure them all.
“It’s not like that these days, but back then you wouldn’t dare to break the rules.”
The first round will be held on Sunday at 1pm at the Geelong Bowls Club, Sommers St, Belmont.