Great treble for Jolly

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33448, 1 February 1974, Page 7

Great treble for Jolly

lor the 60-year-old Dunedin bowler, Gordon Jolly, the gold medal he received yesterday as skip of the winning New Zealand fours was another milestone along a notable bowling career. He has now won New Zealand, Commonwealth and world fours titles, and he singles out the national championships which he took in Christchurch four years ago, as giving him the greatest thrill. “This was because 1 had m\ son, Peter, playing lead for me: It was an occasion which meant a lot to us both. I was more pleased for his sake than mine,” Jolly said. MODEST CHAMPION Such words are not surprising front a man whose natural modesty made his win yesterday popular for more than just parochial reasons. “I had a fine team in front of me. Only in one game did they leave me in the cart and that, fortunately, turned out to be one of my better games,” he said. The team had improved as the tournament progressed. “Kerry Clark was a very steady lead: we knew there would be no better second than Dave Baldwin; and Jack Somerville's driving was of tremendous value when we were in tight spots." "QUITE SATISFIED" Of his own form, Jolly said; he was very disappointed with the way he played against Wales—a game which New Zealand lost

—but was "quite satisfied" with his contribution. "For the selector's sake. I am very happy about the win," said Jolly. "The\ came in for some criticism because of the four they chose, but who can argue against a gold medal." Jolly was introduced to bowls as "a barefoot schoolboy" in Cromwell, l ater, he played representative tennis for Otago for eight year and began playing bowls seriously in the early 19405. PROFESSIONALISM He is a past-president of the New Zealand Bowling Association and is now employed full-time as the association's secretary—a fact which one wellw isher jokingly observed yesterday mav make him a professional. However, for those who have watched Jolly and his team over the last week, professionalism in a different shade of meaning of the yvord is a fair description. To emerge successfully from suqh a strong field required the “professionalism” born to players w ho are able to accomplish a given task, successfully, and with a minimum of fuss.