SOME of the biggest names in Australian bowling will descend on Portland Memorial Bowling Club this weekend for the club’s annual triples carnival.

A tier four Bowls Australia ranking event, finishing from first through to fourth in this competition gains players points for their overall Australian ranking, with $8000 in prize money also on the line.

Featured amongst the competitors will be the current number one ranked male player in Australia in Josh Walker-Davis from Tasmania, with another seven of the top 100 ranked bowlers in Australia also set to compete.

Also, among the competitors will be current Victorian Open Singles Champion Scott Boschen from Koroit, and former winners Thor Shannon and Chris Young, along with local competitor Chris Fleming.

Portland Memorial CEO Dean Beckman said it’s an exciting time for the club to have such a strong field of competitors in an event like this.

“It’s unheard of for a small club like ours to have the number one ranked bowler in the country competing here so it’s incredibly exciting for us,” Beckman said.

“The competition takes a two-day format with players competing in teams of three and playing three games across both (tomorrow) and Sunday.

“We’re going for a proper carnival atmosphere; we’ll have live music on both evenings.

“It’s an exciting time for the club, we’ve got new greens coming in which is commencing soon, the place is really going strong.”

Beckman said the event is building towards becoming even stronger as it is set to become a tier three event next year with $12,000 in prize money on the line come 2025.

The action will take place from 9am to 5pm both tomorrow and Sunday.