Bowls: President's Day returns

Bowls Napier president Ken Greeks has a little bit to boast about this week.

It has more to do with his work off the greens than his play on it. Greeks has organised his club's first President's Day tournament in five years.

The Bay Tours & Charters Ltd-sponsored triples tournament which will be played at the club tomorrow has attracted 42 teams and will be the biggest President's Day event to be staged in the Bay.

"We'll be using all three of our greens at the club. That's a first for a President's Day tournament and at least 90 per cent of the teams will have a club president in them," former Hawke's Bay representative Greeks said.

The boasting tone in Greeks' voice decreased when he was quizzed about the chances of the team he will skip collecting the $300 first prize. Greeks will skip a triple which will include his clubmate Ron Palmer and his wife Shirley Greeks who plays at Bowls Taradale.

Greeks, who played at the old Napier club for 25 years before it amalgamated with the Marewa club to form Bowls Napier 12 years ago, listed four skips he believed were capable of collecting the first prize - Bay View's Barry Wakely, Heretaunga's Bruce Stewart and the Havelock North pair of Hawke's Bay representative Graeme Fulford and Dave Haggerty.

"Bruce and Barry in particular never travel light," Greeks explained.

Other fancied skips include Heretaunga's Jim Bentley and Malcolm Stockwell of the host club. Several of the Bay's top women will also be in action including the Omarunui pair of Dot Palmer and Robyn Wallace who both featured in winning pairs and triples teams at the zone three regional playoffs a fortnight ago at Greeks club.

Four 90-minute games will be played on each green and teams accumulate points to determine green and overall placings at the end of the day. Prizes will be awarded to the top three teams on each green and the top three teams overall.