Karen Barton was quick to praise her former Melbourne-based coach, Tony Buckingham, after shining for the Hawke's Bay under-8 years women's bowls team yesterday.
On debut for the Bay, Bowls Napier's Barton beat Professional Bowls Association player Fiona Mancer 25-15 in her singles match as Hawke's Bay beat their Wairarapa
counterparts 7-2 at Bowls Heretaunga. With the Bay men recording a 9-0 victory, Hawke's Bay retained the Richard Johnson Trophy with a 16-2 victory.
"That has to be highlight of my five years playing bowls. I started off slow but could not do anything wrong and Tony who coached me for four years in Melbourne before I came to the Bay in November has to take a lot of the credit," Barton said.
"Tony was a club player with 15 to 19 years experience and taught me a lot."
A Kiwi who lived in Taupo before moving to Melbourne for 15 years, Barton is a qualified bowls umpire and is training to be a coach. Yesterday she also played lead for a Hawke's Bay triples team which won 19-6 and a fours team which lost 16-9.
