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It’s been 10 years in the making, but on Thursday the pride and joy of the Seymour Bowling Club was officially opened.

The new $622,000 clubhouse has been in use since October but about 180 people — including many who toiled hard since it was first mooted in 2003 — enjoyed the fruits of their labours.

Gallery: See more photos from the bowls and the new clubhouse here.

State Member for Seymour Cindy McLeish helped make it a reality when then opposition Coalition made a $200,000 funding pledge during the 2010 election campaign, which was honoured when it took office.

Replacing the old Army building which had been on site since 1964, the Gerard O’Sullivan-built clubhouse was finished within five months of tenders being called in May last year.

And there’s little doubt what members think about it. Club president Alison Hall said it was it was one of the finest moments in the club’s 119-year history.

Ian Ridd — of who Ms Hall said ‘‘no one worked harder at this club to make the clubhouse possible’’ — said it was ‘‘even more rewarding than playing in a premiership’’.

Among those acknowledged for their help in getting the building completed was the late Robin Gardiner, a stalwart member of the steering committee.

‘‘I’m glad he saw this new building after it was completed,’’ Ms Hall said.

‘‘Unfortunately the very first function here was his wake.’’

Another prominent bowler was also missing on Thursday — life member Keith McLarty. But his excuse was one all bowlers can relate to — ‘‘I’m bowling elsewhere’’.

SEYMOUR

Weather played a part in the midweek pennant last week. The grand final of CBD division one game was cancelled due to inclement weather at Wallan. This game was due to be played yesterday.

The GV division three game at Euroa went ahead, after a short delay. The Seymour girls came out with a win of 78 defeating Shepparton Park 69. The atmosphere was electric, thanks to the large gallery of supporters who travelled to two rinks get across the line.

Our three teams were all due to be playing in their respective grand finals yesterday. Good luck to all.

The pairs tournament on Monday is just on filled.

Congratulations go to the Seymour pair of Robbie Baldwin and Don Lawton who played in the final of the CGM Region Champion of Champion Pairs last Sunday at Alexandra. In an exciting game they began the last end 17-all, but were beaten by the Kyabram pair of Shilling and McGrath. Well done Robert and Don for a fantastic effort.

The Ladies Club Triples Final was played on Friday. The winning team was Denise Hogan, Jenny Kreemers and Linda Brown. This was an excellent win – their opponents were Wilma Atkins, Dot Dillon and Di Templeton. Congratulations to both teams for a great game.

Bankers will have plenty of rinks on Saturday but there will be no bankers the following Saturday as Seymour will be hosting the CBD division one and two grand finals.

Saturday pennant

GV5 - played the top team Tatura on the excellent grass green of Dookie. After jumping out of the blocks and having an early lead Tatura overtook our team and the lead see sawed until about the 60th end when Ian Ridd’s rink picked up a few shots as did Derek Boyd’s rink. Sylvia Love’s team were always playing well against a very solid outfit but drew away in the last few ends. Overall a great performance and they now play in the grand final, against Tatura or Shepp RSL on March 16.

There will be a practice match arranged for GV5 on Saturday against a team selected last night. Club uniform is to be worn. All GV5 players are requested to practice on grass for the next two weeks.

CBD2 - unfortunately were not able to win against Broadford at Broadford, a difficult task at any time and they are now eliminated from the competition. However, congratulations go to all players who contributed to us making the finals.

Go Seymour.

-Toucha

SEYMOUR VRI

First week of the finals resulted in both qualified teams winning their respective finals games and going onto the next step of the finals series.

Division one played at the Seymour green against Wallan and as the score would indicate an easy win for all rinks with an overall win of a massive 76 shots.

Division two Navy team travelled to Alexandra to play Alexandra Maroon winning two rinks and going down on one rink by only one shot, still winning by a good 40 shots up overall. Ironically Bill Dawe’s rink in division one and David Emmerson’s rink in division two both had huge wins by 36 shots and both rinks scoring 46 to 10.

Playing on the synthetic green at Seymour the game was never in doubt as division one continued to add more and more score on the board, against Wallan winning all rinks.

Division two Navy team played the second semi final against Alexandra Maroon team at Alexandra on the grass green and won their game to compete in the grand final in two weeks’ time. Winning two rinks and going down by one shot on one rink resulted in a 40 shot win overall.

On Saturday thedivision one preliminary final against Kilmore will be played at Broadford. Kilmore will be a real challenge and players should prepare themselves accordingly. Kilmore have dominated the top position on the ladder most of the season, but with a positive attitude the VRI team can proceed to the grand final for which we played for during the season.

It is with regret that the Seymour VRI Bowling Club have lost life member Les McCarthy, who passed away after a long illness early on Sunday morning. Les was a much respected member of the club, a lovable unique character and worked extremely hard for the club for many years. His presence around the club will be sorely missed.

-Two Hats

NAGAMBIE

Nagambie social bowls Wednesday night, 7pm start is still a goer - weather permitting... but there’s more.

On Sunday from 1pm - weather permitting again - eight novice bowlers are being matched with 16 club pennant bowlers, in their resplendent uniforms, to play to win the prestigious Bernie Deane Night Bowls Shield. Phil and Frances Deane have sponsored the playoff with prizes for the first four placings and best last game (non winning teams only).

The novice bowlers will experience the competitiveness and concerntration needed to get through three games of eight ends, plus expert tuition and guidance from the clubs experienced bowlers. Bernie was a great believer of ‘‘bringing the younger ones through the ranks’’ and created the shield for perpetuity allowing the club to proudly reignite his belief in the youth of Nagambie, so, through the generosity of his son Phillip and nephew Frances, the novice bowlers put into practice the finer points of the game they have learnt throughout the summer Wednesday night comp to see how well they have mastered the deadly bowls bias when playing at the sharp end.

Anyone and everyone is invited to come along and enjoy a pleasant Sunday arvo bowls playoff between the local young ones, and ‘‘not-so-young’’ club members. Amusement and enjoyment is guaranteed - try bowls, why not?

Central Bowls Division Saturday pennant semi-finalsDIVISION ONESeymour VRI 138 d Wallan 62

J. Tuckwell, K. Miles, M. Szczykulski, B. Dawe (s) 46 d L. Thompson, W. Crankshaw, P. Croft, P. Newell (s) 10; P. Rolfe, I. Nichols, K. Towt, G. Jones (s) 39 d J. Cockerill, R. Coustley, d. Lappin, J. Coustley (s) 15; B. Anderson, A. Dixon, K. Lee, G. Neal (s) 30 d T. Pannuzzo, P. Fratta, B. Lingham, G. Edmunds (s) 21; D. King, G. McPherson, R. Brown, J. Purcell (s) 23 d G. Symons, P. Seers, J. Grose, S. Duncan (s) 16DIVISION TWOBroadford 86 d Seymour 68

G. Kirby, K. Oliver, A. Goring, J. Bruce (s) 31 d D. Hutton, S. Crockett, A. Payne, P. Lawrence (s) 18; J. O’Brien, M. Moran, K. Nemeth, S. Kolczarek (s) 29 d K. Hall, R. Harper, K. McLarty, A. Cassidy (s) 20; T. Gravell, B. Birney, J. Duerkop, I. Mumford (s) 26 lt H. Flint, T. Donohue, R. Maggs, L. Hall (s) 30.Seymour VRI Navy 98 d Alexandra Maroon 58

D. Prudden, P. Stevens, P. Delzotto, D. Emmerson (s) 46 d L. Ritchie, T. Livy, M. Parsons, G. Newman (s) 10; M. Brown, S. Stanley, R. King, D. Noonan (s) 29 d B. Nevin, M. Mason, N. Klein, D. Welch (s) 24; B. McCarthy, P. Challis, M. Furletti, J. Furletti (s) 23 lt L. Baker, J. Cassee, A. Paterson, R. Savage (s) 24.

Goulburn Valley Saturday pennant semi-finalsDIVISION FOURMerrigum 10-93 d Avenel 4-89

J. Arthur 34 d A. White 18, J. Chant 26 d N. Slater 16, P. Trewren 22 lt K. Willox 23, B. Hubble 12 lt D. Furletti 32.DIVISION FIVETatura 2-64 lt Seymour 8-71

G. Pieper 27 d I. Ridd 18, K. Webber 19 lt S. Love 25, F. Clement 18 lt D. Boyd 28.