SEBASTOPOL has taken a massive leap into the future of lawn bowls in the Ballarat region.
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The Kookaburras’ $1 million roof over its synthetic bowling green is now complete and, barring any 11th hour glitches, will be ready for the start of the Ballarat District Bowls Division pennant season on Saturday.
The massive project, which club general manager Rod Beckwith said was five years in the making, is almost complete and ready for play.
All that remains is the final tick of approval from Bowls Victoria on Friday, which Beckwith hopes will be a mere formality.
“It’s a significant milestone in our club’s history, it has been five years in the planning,” Beckwith said.
“We’re never going to get a washout again.”
The new roof, best described as a roof over an outdoor bowling green, covers eight rinks and provides protection not only from rain, but extreme heat.
Fully equipped with lighting, it will also be able to hold night matches.
Beckwith said the new structure would benefit not only the members of his club, but the entire Ballarat lawn bowls scene.
He said it was only the second of its kind in regional Victoria, the other in place on the other side of the state at Morwell.
“We hope one day we can hold state titles and some really high quality tournaments, we certainly think it’s good enough to get to that standard,” Beckwith said.
It’s a significant milestone in our club’s history, it has been five years in the planning.”
- Sebastopol Bowling Club general manager Rod Beckwith.
“In terms of bowling, it is finished, there are just some last touches to put on it. The surrounds and front fence need to be finished off but the rest is ready for action.
“It’s great for us as a club, but it’s a facility the whole of Ballarat can be proud of. We hope we can hold a lot of events here into the future.”
The new synthetic green, which has been deliberately chosen to best reflect an actually grassed green, will face its first test on Saturday.
Round one of the Ballarat District Bowls Division gets underway this weekend.
Sebastopol will have four teams playing at home on Saturday, meaning only half will be able to take advantage of the new facility from the outset.
But with fine weather forecast, it should be of little consquence.
“We did a lot of research into what sort of synthetic green would best reflect an actual green since it is going to covered all the time,” Beckwith said.
“We’re pretty confident we’ve made the right choice but in the end I guess we will just have to see how it pans out.”
Works on the project started in June and the start of the pennant season was always the ideal completion date.
