Shepparton Golf’s Alan Dove bowled his way into the history books on Thursday November 24, taking out the Victorian Open men’s pairs title.
Dove and his partner, Yarraville-Footscray’s Wayne Roberts, produced an impressive run of wins to secure the result.
“It’s fantastic, it’s the only pairs championship that we hadn’t won, really,” Dove said.
“It’s one I really wanted to win and Wayne didn’t play the singles to give himself a chance in the pairs as well.”
Taking out Lilydale pair Cleve Snary and Joshua Sanders 11-18 in the final, Dove said it was good to win on a tricky green at Shepparton Park.
“It was very good to beat the people that we played in the last game,” he said.
“I’ve played pennant with Wayne for a long time, we have attended a few tournaments together — I’ve been playing with Wayne for at least 20 years now.”
Making the move from Melbourne to Shepparton earlier this year, Dove plays pennant bowls at Shepparton Golf, while Roberts still plies his trade in the city.
Full of praise for the open tournament, Dove said it was disappointing that the 2022 event was the last to be held in Shepparton.
“Apart from the Australian Open this is the biggest tournament really in Australia, people come from all over to play in Shepparton and now they’re going to lose it to Traralgon,” he said.
“It’s very sad that it’s not going to be here anymore.
“It’s a shame that it’s going and I’m very happy that we won the last one in Shepparton — and representing Shepparton Golf as well.”
Enjoying his time playing bowls in the region so far, Dove said while there was no premier division in the Goulburn Valley, division one was of a high quality.
“Everybody that I’ve played up here so far in pennant is very competitive and very good and Shepparton has a lot to offer for good bowlers up here,” he said.