Bungaree’s Tammy Ballard enjoys a mixed day out with Matt Flapper at Vic Open

First year Bungaree bowler, Tammy Ballard, had a mixed day out with lawn bowling royalty in Matt Flapper today in the Vic Open Mixed Pairs event at Warragul Bowling Club.

Tammy won the Bowls Victoria ‘Mixed pairs with Matt Flapper’ comp and “you are kidding me” was her initial response.

“I’m a first year bowler at Bungaree and I entered Vic Open comp to play with Matty and they rang me up to tell me I won the comp and here I am,” Tammy said.

Although a little nervous at first, once Tammy put her first bowl down the butterflies were kept at bay.

“The start of the day was pretty hard and it was hard to get the weight on the green, but throughout the day it got better and we settled in and played better together,” Tammy said.

“It was a really good experience, but I wish I had of done better in the first game for Matty, but as it went on I got a few touchers and knocked a few bowls out of place and knocked a few bowls into place.”

For Matt, who recently received life membership from Bowls Victoria for his services to the game, it’s a chance to play with someone he might never get the opportunity to partner.

“I enjoyed playing with Tammy it was really good,” Matt said.

“The idea is finding someone to play with that I’d never met before and it was exciting.”

“It was exciting for me, for obviously Tammy, and we got better as the day went on.”

“We started a bit scratchy, even myself, but early days and we got the cobwebs out and finished off pretty strong.”

“A loss, a win and a draw, so pretty good effort overall today.”

In Round 1, the pair lost by just one shot (13-14) to Warragul duo Lynne Thomas and George Mol, before finding their groove to win their Round 2 match by 6 shots (15-9) against Dandenong Club’s Gemma Reid and Britt Jago.

Their Round 3 clash resulted in a draw against the more than handy pair of Leanne Poulson (Helensvale) and Matt Robertson (Moama) to finish a very respectable third on the final section table with a +5 shots balance.

View Tammy and Matt’s Mixed Pairs results on Bowlslink.

The chance to help a relatively new bowler is what it’s all about for Matt.

“Just to offer an opportunity to someone who might not get that experience before and to help someone progress in the game,” Matt said.

“To give them a bit of advice and hopefully fast track their development by having a day’s bowl with them.”

“In today’s case, just missed out on the section win but just to give that experience to someone else.”

And it was a great experience playing with Matty Flapper in the Vic Open according to Tammy.

“It’s been a great experience learning to play the game so far,” Tammy said.

“Matt was a great partner who made me feel at ease and part of the team.”

“This is very similar to our family’s experience at Bungaree and in the Ballarat Highlands Bowls Region where all players have been welcoming and very generous in their time with us as new bowlers.”

“It’s a great sport and we’re loving it.”

Lawn bowls has become a family affair for Tammy, with husband Darren and daughter Georgie taking up the game this year as well.

Darren was at Warragul today supporting Tammy, along with her mum, Mary, who made the trip down from Berwick.

Congratulations to Tammy for her great bowling efforts today at Warragul and much kudos to Matty Flapper for giving bowlers such as Tammy the opportunity to play alongside him at the Vic Open.

Feature photo: Tammy Ballard and Matt Flapper at the Vic Open.