General News
14 December, 2025
Barling, Marchment win state mixed pairs event
The State Mixed Pairs round robin event was held recently at the Warracknabeal Bowling Club greens with four sections from the North Wimmera Area competing.
The State Mixed Pairs round robin event was held recently at the Warracknabeal Bowling Club greens with four sections from the North Wimmera Area competing.
Section One Round one saw Graeme Shalders and Isobel Davison Warracknabeal against Fred Zolj and Pam Rollinson Rupanyup in a game that eventuated in a draw at 14 all after 15 ends.
The match between Beulah’s Rob and Lea Strauss against Beulah’s Debby Barling and Golf’s Mick Marchment, had its moments with the latter two a little stronger in the end winning 20 shots to 10.
Round two had Shalders/Davison winning over the Strauss’s 29 to five, whilst Zolz/Rollinson won well over Barling/Marchment 21 shots to 13.
The all important round three finalized the section winners, as all teams were still in the hunt.
Rob and Lea Strauss found the form they can often produce for a fine win over Zolj and Rollinson 19 shots to 14. The final game a thriller with Barling and Marchment outlasting Davison and Shalders for an eight shot win 19 to 11. This gave Debby and Mick the only two game winners and the section over the other three contenders.
Section Two, with Golf’s Alison Fischer/Warren Perris against Warrack’s Peter and Edna Anderson, in round one, winning 23 shots to 13. Michelle Powell and Calvin Pendlebury had the bye. Round two saw the Andersons defeat Powell and Pendlebury 18 shots to seven, and a bye to Fischer/Perris.
Round three was a win to Powell/Pendlebury 17 to 16, over Fischer/Perris, whilst Anderson’s the bye. All three teams finished on six points with a win, loss and a bye, but the score difference and the section went to the Golfers in Fischer/Perris by eight shots more than the Anderson’s.
Section Three Round One, Share Powell/Nors Belot Warrack defeated Beulah’s Linda Bevan/Eric Bell 24 to 7. Golf Judy and Wayne Gove saluted over Minyip’s Chris O’Connell/Peter Niewand 18 shots to 12.
Round Two. Bevan/Bell 12 shots to O’Connell/Niewand eight shots. Powell/Belot scored well over the Gove’s 20 shots to 11. The final round three had Bevan/Bell win 28 to nine over Gove’s and Powell/Belot with a big score over the. Minyip pair, O’Connell/Niewand 28 shots to nine shots. The winners of the section with three wins went to Powell and Belot of Warracknabeal on shots up.
Section Four also attracted a bye with Warrack Golf’s Gaylene and Graham Clayton sitting it out first in this round. Rupanyup’s Ben Zolj/Jan Arnold were good winners over Robyn McLachlan/Brian Taylor of Warracknabeal, 20 shots to 10, whilst Round Two was a bye for Rupanyup.
Gaylene/Graham Clayton played their first state game together as a pair and showed signs of better things to come in the future, losing nine shots to 16 against Warracknabeal’s pair.
Round Three. McLachlan and Taylor sat it out, watching the eventual section winners in Ben Zolj/Jan Arnold stitch up the Claytons at 24 shots to 11, thus winning the section.
The final four played off the following Sunday November 2nd at the Town Greens, with Barling/ Marchment playing Fischer/Perris for a tilt in the grand final, and Shane Powell/Noreen Belot against Ben Zolj and Jan Arnold.
Skippers Marchment and Perris were quietly confident they had the right combination to do well as a close game was witnessed by a large crowd, and after 15 ends the game was all even at 14.
The extra end was anybody’s to win, with Barling showing her true grit to draw a very close bowl in line but just short of kitty. The bowl was not beaten by the opposing skipper, and Barling and Marchment were in the final.
The other final had Shane Powell/ Noreen Belot up against Ben Zolj/Jan Arnold, and did they need a boost after the first few ends. Dropping a seven on end one was the start of catch up bowls for Powell and Belot with the Rup pair dominating the game to win 22 shots to three after 15 ends, and head into the final in a confident position.
A large crowd assembled to watch the Grand Final of the State Mixed pairs in late afternoon, the Rupanyup representatives in good form to take the title.
Starting well, Barling and Marchment were four shots to nil after three ends, but soon lost that lead to be eight shots to five down after nine ends of the 15 to play.
A confident Rup pair still led by three shots with four ends to play, and after a big win in the semi final, must have been confident of a top finish.
However, Barling and Marchment, who have played a lot of bowls together as a pair, showed their confidence in each other, and never say die attitude to win all remaining ends, scoring 11 shots to nil, in a fantastic match to watch, and enjoyed by all who witnessed.
Seventeen shots by the popular pair with commiserations to the Rupanyup duo, nine shots. The winners were the only pair in the final three not to have a bye, playing that extra game may have been the difference.
Debby and Mick will now go on to represent the North Wimmera Bowls Area against other winners in the Wimmera Region State Mixed Pairs Finals in the North Cental Area in March 2026.