ON Sunday Bungay Bowls Club celebrates the start of its 110th season with an open drive at 2pm at the green. Members and non-members are welcome.Tomorrow there will be the tidy up session to prepare the pavilion and surroundings for the season.

ON Sunday Bungay Bowls Club celebrates the start of its 110th season with an open drive at 2pm at the green. Members and non-members are welcome.

Tomorrow there will be the tidy up session to prepare the pavilion and surroundings for the season. Members are asked to come to the club at 9am to help.

With its future seemingly assured following concerns about the redevelopment of its green by Waveney District Council, the club is looking forward to staging its usual string of events and, subject to a green inspection, the Suffolk EBF area semi-finals and finals over the weekend of July 19 and 20.

Also celebrating their 110th anniversary are the Chedgrave-based ice cream makers Parravani's. Now run by Paul and Sharon Parravani, who have been long supporters of the club, it is fitting that their charity tournament will be one of the first major events of the season on Saturday, May 3.

This year the chosen organisation to receive the tournament donation will be the Bungay First Responders unit.

On Sunday, May 18 the club hosts their first open triples tournament. The club are still searching for a sponsor for the event, but whether one is forthcoming or not the tournament will still take place.

The other three open tournaments are sponsored by Bungay butcher John Groom on Sunday, June 22 which is played as a four-wood pairs, then on Sunday, July 27 the Harleston builder Graham Johnson sponsors a three-wood triples event and Waveney Windows will sponsor a three-wood mixed-triples event on August 17.

There are still places available in these tournaments - contact Ian Gosling 01986 892982. Entry fees remain the same as last year at £3 per head.

The Ray Burcham Memorial Shield will be played on Sunday, September 7. The tournament is a joint effort between the bowls club and Bungay Lions in memory of Ray Burcham who was an active member of both organisations.

Members will be playing in four leagues and seven cup competitions during the season. However, with some clubs withdrawing teams from the leagues there will not be the usual number of matches during the season.

Club captain Roger Bullen, backed by vice-captain Richard Brinded, will be looking for good runs in the County Cup competitions and to improve on their quarter-final appearance in the Bert Edwards Cup from last season.

As Men's EBA captain, Brinded will also be looking to improve on their fourth place in the Lowestoft Men's EBA League. Ian Gosling's Benacre League side have a tough task of surviving a season in Division One after winning Division Two last season. Gosling will also captain the B team in the Men's EBA League.

Les Knowles and Keith Brown, Beccles League A and B team captains respectively, will face each other twice over the season as both teams now play in Division Two. Barbara Wortley will captain the Halesworth Three-Wood League A team, hoping to emulate the start of her 2007 campaign when her team won seven straight games, before succumbing to the usual malaise of the league - cancelled matches. The team lost momentum to finish a disappointing third in Division One. April Nunn captain's the B team in Division Two.

The annual dinner and presentation is at Bungay Golf Club on Saturday, November 29.

Novice or experienced bowlers, whatever their age, are welcome and where possible the club will provide tuition.

For further information visit the club's web page at homepages.tesco.net/bungaybowlsclub or contact the chairman Dominic Belisario 10986 895943.