Glenn Giese best described lawn bowls as “playing chess on grass.”
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The Highlander plays bowls at Bowral Bowling Club and is part of the pennant competition.
He has been a part of the Bowral bowling teams for about two years, after he decided to take part in a twilight bowls come and try.
Glenn said that getting involved with lawn bowls was “the best thing I have done in my senior years.”
But in his youth Glenn was a junior champion in another form of bowling.
In 1962 he commenced a career in junior competitive tenpin bowling.
He made a name for himself after is very first competition at Enfield Bowl when his triples team finished second.
He attracted notice from Bankstown Bowl and was invited to try out for the Bankstown junior representative team.
Upon selection he toured with the team in NSW and Canberra and then won the Bankstown Junior Championship.
After his success with Bankstown, Glenn was approached to join the very successful Leichhardt junior team in 1963.
The team then went on to finish second in the NSW junior Championship.
Glenn’s impressive tenpin skills allowed him to compete in senior league tournaments like the Leichhardt Men’s Championship as well as the Open Seniors Brunswick 1000 Triples Tournament.
He impressed again in 1964 when he won both the Bankstown and Leichhard Junior Titles. As a result he was invited to play the first sixteen-man Australian Junior Open Title Championship held at St Leonards Bowl.
Following political indifference with the authoritative body, the Greater Sydney Tenpin Bowling Association (GSTBA), tournament players were warned they would be banned from any future tournaments if they played this unofficial competition.
Glenn played the tournament and was named the winner and the unofficial Australian Junior Champion.
The breakaway action by the sixteen-man group evenbut had decided to leave the world of tenpin bowling.
After 51 years had passed Glenn commenced a lawn bowl experience at Bowral Bowling Club.
To Glenn, lawn bowls is “even more challenging” than his youthful beloved tenpin bowling experiences.
Whilst he is still learning to master the great game, he said “t lawn bowls is the greatest sporting challenge I have faced.”
“Both the mental concentration and the tactical requirements, as well as the open air environment, holds so many challenges and it is a game of great mental reward.”
After two years of lawn bowls, Glenn said that he is beginning to learn the art of the game.