The Platinum League was formed for the Winter season 1999-2000. Previously to this several of the bowlers had been in the Boogie Ball league and prior to that in the Gemini Doubles league. Both of these leagues were designed for new and inexperienced bowlers.
The Platinum League also takes in new bowlers, but has some more experienced bowlers who can teach, challenge and encourage them.
A team comprising Daphne Riley, Phil Howard, Wayne Younger and Martin Hobson won the Worthing Inter-league competition for the Chas Crossley Cup.
The league again entered a team in the Chas Crossley Cup competition. Again the team comprised of Daphne Riley, Phil Howard and Wayne Younger. This time joined by Tony Craig. On this occasion they only managed third place.
A team of five bowlers from the Platinum League took part in the Worthing Centre qualifier of the AMF Inter-Centre Championship. 23 other teams from the centre also took part with the first three teams being rewarded with places in the UK Finals at Nottingham on 8th April.
Although not qualifying for Nottingham, the Platinum League team achieved a creditable 5th place.
10th April 2001
The Winter League has ended with the winners being Bigade Bow, who narrowly beat Superstuds on handicapped pinfall. Both teams finished with 140 points each out of a maximum of 240. Third place went to Oddballs on 135 points. They only just beat T.G.T.W.T.S. who also had 135 points but a lower handicapped pinfall.
14th May 2001
Summer League started.
Meeting elected Alan Dowling as President. Marianne Dowling and Daphne Riley were re-elected as secretary and treasurer respectively.
The summer league is doubles format with 12 teams. Each team will play each other once with position games in the middle and at the end of the season - a total of 13 games.
The handicap system for the summer has reverted to 67% of 180.
14th August 2001
The Summer League ends with a dinner and the presentation of trophies at the Sussex Yeoman.
The winners being The Daddies (two members of Bigade Bow that won the winter league) with 68 points out of a possible 104. In second place was Cornish Pasties with 62 points followed in third place by Brooklyn Flyers on 56 points. All the results are on the Archived Results page.
11th September 2001
Winter League started.
The pre-season meeting relected Alan as President, Marianne as secretary and Daphne as treasurer.
The winter league is trios format with 8 teams. Each team will play each other three times with position games in the middle and at the end of the season - a total of 30 games.
The handicap system for the winter is still 67% of 180.
The Winter League finishes at the end of a 30 week run.
Moody Gold walked away with the league championship 3 weeks before the end of the season. With a lead of 29 points over their nearest rivals and only 24 points left to be won, they could not be caught. They ended up with 166 points out of a possible 240.
Second came Hobson's Choice (143 points) with Cornish Pasties (136 points) hanging on to third place.
After a break of 4 weeks (including the league meal and presentation of trophies) the summer season was arranged to start on 14th May 2002. All the results are on the Archived Results page.
23 July 2002
Record Breaker
Gary Ward, having bowled an incredible 661 series only the week before, breaks the 700 series barrier with a total of 718. This was 184 pins above his series average. The individual game scores were 266, 217 & 235. With his partner, Martin Hobson, they recorded a scratch series of 1154.
10 September 2002
The Summer League finishes at the end of an 18 week run.
The league championship was won by T.O.G with 85 points out of a possible 162. One of the team, Gary Ward, walked away with the highest game (266), the highest series (718), the highest average (179) and the lowest handicap (scratch). He shared the top spot for 200 games with Paul Dixon (V.I.P) as they had 10 each. (One in five of their games had a score greater than 200.)
In second place was Black and Blue with 80 points - a remarkable achievement for the team that were languishing in bottom place at the midpoint of the season. This pair came second in the Winter League as part of Hobson's Choice - the third member of that team being part of T.O.G
Third place went to Flaming Galahs with 77 points. This pair were in the winning team (Moody Gold) last winter along with the other half of T.O.G.
8th October 2002
Winter League started.
The pre-season meeting relected Alan as President and Marianne as secretary. Daphne having resigned as treasurer, a replacement was sought. The meeting elected Betty Haggis as the new treasurer.
The winter league is trios format with 8 teams. Each team will play each other four times with position games in the middle and at the end of the season - a total of 30 games. There will be no league matches on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve.
The handicap system for the winter is still 67% of 180. As nearly a quarter of the league bowlers were unable to attend the first week, the start was postponed until 15th October and those attending the meeting had a fun night playing a "No Tap" competition - which was won by Gary Ward.
Winter League finishes it's 30 week run.
A closer finish this season than last year. Two weeks before the end, the top two teams were level on points with 144 each and only a difference of 27 handicap pins between them. One week to go and Them lead by 2 points. The final night, being a position round, saw Them playing Don't Do Duvets.
Thanks to a tremendous 673 series from Gary Ward, which included a 261 game and two other games over 200, Don't Do Duvets won 6 - 2 to put them 2 points clear at the top of the league.
Final Positions: 1st Don't Do Duvets - 156 points; 2nd Them - 154 points; 3rd Cornish Pasties - 141 points.
Individual Awards were presented to Paul Dixon for the best male average of 182 and Lesley Barnes for the best female average of 158. The next best averages received a bottle of wine each - Gary Ward with an average of 176 and Danielle Maneely with an average of 157.
2nd September 2003
T.O.G. win the summer season again!
With still one week to go before the end of the season, T.O.G. are now 9 points clear of their nearest rivals and cannot be caught. The line up is once again Martin Hobson, but this time with Trevor Barnes.
9th September 2003
T.O.G. lose their final game as the summer season finishes it's 13 week run.
With 5 teams capable being runners-up, there was much to play for on the final night of the season. T.O.G. (Martin Hobson & Trevor Barnes) were glad that they had picked up two points from the previous week as they were beaten 8 - 0 to leave them just one point ahead of the runners-up, Cornish Pasties (Alan Dowling & Betty Haggis). In third place were The Winos (Daphne Riley & Lesley Barnes) - only one point ahead of B & B (Neil Chase & Dany Maneely), who moved up from 5th place. The closeness of the teams this season is well illustrated by the difference between 3rd and 8th places - just 8 points separating the 6 teams.
7th October 2003
New Winter Trios season starts.
Before the pre-season meeting started the president announced the sad loss of a former bowler in the league and the husband of Betty (the league's treasurer), Mr Arthur Haggis, who had died in hospital the previous Tuesday. The members were invited to the funeral on Friday 10th October.
The meeting re-elected the existing committee. There were ten teams for the winter. They would play each other three times with position nights on the 10th, 20th and 30th weeks. With a two week break at Christmas, the season would end on May 11th. The handicap system remains at 67% of 180.
Winter Trios season finishes
The final Position Night sees one of the closest situations for several seasons with only one point separating the top two teams. Them Again going into the game on 152 points against A.K.A. with 151 points. The result of this game was 6-2 in favour of A.K.A.
Final placings at the top were:
1st A.K.A. (Jo Reeves, Will Line & Debbie Willett) with 157 points
2nd Them Again (Lesley Barnes, Trevor Barnes & Martin Hobson) with 154 points
3rd Top Guns (Mike Kearney, Peter Smith & Julian Coman) with 151 points
This season also saw Will Line of A.K.A. bowl 30 games over 200 - averaging one 200 game each week.
All the results are on the Archived Results page
1st June 2004
Summer Doubles season starts
The meeting re-elected the existing committee yet again - they must be doing something right. There were twelve teams for the summer. They would play each other once with two position nights on the 5th and 10th weeks. The season would end on August 24th. The handicap system remains at 67% of 180
24th August 2004
Summer Doubles season finishes
The final night saw four of the six matches end in 8 - 0 wins. It also saw a change in the team in third place as The Gutter Gang moved ahead of The Winos by equalling them on 64 points but having a better handicap pinfall by just 45 pins!
Final placings at the top were:
1st Kaboom. (Jo Reeves & Will Line) with 77 points out of a possible 104
2nd Two's Company (Paul Dixon & Val Blower) with 66 points
3rd The Gutter Gang (Nigel Edwards & Ken Edwards) with 64 points
Again Will Line of Kaboom averaged over one 200 game each week, ending with a total of 15 over the 13 weeks of the season.
All the results are on the Archived Results page
21st September 2004
Winter Trios season starts
The meeting re-elected the existing committee yet again. There are nine teams for the winter, with the possibility of a tenth. They would play each other four times with no position nights, making 36 weeks. Following a proposal to change the handicap calculations the matter was discussed and voted on - The handicap system changes to 67% of 200. The usual two week break will be taken at Christmas.
Winter Trios season finishes
After the longest winter season to date, there was no certain winner at the start of the last night but a resounding 8-0 win ensured thatThe X Factor (Lesley Barnes, Trevor Barnes & Martin Hobson) retained the top spot with 181 points.
After losing the first game Tragedy Strikes (Daphne Riley, Mark Blower & Neil Chase) went on to win their remaining games to retain second place with 174 points.
The Gutter Gang (Nigel Edwards, Elaine Monk & Ken Edwards), even with an 8-0 win, stayed where they were in third place with 168 points.
All the results are on the Archived Results page
28th June 2005
Summer Doubles season starts
The meeting elected Val Blower as the new Treasurer to replace Batty Haggis, who had resigned at the end of the Winter season. The existing Secretary and President were re-elected yet again. There were fourteen teams for the summer. They would play each other once with no position nights. The season would end on September 20th. The handicap system remains at 80% of 200, but the members voted for a handicap of 60 rather than the previous 80.
20th September 2005
Summer Doubles season finishes
On the final week the leading team for several weeks, Dik & Dom started with a 2 point lead over T.O.G. Again, but an 8 - 0 win for
T.O.G. Again and a 0 - 8 defeat for Dik & Dom reversed their positions.
Final Result:
1st: T.O.G. Again (Martin Hobson & Trevor Barnes) with 78 points
2nd: Dik & Dom (Paul Dixon & Dominic Barnes) with 72 points
3rd: Cornish Pasties (Alan Dowling & Betty Haggis) with 64 points.
Once again the middle of the table was closely contested with only 13 points separating 4th and 12th places.
All the results are on the Archived Results page
11th October 2005
Winter Trios season starts
The meeting re-elected the existing committee yet again. There are twelve teams for the winter. They would play each other three times with no position nights, making 33 weeks. The handicap system remains at 67% of 200 with a cap of 60. The usual two week break will be taken at Christmas.
Last week of the Winter Trios season
With a 5 point lead over their nearest rivals The Alley Cats needed just 4 points to be sure of winning the league. Their opponents were third place team Cornish Pasties , who needed to take at least 7 of the 8 points from the match to have any chance of winning themselves. The X Factor held second place but their fate lay with the two teams immediately above and below them. Although their target was also to take all 8 points, they needed The Alley Cats to take less than 4 points.
Most unexpectedly The X Factor lost all their games and did not improve their points tally. Cornish Pasties beat The Alley Cats in all 3 games to take the league title by 3 clear points.
Final Result:
1st Cornish Pasties with 165 points out of a maximum of 264
2nd The Alley Cats with 162 points
3rd The X Factor with 157 points.
12th September 2006
At the start of the last week of the short summer season, only the three top teams were in a position to become champions and two of these teams were playing each other.18th September 2007
The end of another short summer season that was virtually settled before the last week. O.A.P. having beaten The Lazy Toad on the penultimate week to lead them by 8 points, all they needed was a single point to clinch the title. Although O.A.P. lost the first game, so did The Lazy Toad. In the end the result was: 1st - O.A.P. with 50 points out of a possible 72; 2nd - P.G. Tips with 44 points; 3rd - JP & PJ also with 44 points but lower handicap pin total. The Lazy Toad had dropped to 4th place with 42 points.