On October 28th, the Laguna Beach Lawn Bowling Club hosted their annual Veteran-Novice Tournament. This year's tournament featured a full, competitive field of 20 teams, each of which competed in four ten-end games. The green was running quite fast, with a running time of approximately 15 seconds.

Included in the competition was a team comprised of Michael Siddall and Santa Monica Lawn Bowls Club's Phil Dunn. Michael and Phil won three of their games handily (winning by 24, 14, and 18 points, although the plus points per game was capped at 10). The duo managed to squeak out a tie in their other game - a good result considering they were trailing 10-1 with only four ends remaining. On the last end, Michael made a terrific, game-tying shot that ultimately proved to be a tournament-winning shot.

With a record of 3 wins, 0 losses, and 1 tie and a total of 30 plus points, Michael and Phil won the tournament by a hair, beating out three other three-win teams on the strength of their plus points. (The second-place team had 23 plus points.) The result was gold medals for Michael and Phil, as well as a $300 cash prize.

In addition to the tournament winnings, Laguna Beach provided a terrific lunch barbecued by Gary Fisher as well as a terrific location, overlooking the ocean. All these details came together to make a fantastic tournament and a fantastic win for Michael and Phil (Phil's 14th tournament victory this year, and 4th gold medal!). Congratulations to both of them, and thanks to the Laguna Beach Lawn Bowling Club for hosting such a fantastic event.