A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
by Horsey
Arnold Hutchins, Pauline Stone and Nanette Treloar were far too good in the centre opening trios.
They easily beat David Lynn, Jay Casey and Lois Lamont 13-4 in the nine-end final of the Sutherland Automotive-sponsored event.
Hutchins’ team were 2-1 up after End 2, then took control. Treloar and Stone gave
Hutchins an “armchair ride”, playing great draw bowls to score time and time again. They were 13-1 up after seven ends.
On End 8, Lynn’s team picked up three shots but were still well behind, and the teams shook hands.
Hutchins, a three-time national champion, managed his team well throughout the day to qualify, then win the event. This was his 78th centre title, Stone’s 14th and Treloar’s 18th.
Pauline Stone wasn’t finished on the mats. She continued her impressive start to the 2023 season by winning the centre women’s singles, being the only player to qualify in the event. It was her 15th centre title.
All others in the event gained two wins each, but needed at least two wins and a draw from their four games to qualify.
In the centre men’s singles, 2022 North Island representative Matthew Foster won his 11th centre title when he beat Jay Casey 11-6 in the nine-end final.
Foster got off to the best of starts, scoring the maximum four shots on End 1. By End 5 he was 9-3 up.
Casey picked up two points on End 6 and one point on End 7 to close it to 9-6.
But on End 8, Foster played splendid bowls to gain two shots, and the players shook hands.
