Around the greens,club Bowls news delivered by Graham Reeve

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GISBORNE

The fours championships were completed last weekend and some high-quality bowling was on display.

The open women’s championship went to Bobbie Beattie, Tanya Harrison, Joy Wallace and Kay Goldsbury, with two lives intact.

They beat Carol Hawes, Lorna Reeve, Anne Day and Lesley McIntosh in the final on Sunday morning.

This became a tense contest when the Hawes team clawed back from 14-2 down to be six behind at 15-9 with one end left.

In a gallant effort, they scored five shots, and the potential sixth shot missed when the bowl teetered on the edge of the ditch before dropping in.

Both of these teams had earlier beaten Ronnie Crone, Beverly Davy, Veronica Gribble and Ginny Sherriff, and Beattie’s team had beaten the Hawes four comfortably in Round 1.

The open men’s title went to Steve Goldsbury, Jamey Ferris, Mark Walker and Ricky Miller when they beat Arthur Hawes, Gus McCabe, Mal Trowell and Dave Beattie 10-9 in an exciting final that produced some of the best-quality bowls that most of the spectators will have seen.

These teams had earlier taken a life off each other, and Goldsbury’s team had also beaten Maurice Allan, Rod Young, Bruce Gledhill and Bruce Smart, and had a bye, while the Hawes team had beaten Graham Reeve, Ted Mehrtens, Roy Bilton and Peter Gledhill twice.

Jenny Evans, Margot Willock, Adrienne Torrie and Kym Brown took the junior women’s title unopposed.

Kahu Kirikiri, Dennis Raggett, Tim Sherriff and Mike Harris beat Ian Greeks, Tony Steele, Don Green and Ashli Ferris twice to win the junior men’s championship.

KAHUTIA

The club’s championship singles were completed last weekend using the two-life system. Games were won by the first to reach 21.

Mick Maunder, a new club member from Western Australia, won the senior men’s title, being undefeated after playing great draw and run bowls.

He beat Ray Smith, George Vaotuua, Murray Murton (twice) and Alastair Macpherson quite comfortably, but Charlie Ure pressed hard before Maunder won that match 21-20. Ure had led through 20 ends but Maunder scored two shots in each of the last four ends to snatch victory.

Five bowlers contested the senior women’s championship and all bowled well in matches that were decided when one bowler reached 21 points.

No one went through unbeaten, and the finalists, Glenys Whiteman and Dayvinia Mills, each took a life off the other on the way to the final.

Mills played Emily Hongara in a semifinal that proved to be a classic. After 26 ends they were tied up at 20-all. On the 27th end, Mills held one shot and Hongara had one bowl to play. Hongara’s bowl came close, but just failed to nullify Mills’s advantage.

Mills advanced to the final, and a third game with Whiteman.

This was another close encounter, and after the penultimate end they were locked up at 19-all.

However, on the last end, Whiteman scored two shots after Mills narrowly missed with a drive.

Whiteman retained her title, and the P. L. Harris trophy.

Martin Ryan won the competition for men with under eight years of bowls experience. He played well to go through unbeaten after three rounds on Saturday, earning a place in the potential final.

In the first game on Sunday, Joe Wimutu reversed an earlier result by winning a semifinal against Tony Dobson, 21-12, and securing the other potential final slot.

Wimutu took an early lead in the potential final, and was ahead 13-4 after 10 ends. Ryan edged his way back, but eventually lost his first life, 21-18.

In the actual final, both players played some good draw bowls before Ryan prevailed 21-15. It was not just the luck of the Irish!

In the competitions for women with under eight years and one to three years of bowls experience, only two teams contested each division.

The more experienced players in each division won after two games. In the under-eight section it was Anita Vaotuua over Pat Bayley and in the one-to-three section it was Lucy Shanks over Dianne Oates.

However, Bayley and Oates both played some excellent shots, and will benefit from the experience.

The competition for men with one to three years of bowls experience had three entries.

Ray Young emerged as champion with both lives intact. He had to play his brother Norman twice, and Frank McLoughlin once. McLoughlin lost 21-20 to Norman Young, to miss out on a place in the final.

The six winners will represent the Kahutia club at the centre champion of champions events on April 22 and 23.

POVERTY BAY

The club’s open triples championships were held last weekend in hot summer conditions.

Six teams of men and four of women played 12-end games, with a time limit of 110 minutes, under the two-life system.

Jan Powell, Kathy Carroll and Erin Sutherland took the women’s title, with both lives intact, when they beat Ora Peipi, Marilyn Knowles and Grace Bragg 14-4 in the final.

They beat Val McGreevy, Marion Jones and Agnes Gray in the first round, and then Lesley Holmes, Ellen Valentine and Trish Leach in Round 2 to gain a bye into the final.

Peipi’s team lost to the Holmes trio in Rund 1, before beating the McGreevy team in Round 2, and then scoring a convincing win against the Holmes team when they clashed for the second time in Round 3.

The men’s championship went to Jon Davies, Peter Walters and Bruce Ball when they defeated Lex Kennedy, Ian Carroll and Wes Baillie 12-11 in an exciting final, having beaten them easily, 17-6, in the second round.

The Thursday night twilight aggregate series, sponsored by Hello World, continues to draw over 40 players, and the sausage sizzle after a cool evening game ensures a pleasant social occasion.