Around The Greens

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32774, 26 November 1971, Page 17

Around The Greens

A lack of information to this column by some clubs has been explained by the fact that top bowlers are not prepared to enter into championship matches until the weather and greens become more “suitable.”

Our only answer is that a “good” player should be able to adjust his game to any conditions and if a player with a reputation must wait for what he considers are the right conditions before he is prepared to meet a lessrenowned rival, then he is more in danger of harming his reputation than improving it. After all, when two bowlers take the green for a match both are subject to the same weather and green conditions. It is true that fine weather makes a game more enjoyable, but to hold-off purely in the hope of a faster green must be getting very close to over-stepping the boundaries of sportsmanship. On the other hand, it was pleasing to hear from one club where a player of considerable reputation was only too willing to' go through with an arranged match on a night when a strong wind made accurate drawing virtually impossible. He had little of the luck which is essential when bowling in a wind and was beaten; but it was a defeat which would do little harm to his standing as a sportsman. For those who dislike playing in the wet, the cold or a gusting wind the words of a nationally-recognised bowler may be of some assistance. “Such conditions just make me concentrate all the harder,” he said. “I even feel I hold an advantage as I am usually sure they worry my opponent more than me. Of course, if he continually tells me how difficult it is to bowl in such conditions I agree wholeheartedly with him, as in his mind the problem is only exaggerated.” This is gamesmanship of a different order. Hr * *

The Marlborough centre’s triples tournament last weekend attracted 38 teams, with six qualifying for postsection play on the Blenheim club’s green on Sunday. In the final R. Brown’s team of H. Hester and B. Rees beat W. Steele’s combination of P. Horton and D. McFedries 17-11. In the semifinals Brown beat F. Smith and Steele beat L. Poidevin. The other two qualifiers were W. Humphreys and W. Page.

There have been a number of upsets in the Cashmere championships recently. In the fours A. Purves scored a surprise win over K. Donaldson’s strong rink and J. Bradshaw, thanks largely to a fine exhibition of drawing by S. Day, defeated M. Graham. A- Roberts’s four found its true form to beat L. Bradbury convincingly, while J. Stevenson deservedly beat R. Madsen.

V. Jackson, who is bowling very well at present, rescued his team on the last end in its match against R. Speer’s four, as did S. Shuttleworth against H. Kent. In the singles, D. Clibborn bowled very well to take F. Turner to the last end and in the pairs J. Bradshaw and S. Shuttleworth brought off a major upset by taking a life from A. Marriott and A. Roberts. # * *

It is to be hoped that next Sunday Christchurch bowlers show more interest in their sport than they did last year when the first round of the Rothmans national intercentre tournament was played in the city. ' The venue is again the Linwood club and although the crowd last year was disappointing the standard of bowling was extremely high. There is every reason to expect a similar level being maintained this year and for no other reason than the effort that has gone into the organisation, the tournament deserves the support of all associated with the sport. o * *

D. P. White, the defending singles champion at Christchurch W.M.C., suffered a setback to his hopes of repeating the feat this season when he lost his flrrt life to G. Glasgow. In a tense game, full of good bowling, Glasgow got home by one point. « « «

After three rounds of the Three-fours inter-club competition only one team, Bumside I, has scored a possible 18 points. Although all results of last Saturday’s matches had not been received by the centre secretary (Mr M. A. Le Cren) yesterday it appears that Linwood I is second with 17 points and then follow St Albans I, with 16, and Fendalton I, with 15. Likewise, the Manning Cup position is also clouded by the slowness of some clubs to file results, but Mr Le

Cren said it appeared that Christchurch and St Albans would currently be the leading pair. In the Robinson Shield competition, 11 teams are unbeaten after three rounds. * # The qualifying rounds of the Canterbury club’s fours are nearing completion and skips so far to have won the necessary four games to qualify are G. Dunn, O. Whitford, R. McLeod, J. Wood and A. Taylor. In the singles championship McLeod was given an unexpectedly tough game by A. Dowling. Playing the nineteenth end the score was 17-17 and Dowling then added a single after holding four shots before McLeod’s last bowl. However, on the final end it was McLeod who got a four and this gave him the game, 21-18.

>;< # # It is fairly certain that one local bowler will take more care in his reading of draw sheets in future.

The player, a fourth-year colt, contacted a much more experienced bowler from his club and informed him that they had a singles championship match to play. The more experienced player agreed to a time and date and in a keen contest it was the colt who emerged victorious. However, the flush of success was taken from his face when he went to record the result and found that he had mis-read the draw and was, in fact, matched against another player.

S< 4s 4s The first round of the singles championship at Papanui is almost completed and one of the best matches last week was between two newcomers to the club. J. E. Dawson, formerly of Opawa, surprised even himself a little when he lead W. T. Newburgh, who was the singles champion at Elmwood on more than one occasion and is a former Maddison Trophy winner, for more than three-quarters of their match. Newburgh drew even on the eighteenth end and then, rather luckily, scored a four to tie up the game.

« • • Rain washed out play after the first day in the annual Bacardi tournament, a national event for the licensed trade, at Wanganui last week. The tournament will now be held in February in Wellington.