Come November 18 the Goulburn Valley will transform into the centre of the bowls universe as the Victorian Open makes its triumphant return after a three-year absence.
The 10th and final Victorian Open to be held in the Goulburn Valley before it shifts to Gippsland next year, bowlers from across the country will descend on clubs across the region for what is the state’s showcase bowls event.
Preparations in the past fortnight have been somewhat thwarted, with extensive flooding across northern Victoria impacting some of the clubs slated to host matches during the tournament.
But Bowls Victoria is determined to forge ahead, with some minor changes to the venue list being confirmed on Thursday, as it released the official draw for the tournament.
“We are releasing draws today (Thursday) and we will just be needing to bring in two new clubs that we weren’t planning to use to replace one club that will be completely out of action and a few rinks at other venues as well,” Bowls Victoria events and competitions manager Jimmy Whitehead said.
“Seymour can’t host any more and Benalla has lost a few rinks, so as a result Avenel and Cobram have been added to the program.
“We’ve spoken to every club and checked in on where they are at, and the overwhelming response has been they are keen to have the event back in the region and excited to get into it.”
Keeping an eye on the flooding situation, Whitehead said Bowls Victoria was slightly concerned, but it never got to the stage where the event was at risk of being cancelled.
“There has been some shifts in planning and things like that, but we’ve been constantly communicating with the key stakeholders up in Shepparton about the flooding situation,” he said.
“I don’t think we ever got to the point where we would have needed to call it off, we were wary of the situation and the damages to some of the clubs, but from our conversations we were always confident the event would be able to go ahead.”
Now three weeks from the first bowl being rolled, excitement is approaching fever pitch, with the list of entries meaning this edition of the Victoria Open is set to be the biggest in history.
“It is obviously the last one up there, so we are really looking forward to it,” Whitehead said.
“This is set to be the biggest one we’ve put on with more entries than ever before, so we feel this will be a great way to sign off after 10 great years hosting the event in the Goulburn Valley.”