Around the greens

Gisborne

Steve Goldsbury successfully defended his Gisborne Bowling Club senior fours championship title at the weekend without losing a life.

Goldsbury made one team change from last season’s winning combination, with Robin Jefferson stepping in at lead. Ricky Miller was in his usual spot at two and Jamey Ferris directed.

Under the two-life system, only five points separated the two finalists in their two clashes.

The Malcolm Trowell-skipped combination of David Beattie, Bruce Easton and Arthur Hawes provided a real contest and both games went the distance.

In Round 3, Goldsbury won 14-11 after 15 ends and in the final the difference was just two, 12-10.

Veteran Maurice Taylor wrung the best out of his inexperienced team of Tim Sherriff, Dennis Raggett and Thomas Terekia. They pulled off the upset of the championship, knocking out Bob McIlroy (skip), July Hoepo, Mark Walker and Kahu Kerekere. The Taylor combo withstood a barnstorming finish from McIlroy to win 16-14.

Club triples and pairs champion McIlroy had earlier lost to Goldsbury.

Having already played their “final”, Taylor’s four were no match for Trowell’s combination in the semifinals and conceded early.

Carol Hawes (s), Lorna Reeve, Anne Day and Lesley McIntosh had to come from 13-1 down to win the potential final in the women’s championship, 14-13.

Bobbie Beattie (s), Tanya Harrison, Karen Higgins and Barbara Gibson were fast out of the blocks but their inexperience told when McIntosh, leading for Hawes, got the mat after the seventh end and kept the ends short. The Beattie four were unable to adjust and Hawes bagged the title without losing a life.

Jack Clark Triples

As the only team with four wins, Arthur Hawes (s), Beverly Davy and Kahutia’s Ray Young hoisted the Jack Clark Memorial Shield aloft last week.

The open triples event is always popular and the good-sized field enjoyed some of the best conditions of the season so far.

Graham Reeve (s) and Poverty Bay’s Marion Jones and Richard Jones (no relation) were second, with three wins and a points differential of 20.

Bruce Easton (s), Ted Mehrtens and Lesley McIntosh were third, also with three wins but, with a differential of 19, they fell one point short.

Corner to Corner

After a false start two weeks ago, Corner to Corner will finally kick off this Friday. Everyone’s invited to this fun twilight event. First bowl is scheduled for 5.15pm.

Poverty Bay

THE men’s and women’s open pairs club championships last weekend drew six teams in each section.

Competition was run under a two-life system, with games played over 18 ends or an hour and three-quarters, with no time limit for finals.

Men’s championship winners were Steve Berezowski and Bruce Ball, who defeated Ian Carroll and Jeff Davis in Sunday’s final.

Ball’s careful drawing combined with some accurate driving from Berezowski gave this pair the edge from the start. At the halfway point they led 13-5. Maintaining this advantage, they went on to win 19-10 and take out the title.

In Round 3, Berezowski and Ball defeated Carroll and Davis to take a psychological advantage into the final.

A good fourth-round win against Puna McRoberts and Colin Evans bolstered Carroll and Davis’s hopes of revenge against Berezowski and Ball in the final.

Women’s championship winners were Erin Sutherland and Joy Davis, who defeated Jan Powell and Ngawai Turipa in Sunday’s final.

The two sides were evenly matched. Each won nine ends, but the winners managed eight multiple-shot ends compared with their opponents’ seven single-shot ends.

At the halfway point, the 10-9 scoreline was indicative of a close game. All four players were in splendid form and demonstrated draw bowling to perfection. The final score of this battle was 20-13.

Jan Powell and Ngawai Turipa defeated Diane Christie and Marilyn Knowles 20-10 in Round 4 before meeting Sutherland and Davis on the second day.

Both winning teams were unbeaten going into their potential finals.

Having enjoyed nearly two hours of scintillating bowling on Sunday, spectators were clearly disappointed when both matches came to an early conclusion.

Upcoming events

TUESDAY, November 7, Melbourne Cup Fun Day Tournament: Three one-hour games with special wacky rules!

November 22, Mixed Progressive Triples: open to the members of other clubs.

Kahutia

THE intermediate fours club champs were held at the weekend.

With leads and twos able to take part, four teams entered.

In the first round, Lucy Shanks (skip), Anita Vaotuua, Murray Owen and Joe Wimutu took on Alan Thomas, Norm Young, Alic Brown and Brian Cairns (s).

The other match-up was between the team of Ray Young, Frank McLaughlin, Gary Tocker and Jock Smith (s), and Tony Dobson, Neville Wagner, Alan Parker and Murray Duncan (s).

Both games were one-sided, as were the Round 2 games, Cairns defeating Duncan and Smith beating Shanks, earning Smith a bye into a possible final.

Round 3 was more of a tit-for-tat affair as Shanks dropped down to lead and Wimutu took over the reins.

Going into the last end, the Cairns four were one up on the board but couldn’t quite hold out the opposition. They dropped two shots, not only losing a life but also their campaign for the title.

Facing the difficult task of taking not one but both lives from the Smith four, Wimutu and team had to regroup after the one-sided game the day before.

But it was as if a new team turned up for the final day. Shanks seemed in her element. Time and time again she set up the heads perfectly for the team to follow and that they did, taking both the Smith team’s lives and the championship.

On Monday, the club held the Farm Meats Labour Day graded fours sponsored by Glenn Brown.

Twelve teams took part. They included two players from Kawerau, a team from Poverty Bay and a composite team from Te Karaka, Tolaga Bay and Gisborne.

It was a good day with lunch, music and refreshments.

The winners were Wyllie Murray, Ian Greeks, Murray Duncan and Mark Bain, with three wins and a draw, +26.

Runners-up were Norm Young, Joe Wimutu, Mo Kapua and Anita Vaotuua, with three wins and a draw, +8. — Blocker