Club History
The spirit of the Club
The Harcourt Bowling Club was established in 1955 by an enthusiastic band of locals keen on providing a venue for playing bowls and social interaction. Newstead Bowling Club donated 2 guineas so that a bank account could be established. The first Committee consisted of B Hoare, N Fisher, J Trimble, E Peeler and N James.
The first Pennant Team competed in the 1958-1959 season. The Club currently fields teams in the Weekend Pennant competition and Mid-week Pennant competition. The Club has an active calendar of internal competitions and tournaments.
Harcourt Bowling Club members are indebted to the founders of the Club for their vision and enterprise. The spirit of the Club is maintained through the descendants of the founding members and other local families.
2025 will mark our 70th anniversary. As part of the celebrations, we’ll adding more stories about our history to this page.
The Club Badge
The Art Department at Castlemaine Technical College was asked to help in the design, and students were asked to sketch up some ideas.
One of these students was David Paton. He was 23 at the time and a teacher at Winters Flat School undertaking night-classes in Certificate of Art at Castlemaine Tech. His lecturer, Mr Brisbane, asked him to carefully draw up, using black ink, the type of design chosen by the club, and allowing the club to choose the colours.
The ‘badge committee’ approved the design in October 1960, and placed an order to Swan and Hudson Pty Ltd for 250 badges, 50 spoons, 50 bottle openers and 50 tie bars. Total cost was 14 pounds and 1 shilling.
David Paton recently donated his original drawing for the design to the club.
Gallery
Life Membership recipients
Life Members – Women
Mrs J Adams +
Mrs V Wilson +
Mrs A Normington +
Mrs B Gough +
Mrs G Jenkin
Mrs J Jenkin +
Life Members – Men
Mr H Gough +
Mr A Normington +
Mr B Rice +
Mr B Kidman +
Mr G Hill
Mr R Douglas
+ Denotes deceased