Around the greens: bowling club news

Bowls Burton Cup Final - Carol Hawes

Gisborne

After heavy overnight rain, the greens were very wet on Saturday, and the club championship triples were deferred until Sunday. Consequently the only title to be finalised last weekend was the junior women’s triples, which had only attracted two entries.

Anne Day (skip), Karen Higgins and Helen McIldowie beat Bev Davy (s), Ginny Sherriff and Kym Brown twice after two hard-fought battles.

In the open women’s championship, Bobbie Beattie (s), Ronnie Crone and Kay Goldsbury have two lives intact. After having a bye in the first round, they beat Queenie Takurua (s), Janet Willson and Jenny Evans by one point on an extra end, and then eventually had a comfortable win against Carol Hawes (s), Lorna Reeve and Lesley McIntosh, who had led 9-5 at the halfway point.

The Hawes team had earlier beaten Takurua’s team, and so will have one life left when they meet the Beattie team in the potential final.

Six teams lined up for the open men’s title, and Arthur Hawes (s), Bruce Easton and Dave Beattie still have two lives after beating Gus McCabe (s), Graham Reeve and Rex Richardson in the first round, then Graham Moore (s), Bruce Gledhill and Bruce Smart in Round 2, and Jamey Ferris (s), Ricky Miller and Mark Walker in the third round. They will have a bye when play resumes.

Steve Goldsbury (s), Maurice Taylor and Ted Mehrtens lost to Maurice Allan (s), Rod McCulloch and Richie Raggett in the first round, but then beat McCabe’s team in Round 2 and reversed the earlier result when they met Allan’s team again in Round 3.

Ferris’s team beat Graham Moore (s), Bruce Gledhill and Bruce Smart in Round 1, and Allan’s team in Round 2, before coming up against the Hawes team in Round 3.

Goldsbury and Ferris will play off in the fourth round, with the winner then due to meet Hawes in a potential final.

Kahutia

The greens were in excellent condition when the club’s championship triples were successfully completed over the weekend.

Six teams entered the men’s open event, and Vern Marshall (s), Robin Jefferson and Charlie Ure were successful with two lives intact, although they only got through by one point in a potential final against Murray Murton (s), Gary Tocker and Ted Tasker on Sunday.

Marshall was ahead 11-6 after nine ends but a determined fightback by Murton saw the teams level at 15-all with one end to play.

Marshall scored one shot on the last end to win the title, but Murton’s team should also be really pleased with their performance.

In the first round, Marshall’s team had a comfortable win against Mike Chisholm (s), Ray Taylor and Richard Mann, and in their second game they beat Don McDonald (s), Harry Green and Joe Wimutu.

They went on to a good victory over Murton in their first encounter, and then had a bye in the fourth round.

Murton beat Alan Thomas (s), Fred Parsons and Chris Hewson in the first round, and Alastair Macpherson (s), Hiki Kennedy and Mo Kapua in Round 2. After losing to Marshall, Murton went on win comfortably against Chisholm on Sunday morning, and qualified for a place in the possible final.

Glenys Whiteman (s), Francie Adair and Dayvinia Mills went through unbeaten in the women’s open, although they were tested in the two games they played against Millie Allen (s), Maria Bradley and Betty Jackson.

In their first meeting, Allen was ahead 14-8 after 11 ends, but didn’t score again, and Whiteman won 20-14.

In a potential final on Sunday morning, Allen again went to an early lead, and was up 11-4 after seven ends, but Whiteman won the next six ends to lead 15-11.

Allen fought back, however, and led 16-15 after 16 ends before Whiteman scored five shots on the last two ends to take the title with a 20-16 win.

Carol Jukes (s), Lesley Seymour and Anita Vaotuua lost their first game to Whiteman 19-12, then went on to beat Lyn Trueman (s), Judy Taylor and Pat Murton 18-14. In a close third-round tussle they lost 15-13 to Allen.

Trueman lost 14-11 to Allen in the first round.

Only two teams contested the junior eight-years-and-under men’s triples, but three games had to be played to find a winner.

Murray Owen (s), Steve Roberts and Neville Wagner faced up to Murray Duncan (s) and new bowlers Frank McLoughlin and Allan Parker.

Owen had a comfortable 18-10 victory in the first game but Duncan turned the tables in their second meeting, winning a close contest 14-13.

Owen was comfortably ahead throughout the final, winning 16-7, but Duncan must be pleased with the performances of McLoughlin and Parker, who were making their debut in championship play against more experienced opposition.

Poverty Bay

The junior championship singles, held over from the previous weekend, have been concluded.

The women’s under-eight-years final between Erin Sutherland and Marilyn Knowles was evenly balanced for 20 ends, with excellent draw bowls from each player. At that stage, Sutherland was leading 16-15, and she then scored two, two and three to win the title decisively 21-17.

With three players left in the men’s under-five-years competition, David Hooper, with two lives, met Mike Travers, with one life. Hooper took control of this game when he scored three shots on End 14 to lead 13-9. He then maintained that margin until End 20, when another three shots took much of the sting from Travers’s game.

Hooper secured his final two shots on End 24 to win a hard-fought game 21-15. He then met one-lifer Tam Buckingham in the potential final.

By this time, Hooper was in devastating form and had a relatively easy passage to be champion for the year.

Last Wednesday, the club hosted 56 players for the Abraham Plate graded fours tournament, which meant that the green was almost at capacity.

Nine of the 14 teams were either mixed club members, or entirely from other city clubs, which is a good sign of district support.

Four games of 10 ends, with a time limit of 90 minutes, were played. This was ideal as all games were completed before heavy rain arrived and flooded the green.

After three rounds, three teams had three wins, and one team had two wins and a draw.

Two of the three-game winners played each other in the final game. Bruce Ball skipped Agnes Gray, Ron Seabrook and Ginny Sherriff to beat David Holmes (s), Lesley Holmes, Grace Bragg and Wes Baillie.

This fourth win ensured that they were overall winners for the day.

Mark Bain (s), Mo Kapua, Marilyn Knowles and Joe Wimutu took second place when they added another win to their two wins and a draw, while Leoni Renata (s), Janet Baty, Harry Green and Diane Murray lost their final game, but finished third with a differential of +24.

The Holmes team had a differential of +8, and Carol Hawes (s), Ted Mehrtens, Lesley McIntosh and Kym Brown had three wins and +1.

It was satisfying that the artificial green enabled such a competition after the heavy rain.

The support of bowlers from other clubs was much appreciated.

The club’s junior pairs championships for men and women with up to eight years of playing experience were played at the weekend. Although entries were lower than hoped for, the competition was intense.

Four games of 12 ends were played on Saturday, and although rain threatened and a cold wind affected play, the quality of bowls was outstanding.

The last game on Saturday was a potential final when Erin Sutherland and Joy Davis met Marilyn Knowles and Diane Christie. Sutherland and Davis took four shots on the first end and were unstoppable for eight more ends to lead 16-0.

Although Knowles and Christie rallied for the final three ends, the mountain was too steep to climb and the title was firmly in the hands of Sutherland and Davis.

In the men’s section, Jeff Davis and David Hooper, with two lives intact, also scored four shots on the first end.

Their opponents, Chris Valentine and Colin Evans, had earlier beaten Dennis Crone and Jareth Gaskin in a tightly fought match but only had one life left.

Davis and Hooper scored four shots three times and three shots twice to crush the aspirations of Valentine and Evans before 12 ends were finished.

John Fricker and Mike Travers had a bye to the potential final but also had only one life.

This match was played on Sunday in near-perfect conditions, and spectators were treated to a wonderful display of accurate draw bowling by all four players.

Many shots drew applause. When the game ended, those watching would have been delighted to watch another 12 more ends of this enthralling battle.

Davis and Hooper kept their two lives intact, however, to deny the spectators any more excitement by winning 10-7 in fine style.