Sport
18 March, 2025
Baker’s continue to delight for Brook
Saturday, March 8, 2025, will go down as one of the most cherished days in Carisbrook Bowls Club history.
After finishing runners-up in three consecutive seasons from 2021-2023, Carisbrook finally claimed the division two pennant, the fourth premiership in the club’s history and their first since 1999.
However, that remarkable victory was extra special for Ron Baker.
The Baker name has been synonymous with the Carisbrook Bowls Club, with a member of the Baker family involved in every Carisbrook premiership-winning side.
“The club was formed in 1948, my grandfather was one of the first members of the club and they eventually won premierships in 1966-67 and 1968-69,” Baker said.
“We didn’t win another grand final until 1999, which my father played in, and now 26 years later we have won another one with myself playing in it.”
Building on the Baker bowls legacy was something Ron never envisioned until later in life.
Having played sport throughout his life, Baker said it seemed like a natural progression to follow in his family’s footsteps and take up lawn bowls.
“I think I started in 2008, my father had retired just before, he gave me his balls and I thought I better use them,” he said.
“I wasn’t playing any sport for a while — I’ve always had a fair involvement with the footy club and the bowls club invited us over on a Friday night for a game.
“We did that for a few Friday nights and then one of them rang me up one Saturday morning and asked ‘what are you doing this afternoon’ and it just kept going from there.
“You have got to keep doing something and bowls is a great social place to be to mix with other people.”
His bowls journey culminated in the division two grand final against Maryborough Golf on March 8, where he helped lead Carisbrook to a 67-44 victory, winning his rink over Harold Patullo 26-15.
After just falling short on so many occasions, Baker said he is proud to join his father and grandfather as a premiership player for Carisbrook.
“It’s huge for the club, we got so close for so many years so it was personally very satisfying,” he said.
“It was almost like relief that we actually did it because we had lost those three grand finals in a row and from a personal point of view I really wanted my photo up there with them.”