The Victorian Open — scheduled to take place in Greater Shepparton and its surrounds in late November — has been officially cancelled.
Bowls Victoria broke the news to its constituents earlier this month.
“In conjunction with Greater Shepparton City Council, Bowls Victoria is extremely disappointed to advise that the 2020 Victorian Open has been cancelled,” a statement from BV said.
“The event was due to take place in Shepparton from Friday, November 20, through to Friday, November 27, 2020.
“This was a very difficult decision for Bowls Victoria to make, as we know so many bowlers look forward to this event each year, but we promise to be back bigger and better in 2021.”
● Summer pennant seasons remain under a cloud, with metropolitan competitions already pushed back to an early November start date.
Regional pennant campaigns will have their own challenges, including NSW-Victoria border restrictions.
Deniliquin RSL has pulled out of any potential Campaspe Valley Bowls Division season after a unanimous vote from the club's committee and members.
“We have still paid our association fees with Bowls Victoria, but being an interstate competition we just don’t feel comfortable playing in the CVBD yet,” RSL bowls club president Ken Wellard told The Pastoral Times.
“We also wanted to make the decision early, rather than waiting around in uncertainty as to when the season would actually start.
“This decision was made not only to ease the minds of our bowlers, but for their health and safety as well.
“We will still play our yearly honour board competitions, however, and will play amongst ourselves during the 2020-21 season”
Fellow NSW-based clubs Deniliquin and Mathoura — along with the CVBD itself — are still hopeful of completing a meaningful season.
Other organisations in the region — including the Goulburn Valley, Murray and Central bowls divisions — face similar challenges in an attempt to start the summer pennant season on schedule.
● Bowls Premier League Cup action was held at Shepparton Park last month, with 10 teams competing to progress to the next stage.
The BPL Cup is a knockout tournament which allows club-based teams to progress all the way to a national finals stage, which is usually played alongside the star-studded Bowls Premier League in Queensland in November each year.
Shepparton Park's Jim Oliver, Peter Brodie and Ernie Salvemini — as well as East Shepparton's Brent Reiner, Daniel Nichols and Stacey Collier — won their way through last month's initial stage.
It is unclear when the next stage will be held, but the national finals have been moved to sit alongside the February BPL event at Moama.
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Bowls Australia confirmed on Monday that November's BPL tournament at Club Pine Rivers had been pushed back to April, but Moama's February 23-26 event would remain locked in the calendar.
● Kyabram Bowls Club will have a fresh look on the greens of the region this summer.
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New coach Dane Gade — who hinted at a facelift for the club's uniform when he was appointed to the role earlier this year — has revamped Kyabram's gear ahead of its next campaign.
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The club will adopt red and black colours moving forward.
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