TEAMMATES one day, rivals the next.
Warrnambool's Ben Cornick and Drysdale's Cal Inderberg were the dream team in the Warrnambool Bowls Club's Autumn Classic pairs tournament but will be on opposing sides when the fours section begins on Friday.
The mates held off Koroit's Brian Lenehan and Allan Sullivan to clinch a slice of the $12,000 prize pool on Wednesday.
Cornick said the pair were delighted.
"It's record entries this year, so it's a pretty good one to get," he said.
We've been playing alongside people from South Australia, Warracknabeal... You make lifelong friendships here, you really do.
- Cal Inderberg
"We played together last year for the first time but we failed so it was nice to come back with a bit of a vengeance."
Cornick and Inderberg met "eight or nine years ago" at the same tournament and have been mates ever since.
"Through this, really, and one day we said 'let's just play together'. It's been really good," he said.
"We've always had a beer together so it made sense.
"I don't think it'd have as many people playing if it wasn't the social sport that it is. We've been playing alongside people from South Australia, Warracknabeal... You make lifelong friendships here, you really do."
Inderberg said the pair gelled well.
"Two-bowl pairs is a little bit different to regular pairs in that it's a little bit more cutthroat," he said.
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"If your leader is playing well and your skipper doesn't have to play weighted shots, things go in your favour.
"We were pretty consistent in most of our games. We dropped a few bad ends through some of our games but we managed to fight back all right when we needed to.
"We only just scraped into the top eight but the (Thursday) was our best day by far. Sometimes that's all you need to do."
Cornick said he and Inderberg would celebrate on Thursday night before suiting up on opposing teams through the fours section of the tournament.
"We'll be opposing sides so we'll make the most of having a beer or two tonight," Cornick said.
Another bumper $12,000 in prizemoney will be up for grabs across the three days of fours competition. It will finish on Sunday.
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Nick Ansell
Nick Ansell is a sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard.
Nick Ansell is a sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard.
