A meeting to form a bowling club at The Entrance was called in August 1938 at the Memorial Hall which later became the Youth Centre, but only six people turned up.
After a long wait for more arrivals, the meeting lapsed through lack of interest, but those six were undaunted. Twelve months later, in August 1939, another meeting was called, this time attracting 37 men and women.
The first site inspected was on the northern side of Denning Street, opposite Park Avenue, now known as Park Road. It was sufficient for one green and a clubhouse, but the price, 1,000 pounds was out of the question as far as club finances were concerned. However, Erina Shire Council granted the club use of the land on which the club now stands for a “peppercorn” rental of 10/- a year.
The site was swamp and densely covered with tea-tree, with a shallow watercourse about six feet wide running where the entrance to our Club is now. Topsoil was carted from Berkeley Vale, and the stones for The Greens foundation were gathered from the hill behind Tumbi Umbi.
Members loaded these by hand and carted them by truck to the site. The first roller, an old grinding roller from the brick kilns, was brought for 1 pound and converted for use on the green.
Not being completely cylindrical, it was inclined to roll in an arc, but it served a purpose. The womenfolk worked hard, raising funds from which they presented the club with its first mower. The first green – now number 3 green – was officially opened on April 9th, 1944. Mowing, rolling, fencing and top-dressing were all done voluntarily and funds for fertilisers and seeds came from the pioneer members own pockets. With no water supply the greens were watered by use of watering cans.
The Club progressed but at the official opening in April 1944, there were still only 18 members. In August 1945, the number had grown to 69, the following year to 88. A tent used to serve as the club-house and the billy was boiled at the homes of Jim Barnwell and Jim Hands in Warrigal Street.
This building, 39 feet by 18 feet, was transported in sections and re-erected on the site of the present clubhouse. Original members Mr & Mrs Jim Duffy are said to have purchased this and donated it to the Club.
The second green – now number 2 – was opened in 1947 after solid work by the initial workers. This was followed by a third green – now number 1, and a further green – now number 4 in 1962. This gave The Entrance, among the biggest bowling clubs in the state, four greens.
From 1939 to 1968 the club had only five presidents: H. J. Seargent (1939-43), E. H. Duffy (1943-57), T. Shore (1957-60), R. Dunn (1960-64), H. Grace (1964-65) and R. Dunn (1965-68). The first executive officers were Messrs. Harry Seargent (President), Ted Stokes (Secretary) and Andy McElhone (Treasurer).
Theo Callaghan who was a tradesman and at the time known as the best in the state, was the first Greenkeeper.
With the advent of The Entrance into the bowling world, sufficient clubs were now available to form the Brisbane Water District Association. It comprised of Wyong (the oldest bowling club on the Central Coast, 1912), Woy Woy, Gosford and The Entrance.
Brisbane Water District Association later became Central Coast District Bowling Association as it is now known.
Tom Shore was President during the 1972-73 period and during this time a lot of changes began to take place in the Club.
The Club obtained a loan from the Commonwealth Bank of $200,000 to be used in the reconstruction of a new Clubhouse. This enabled the committee to go ahead and have plans drawn up for the proposed alterations and extensions. In the following months a Building Committee was formed: Bruce McDonald, Roy Thompson and Jack Gibson (President from 73-75). The Architect was Jeff Richardson and the person in charge of building was John Farac. Before the rebuilding could commence, number 2 green had to be relocated 6 feet nearer to Taylor Park to allow greater access to and from the new Clubhouse.
Whilst the construction work was carried out, in the clubhouse, around the Clubhouse and above the clubhouse, not one days trading was lost.
Even though many times during heavy rains sections of the Club would be flooded. In November 1975 the 2 storey clubhouse as it now stands, minus the Eastern Lounge, was completed.
Roy Thompson was President at the time of the Official Opening. In the late 1970’s we had a big influx of top bowlers. We immediately became one of the top bowling Clubs in the State.
In 2019, The Greens, The Entrance underwent amalgamation with Mingara Leisure Group in September 2019.
With barely enough time to start working through operational requirements to help improve the club’s situation, the club house at The Greens caught fire in March 2020. The fire caused extensive damage and thankfully no one was injured. As a result, the club has been closed since this time whilst insurance assessments are done and rebuild plans are finalised. This process was greatly inhibited by the global pandemic – Covid-19. Mingara Leisure Group continues to work through plans for a rebuild and is hopeful to commence works in 2021.