Asheville lawn bowler, Steve Nelson, and Bud Ricucci of Mt. Dora FL recently won the Southeast Division pairs playdowns to secure a spot in the National Championships to be held late November in Sun City Center, FL. Qualifiers of eight regional tournaments will advance to the Nationals where both men and women will compete in either pairs or singles disciplines.
At the Southeast playdowns, a field of eight teams competed in a round robin format played on rubico, which is a surface made of crushed stone and similar to but not the same as a clay tennis court, and providing a hard, fast surface.
In the round robin, Nelson-Ricucci lost their first game and knew they had to win all remaining six games to be in contention. That forecast proved accurate and required a victory over an undefeated team late in round robin play. In the end, two teams finished at 6-1 with Nelson-Ricucci winning the playoff game by a score of 16-8.