BEAU GREENWAY: Congratulations Peter. You join Tony Heriot (2016), Norm Honey (2017) and Ewan McPhee (2018) in the Albury and District Hall of Fame, how does it feel?

PETER FORCK: It was a bit of a surprise. I was in shock really.

BG: When did you start bowling?

PF: I got pissed on New Year's Eve in 1973 (laughs) and a mate of mine and I put our name down for social bowls. I started playing pennant in 1988. I actually won my first district singles in 1987 when I wasn't playing pennant. I can always remember the first one because I played against Allan Leita. He was one of the top bowlers in the A and D at the time and I beat him 31-30.

BG: How much bowls were you playing at that stage?

PF: I played with Roger Meyer in the district pairs and we made the semis a couple of times, but that was as far as we got. I put my name down for more district events as I got older because I probably wasn't allowed to play bowls as much I would have liked (laughs).

BG: Your first district pairs titles came in 2002 and 2003, who did you play with?

PF: I played with Bruce Diffey and we had a good couple of years there. We actually lost one in the final against (Holbrook's) Peter Wornes and Peter Horn. We were leading 16-1 and we lost, but we were still happy to make the final.

BG: You won the fours for the second time this year, almost 20 years after your first in 2001. How was that?

PF: I was happy with the second district fours because we had two players who had hardly even won any club events in Peter White, who has only been playing bowls the last four or five years and Peter Campbell played in a lower grade for the last few years and came into the threes last year. It was good to win it with Gary Kern as well. We were the underdogs in the semi and the final and we got pissed that night too 'Kerny' and I (laughs). I got home and told my wife (Lynne) 'god I was stoked' because I was happier for Peter Campbell and Peter White more than myself really. I kept saying all night that I was stoked. The next morning I told Lynne, 'geez I was stoked about that win" and she said 'I know, you told me about 10 times last night' (laughs).

BG: Singles has been your dominant event, what's been the secret?

PF: Four bowls helps for a start. I was a bit uptight with myself in the earlier days, but I'm a bit more relaxed now. I got a smaller bowl about five years ago and that helped too.

BG: The district singles final against North Albury's Stephen Broad last year was a classic wasn't it?

PF: The game against 'Broady' last year was a really top game of singles actually. We were neck and neck all the way through and I happened to jag the kitty with my last bowl to get a couple of shots. Another time I was playing against Gary Kern in the final at North Albury and I was down 23-14 and got up. I think I beat him 31-27.

BG: You've won three Champion of Champions singles and the pairs once, do you rate them highly?

PF: District singles rates a bit more highly with me.

BG: No doubt you've had a bit of success at club level?

PF: I've won 14 A-grade singles, the club pairs 10 times, club triples 10 times and the club fours four times. I've also won the president's handicap singles 11 times and the consistency singles once. I served as president of the bowling club from 2004 to 2006 and was a selector for 30 years but pulled the pin.

BG: If you had to narrow it down to a couple of moments, what would be the highlight?

PF: Obviously the first one (district singles) because I didn't play pennant. Also making the zone final of singles. I played (Temora's) Ricky Potter in the final and I think I lost 31-22 in that. I also made a zone triples finals as well with Bruce Whitlock and Kim Maher. We played a side that wasn't much good, Ross Maguire was leading, Dave Quigley was second and David Ferguson skipped (laughs). Another thing I was proud of in the Bing Wallder Shield in 2016 and 2017, the team of Ed Simmons (North Albury), Chris Heather (Holbrook), Kerry Boyle (Henty) and myself were the best performed rink for those two years. We were undefeated for those two years, which was pretty handy. A pennant win is the best feeling because you get to share it with your mates, but it's been a bit lean the last few years.

ALSO IN SPORT:

BG: So you haven't had much luck in pennant during your time at Henty?

PF: We've had a couple of successes in the pennant, but North Albury has been our bogey side, especially the last 15 years. We lost the last game of the pennant this year and had a chance to win on the last bowl and lost by four. If we had won that, we could have won the pennant this year. It's a friendly rivalry between North Albury and Henty, we both socialise a bit after each game.

BG: Who were some of the top players you've faced along the way?

PF: When I started there was Tony Heriot, Alan Oddy, Percy Frohling, Allan Leita and Allan King. There were a couple of characters too like 'Diamond Charlie' that was Ron Cummins, he played for Winsor Park. Another fella early days was Allan Kenny, he always had a scotch in his hand (laughs). He could bowl a bit too. Then you've got the zone players like Ross Maguire and Bruce Lack. Norm Honey had the wood on me when I first started playing that's for sure. Whenever I got picked to play for the district or zone, I never pulled out. It was an honour to play for your district and zone. I've only ever pulled out twice from from bowls because of illness, that was about it.

BG: There would have been a few you've played a lot of bowls with at Henty?

PF: Since I've been playing, Roger Meyer and Bruce Diffey have played the entire time and Bruce Whitlock would be the other one. Kevin Bourke is still playing and he was in the top side. Martin Kotzur was a good singles player before my time and he led for me when I first started playing pennant. He was 90 years old when he gave it up, but he was still playing handy bowls then. If he couldn't get within three foot he used to get crook with himself and say things like 'you poor old bastard'. He was a 'cocky' too of course. He was still trying hard even though he was 90-year-old. I also remember playing with Kevin Janetzki in a tournament in the summer of 1987. The temperature was 40 degrees and I was asked by The Border Mail's Brett Murray about playing bowls in the heat and said 'it is pretty hot but I would rather be here than out shearing' (laughs).

BG: I'm sure there's a few more funny stories from over the years, could you share a couple?

PF: Bowling at Temora with Bruce Diffey and the late John Kane, it was a busy weekend and accommodation was scarce. The only place available was the Royal Hotel. When we arrived we were greeted by two regulars that were a bit worse for wear. They wanted to know if we were 'cockies' which we were and then proceeded to give us an earful about the shearers' strike and wide combs. Being a farmer who did my own shearing, I added plenty of fuel to the argument. The funniest part is after a not so good night's sleep, we went to help ourselves to a continental breakfast. We had to wash some dishes first and when Bruce went to dry them, his clean hanky was a better option than the dirty tea towel. When it came to paying for the accommodation, the owner said it would be $15 each, but John promptly told him that he should have been the one paying us to stay there. I was also lucky enough to be part of the Zone 8 team that competed in the Premier League back in 2008. Our team was called 'The Riverina Rollers' and there was one particular character Michael 'Irish' Anthony. I never had the privilege of sharing a room with 'Irish' but Darren Moore from Lavington certainly did. 'Irish' snored so loudly that he rattled the windows and also had a passion for having the air conditioner up so high that it was rather cold. Darren opted for sleeping in the bus to get some sleep and as not to freeze to death.

BG: Your wife Lynne is a handy bowler in her own right, do you get to play together much?

PF: We've won a few mixed events together. I call her 'the boss' because the only time she listens to me is on the bowling green (laughs). I've won the club mixed pairs 18 times, 17 with Lynne and one year she got the shits with it all and I played with Elaine Scholz and we won it. Lynne's father was the greenkeeper at Henty. His name was 'Cec' Edwards and he was a fair bowler himself. But I was only into bowls because my mother started playing years ago. My one regret in bowls, I couldn't win our club mixed pairs with my mother. Therese and Kevin Bourke were the gun mixed side those days.

BG: Have you ever played for another club besides Henty?

PF: The late Harry Gardiner approached me to play at Culcairn and they actually won the threes that year. I've been loyal. The only thing that Henty bowlers disagree about with me is I follow the Osborne Football Club. But with Osborne winning the premiership last year, they haven't been niggling me the last six months at all.

BG: Did you play any other sports before bowls?

PF: I played a lot of tennis. My local tennis club was Pleasant Hills. I gave that up back in 1988 when I started playing pennant bowls. I was club president there for 25 years and a life member. I was made a life member of the Henty Community Club just last year as well. I was also the Henty Senior Sportsperson of the year in 2005 and 2006. I play a fair bit of golf, but it's a bit less now because I concentrate more on bowls. I still help out on the golf course and around the bowling green.

BG: What about football?

PF: I played out at Osborne for a little while. I was hopeless at footy anyway. I was going out with Lynne at the time and half the team was bachelors. We had no beer licence at the club in those days back in the early 70s. We used to have a couple of beers after the game and then go to the Commercial Hotel in Lockhart and have a beer there for an hour. Then we'd go across to Jack VenerIs' cafe and have our tea. We used to watch the footy on the ABC because they used to show the best quarter of the day from the VFL at the cafe while we were having tea. After that we'd go across to the Lockhart RSL and finish up at midnight. Lynne would still be there with me with about 10 other bachelors playing pool and having a beer. I used to get home safe when Lynne was driving anyway (laughs). We got married and I got hurt playing football and I couldn't afford to get hurt again. I tried to play at Henty as well, I had two years there.

BG: You must have had a lot of support from Lynne over the years?

PF: She says you need to have a very understanding wife. I work hard during the week and I like to have a relaxing weekend with a bit of sport and a beer with mates.

BG: Thanks for your time Peter, any final thoughts?

PF: To all those ego bowlers, let your bowls do the talking instead.