Professional tournament for women

ENTRIES have opened for Gisborne’s first women’s bowling tournament — apart from championships — for years.

Gisborne Bowling Club will host a two-day women’s professional pairs tournament on April 8 and 9.

It will run at the same time as a men’s pro pairs event, a regular Kahutia Bowling Club fixture.

The Gisborne and Kahutia clubs are jointly promoting the two events, aiming to attract bowlers from outside the district, particularly couples.

A five-year naming-rights sponsorship from the BK Agency enables the Bronwyn Kay Women’s Pro Pairs to offer $2000 in prize money, making it the richest bowling event in the district.

Gisborne Bowling Club president Carol Hawes hopes most of the district’s female bowlers will support the new tournament.

“With the merger in recent years of the men’s and women’s bowling clubs, women’s events — apart from championships — have disappeared,” she said.

“This new tournament will return a women’s event to the bowling calendar.

“It is a new event for the area and, coupled with two popular pairs formats, the prize money on offer makes it a very attractive proposition.

“We are already accepting entries from out of town so local bowlers will need to be prompt with their entries if they don’t want to miss out.”

Entry forms are at the three town clubs — Gisborne, Kahutia and Poverty Bay.