Gisborne Bowling Club completed a clean sweep, winning all four divisions of the Bowls Gisborne East Coast centre interclub event on Sunday.
The weather deteriorated during the day and in the second and third rounds players had to contend with strong, gusty, cold winds which would not have been out of place in the middle of winter.
The Division 1 men’s and women’s events were played at the Gisborne Bowling Club greens over three rounds.
In the men’s event, the feature of the first round was a singles clash between Gisborne’s Jamey Ferris and Bowls NZ Silver Star holder David File (Te Karaka).
Their recent meetings had ended in one-point wins to File, and he repeated the dose, getting home 19-18. File ended the day undefeated, while Ferris beat Murray Murton (Kahutia) 25-22 and Steve Berezowski (Poverty Bay) 25-15.
In the men’s pairs, Gisborne’s Steve Goldsbury (skip) and John Kanawa ended the day undefeated.
Following wins against Kahutia (21-13) and Poverty Bay (28-6), they beat Te Karaka’s John Dawson (skip) and Arthur Baty 15-9 in their third game.
The Kahutia men’s four of Vern Marshall (skip), Ron Law, Jock Smith and Willie Murray impressed, finishing the day also undefeated. They drew with Te Karaka 11-all, then beat Poverty Bay 23-9 and Gisborne 18-12.
However, the Gisborne team — including the four of Malcolm Trowell (skip), Bob McIlroy, newcomer Dennis Gladding and Ricky Miller — were too consistent. They won seven of their nine games and scored a total of 21 points, with Te Karaka second on 16.
In women’s Division 1, the outstanding performance came from Poverty Bay pair Jan Powell (skip) and Erin Sutherland, who defeated Kahutia 19-13 and Gisborne 17-15, and drew with Te Karaka 16-all.
However, the experienced Gisborne side — Tanya Harrison (singles), Queenie Takurua and Adrienne Smiler (pairs), and Carol Hawes (skip), Lorna Reeve, Margot Willock and Lesley McIntosh (fours) — won all their games in the first round, which gave them an early advantage.
Overall, with a win in the pairs in the second round and wins in the singles and fours in the last round, they ended up five points ahead of Te Karaka, who were in second place.
Over at the Kahutia Bowling Club, where the men’s and women’s second division events were played, both greens were also exposed to the strong cold winds.
The prospect of the Wairoa men’s team repeating last season’s clean sweep was quickly extinguished when they lost their pairs and fours games in the first round.
Gisborne were quickly into action with two wins and a draw in the first round and were never headed. They had two more wins in the second round and a clean sweep in the last round. They ended up with 22 points from seven wins, a draw and only one loss. They finished nine points ahead of second-placed Poverty Bay.
Laying the experienced pair Arthur Hawes and Bruce Easton, who were unbeaten with three wins, and the four of Maurice Taylor (skip), Ropata Ruwhiu, Ron Robertson and Ashli Ferris, who had two wins and a draw. Singles player Charlie Ure contributed with two wins.
Wairoa’s Graeme Fitzpatrick was in outstanding form in the men’s singles, winning all three of his games, beating Poverty Bay 25-10, Gisborne 25-23 and Kahutia 25-16.
Two outstanding performances were registered in the three rounds played in women’s Division 2.
The Gisborne pair of Kay Goldsbury (skip) and Ginny Sherriff finished unbeaten on the day, recording three wins, with Goldsbury emulating the exploits of her husband Steve in men’s Division 1 at the Gisborne Bowling Club. In a commanding performance, Goldsbury and Sherriff beat Kahutia 26-7, Wairoa 19-10 and Poverty Bay 32-7.
The Gisborne four of Anne Day (skip), Kym Brown, Karen Higgins and Barbara Gibson also proved their worth, beating Poverty Bay 17-11 and Kahutia 16-12, and losing to Wairoa by only one point, 13-12.
In the end, Beverly Davy’s 25-22 singles win against Kahutia proved crucial in the final tally.
After the second round, both Gisborne and Wairoa were equal on 12 points. In the third round, both teams won two games and they ended up tied on 18 points. However, Gisborne’s superior +28 net total shots gave them the win, with Wairoa’s net total shots zero.
The feature of Wairoa’s brave showing was the performance of Glenda Kapene in the singles. Her competitive instincts were to the fore as she finished undefeated, beating Kahutia 25-19, Poverty Bay 25-23 and Gisborne 25-8.
Inspection of the scorecards after the Division 2 men’s event showed Kahutia singles player and elder statesman Mike Chisholm delivered a staggering 340 bowls during his three games.
Further research showed fellow competitors Graeme Fitzpatrick delivered a total of 332 and Charlie Ure, 308.
When compared with the fours players delivering 90 bowls each on the day and the pairs players, 162 each, who said playing singles required the least effort?
Special thanks go to all the singles markers, who endured the wintry weather during the second and third rounds.
In summaryMen’s Division 1: Gisborne 21pts, 1; Te Karaka 16 points +10, 2; Kahutia 13pts +17, 3; Poverty Bay 3pts -80, 4.
Women’s Division 1: Gisborne 18pts +41, 1; Te Karaka 13pts -32, 2; Kahutia 12pts +19, 3; Poverty Bay 10pts -28, 4.
Men’s Division 2: Gisborne 22pts +61, 1; Poverty Bay 13pts -27, 2; Wairoa 12pts -8, 3; Kahutia 6pts -26, 4.
Women’s Division 2: Gisborne 18pts +28, 1; Wairoa 18pts 0, 2; Kahutia 9pts +2, 3; Poverty Bay 9pts -30, 4.
The next centre events are the men’s JJ Martin Memorial Open Fours and the women’s Rahiwi Cup Open Fours, to be played on October 27 and 28.
Entries close at 5pm on Tuesday, October 23. Entry forms are available from the centre handbook. Entry fees are $80 a team for both events.