Progress at last for Kihikihi Bowling Club

Kihikihi Bowling Club is getting new playing surfaces. Photo / Jesse Wood

Kihikihi Bowling Club president Dave Barnett has essentially gifted a new green to the Kihikihi club and community.

The green at the 35-member club had slowly started to fall into disrepair.

In the summer, the grass dies off in the heat and the "good" chemicals can't be purchased anymore to repair it.

Nematodes, or roundworms, that are so tiny that you need a microscope to see them, feed on the roots of plants.

Once the greens dry and die off, the wormholes make it near impossible to play bowls on.

"We either had to do something or shut the place down," says Dave, who is footing the bill for almost half a million dollars.

The new Portuguese carpet is currently in production with Fieldturf NZ under the supervision of Bowls NZ.

It will be of world-class standard and before it can be installed, a layer of clean metal will go down followed by resin to hold it together and to allow drainage before a top layer of felt goes on.

Soil tests were able to date the soil back to 1936 although history states that the bowling club and its greens were where the Kihikihi tennis courts are now sited and were opened in 1934.

They then moved to the existing site on Lyon Street (opposite the Alpha Hotel) in 1946.
The club hopes to open the new green at the end of the month with the first tournament (new season) due in early September.

There will be a new welcome sign for the club and a nameplate thanking Dave for his generous contribution.

A new flag will be unveiled along with matching Kihikihi Bowling Club shirts.

Dave says that they've had a lot of interest from other clubs/teams wanting to play in the opening tournament.

There are already around 60 teams of triples, so they will have to run two tournaments simultaneously – one hour on and one hour off as there will be plenty more entries to come.

The Kihikihi patron will put up the first jack and President Dave will roll out the first bowl on the new green.

Once the season gets underway, Kihikihi Bowling Club will hold two tournaments a month until next August.

Twilight bowls will take place on Monday nights from November to February.

For more details contact Dave, 07 870 2006.