WA’s best bowlers set to lock horns at lucrative Raine & Horne Invitational at Emu Point over Easter weekend

Some of the State’s best lawn bowlers will contest the Raine & Horne Invitational at Emu Point Sporting Club this weekend, with the popular event featuring boosted prize money. The event prize pool is more than $13,000 with a full-capacity field, boasting some of the best premier league and State players, competing for top honours. Havana Villas will host a pairs event on Good Friday which serves as a curtain raiser for the main fours event on Easter Saturday. A total of 28 teams of four will compete in the main competition with the winning team pocketing $6000, $2000 more than last year, second place netting $2800, third place taking home $1600 and fourth getting $1200. Each round winner will collect a handy $400. Bowlers from as far as Kellerberrin in the heart of the Wheatbelt and Esperance will hit the Emu Point greens at the weekend alongside a strong contingent of Upper and Lower Great Southern bowlers and star-studded talent from Perth’s metro leagues. The talented field includes last year’s winner and local gun Jon Sharp, Emu Point’s two-time Country Week singles champion Matt Mitchell and Wagin guru Warren Holt. Unlike previous years, the tournament will consist of three 12-end rounds and a continuous split pairs round. Event organiser Todd Jefferis said the Invitational, which has grown rapidly since its inception in 2020, is an exciting day for spectators and bowling enthusiasts to witness some of WA’s best talent. “It’s a pretty marquee event on the calendar, it’s not just your run-of-the-mill general bowls event,” he said. “This is the cream of the crop and you have to be pretty bloody good to win. “Fans and spectators are more than welcome to come down on Saturday and have a couple of drinks while watching the bowlers go at it and create a bit of atmosphere. “It’s just amazing the support we get from our sponsors and most of these guys have been on from day one and continue to do it every year.”