THE annual Strawberry Carnival held at Cleveland Sharks Bowls Club has ended in defeat for some of south-east Queensland's heavyweight bowlers.
The tournament, which counted for national player ranking points, saw outsiders topple the favourites to clinch the prize money.
Overall first place in the ladies' division went to Maree Gibb, Leigh Fortington, Faye Clarke and Adele Pershouse while Robbie Cresswell, Dennis Mahoney, Don Fowler and Peter Teitzel claimed the men's top prize.
More than 300 bowlers from places like Laidley, Toowoomba and Warwick participated in the tournament, which has been held annually for about 30 years.
Club spokesperson Des Hedger said the competition was so strong some of the top ranked bowlers at the event finished middle of the field.
"We had a number of state representatives playing but probably the biggest one was Jimmy Anderson who has been Queensland champion in Fours," he said.
"His team ran fifth so that goes to show the quality of the competition."
Hedger said the event was one of the most lucrative tournaments in the Redlands, with more than $6000 up for grabs in the men's and women's competitions.
"It was established for club members but now what has happened is the bowlers travel...and it has become a tournament that is more of interest to a lot of top bowlers," he said.
"The prize money is attracting those people now."
Despite the success of this year's tournament, Hedger said there was room for improvement.
"The only thing we want to improve on is prize money and that will rely on sponsorship," he said.
"The reason we are getting a lot more people playing is because of our greens which are some of the best in the Redlands and probably considered to be among the best in Queensland.
"Because of that we've got the state titles, district state titles and district titles next year.
"Bowls Queensland are holding more games here because of our greens."
Cleveland Sharks Bowls Club will also host the southern district grand final on Sunday, September 22.
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