Bowling Notes

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 45, 23 February 1939, Page 21

Bowling Notes

MISUSE OF GREEN

RECKLESS DRIVING

A PROTEST MADE

(By "Kiwi.") There is an old song entitled, "Woodman, Spare That Tree." Judging by the way that some bowlers, and not the junior players either, misuse a green, there is room for a song, called "Bowler, Spare that Green." Considering the time and labour devoted to, and the heavy expense incurred in, making and maintaining a green, bowlers should regard it as a sacred enclosure, to be treated with the utmost care. A letter received from a local green superintendent complains of the damage done to his club's •green by a skip who drove continuously through two morning games dur r ing the recent centre New Year pairs tournament. Some drivers, too, seem to delight in flinging their bowl away from them in such clumsy fashion that in its rapid passage it ploughs through the turf instead of skimming evenly along the surface. The green superintendent's letter is as follows:— "A well-known Wellington skip is making a boast that he drove every head in. the two morning games in the recent New Year pairs tournament. The result was that he did such a lot of damage to the rinks that the greenkeeper was forced to shift the rinks two feet in the dinner hour adjournment. Now, what we green superintendents want to know is, what is the Wellington Centre going to do with these 'driving cranks'? If they do not make a move, then the clubs (who pay, a lot of money to keep their greens in order) will have to consider the matter seriously." .. ; The same green superintendent states that he recently visited four clubs whose mats had no three-inch lines painted across them. He wants to know how in such case an umpire would be able to call on a player to observe the law requiring him to* have one foot at least behind the three-inch line at the moment of delivery. The mats are intended to save undue wear and tear on a green, and their proper use should be insisted on. Another practice that disgusts green superintendents and greenkeepers is when a player, instead of carefully depositing his bowls on the green, drops them, perhaps a distance of several feet, .with the result that nasty dents are made in the surface, which are not easily rolled out, and which are liable to interfere with the run of a bowl. Centre Pairs. The centre annual champion of champions pairs competition will be played on Wednesday next, on the Thorndon Club's green. This will be the. twenty-sixth competition, the fixture first being played in 1914. Kelburn has won the competition four times. Four clkbs have won it three times each, namely, Hataitai, Lower Hutt, Victoria, and Wellington. Eastbourne, Lyall Bay, and Newtown have Island Bay, and Upper Hutt have had a each had two wins each; and Karori, single win each. Bee Stings and Bowlers. When the three rinks of Wellington players who recently toblc part in the Buller Centre tournament, and played elsewhere on the West Coast, were returning to Nelson en route for Wellington the car, after leaving Newton's Flat, was held up by a fallen tree. It appears that the Public Works Department's workmen were widening the road and had to fell the tree, which, it turned out, had housed a hive of wild bees. When the bowling party reached the spot, the workmen had fired the bracken to smoke the bees out. Unaware of the actual position, J. W. Murphy (Victoria), a member of the party and an ex-representative Athletic Club Rugby player, thought he would use his camera to take a photograph of the picturesque scene with the team in the background. When,' however, the disturbed and angry bees unexpectedly and suddenly took to him, Jack Murphy deemed discretion the wisest policy and sprinted towards his pals at a speed which more than equalled the 25 yards' dash which he was wont to make to the enemy's goal line in his football days. He was unlucky enough to receive severe stings on his head and face which required the immediate attention of his friends. The car driver was also in the thick of the trouble. West Coast Trip. The three rinks from clubs in the Wellington Centre who left on February 3 returned on Friday last after spending a most enjoyable time at Nelson and on the West Coast. They took part in the Buller Centre tournament at Westport and played also at Granity, Millerton, Greymouth, Runanga, Hokitika, Reefton, and Nelson. They also visited Denniston, Ross, Charleston, Kumara, and the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers. One rink (J. Murphy, Bruce, P. Ellerm, A. E. Duncan), in their last section game, tied (20-all) against C. Mitchell (Westport), the latter getting 3 in the extra end and winning. Mitchell was the runner-up in the tournament to Brown (United, Christchurch). The tourists were much taken with the keenness of play shown by West Coast bowlers. The clubs visited emphasised how welcome touring teams, especially from the North Island, were, and the service to the game such calls rendered. The West Coast's famous reputation for generous hospitality was found still to hold good everywhere. The glorious bush and mountain scenery of South Westland was a revelation to those of the party who had not hitherto visited. those parts. The success of the tour, which was organised by Mr. J. J. O'Gorman (Wellington), will no doubt encourage other North Island players to visit the West Coast. The "Cripples' Battalion." Mr. A. F. Spiller, centre secretary, has received the following nomination from Auckland to take part in the Returned Soldiers' tournament on March 2 on the Lower Hutt and Petone greens:—H. Catterall, E. Price, A. Cutler, A. Loram (s), The four style themselves "The Cripples' Battalion." Catterall is described as having two "crook" legs, Price as having only one arm and one leg; Cutler as possessing only one leg and one eye, and Loran as having two "crook" legs. They state they are classified as 100 per cent, disability cases. The indomitable spirit and the enthusiasm of play which have actuated these happy warriors in deciding to make the long railway journey between the two cities to participate in the local tournament will command the admiration of bowlers generally." Eastbourne Club. The Eastbourne Club's champion rink, which will represent the club I in the centre champion of champions

annual competition on March 8, is as follows: —F. Craig, D. Jenkins, B. Lenihan, E. J. Paton (s). Notes. Writing to a Sydney bowler, Mr. Walter N. Wake, of Weston-Super-Mare, England, states that the national championships of Great Britain attracted, more than 20,000 entries. Mr. Wake will be remembered as the manager of the 1925-26 British bowling team that toured Australia and New Zealand. After more than 30 years, as an executive officer of the English Bowling Association and official scorer of the International Bowling Board, Mr. Wake has resigned both offices on account of ill health. District Judge A. Thomson, of Sydney, who was for many years president of the Mosman Bowling Club, left Wellington yesterday for Auckland, where he will connect with the Sydney steamer on March 3. Judge Thomson has spent several months in New Zealand on his retiring leave of absence, and during his visit has played on several greens in the North and South Islands. . j Wellington Club. P. Skoglund and T. T. Skoglund are in the final of section A of the Wellington Club's pairs championship. They will play London and E. Walker (s), who on Tuesday afternoon beat D. Spiller and A. F. Spiller (s) by 24 to 20 after a hard-fought game. In the early part of the match Walker and his partner were well down, but by accurate driving Walker recovered much lost ground and began to forge ahead. Then a dour struggle began and it did not terminate until 7.40 pm almost in darkness. On the last head Spiller required 3 to tie or 4 to win He tied, but Walker killed the head' On the extra head Walker gained a single and the game. On Tuesday afternoon the final of the club's singles was played between D. Spiller and P. Ellerm, and was an interesting fighting game to watch The players tied on several heads, and at the twenty-first the score was 17-all. Two extra heads were necessary to obtain a decision, Spiller winning by a point. In the junior singles D. Elias has won in section A and he awaits the winner between F. Smith and Gascoigne in section B in order to play off in the final. In the senior pennants competition, the Wellington Club came in second in section A, and in section D it tied with Thorndon, 11 points each. The stormy weather made things very unpleasant. In.section A F. Smith, C. T.urnbulL T. H. Meadows, T. T. Skoglund (s) went through the six section rounds without a loss. The two Wellington Club rinks headed by the president, Mr. J. H. P'Donnell, which,. in company with' .representatives from the Hutt and Wanganui Clubs, took part in the triangular annual game for the John Duthie Cup at Wanganui last week, report having had a very hospitable reception and pleasant games. They played on their way up at Marton, winning one game and losing the other. The Duthie Cup game was won by the Wanganui Club. Hataitai Club. For the third season in succession Brighting has won the singles championship of Hataitai. The game in the semi-final against Naylor was right up to championship standard. A 3": came to Naylor on the first head, and? a 4 to Brighting on the second. Naylor] then ran on in singles to the ninth? and was 6 up. A.3 and two singles toj Brighting and three singles by Naylorj I gave the last-named still a lead (14-10)" at the fifteenth. Brighting scored a ! two and a single on the next two, andj jon the. eighteenth Naylor collected 1^ The next two heads were Brighting's with singles which evened the score^ 15-all, and one head to go. Brighting* drew a toucher with his second and layj close behind the white and had two] back wing bowls. Naylor played a* perfect running shot with his last, but] the white sprung to Brighting's wingers and left him the winner by 1. Wellings beat Wilson easily in the other semi-final, but was equally easily beaten by Brighting in the final, in which neither played up to form. Cathie, McCrea, Wilson, Claridge, and Rodgers are still in the pairs with one life each. Tasmanian Bowler on Tour. Mr. Norman R. Pierce, of the Royal Hobart Bowling Club, Hobart, who had been revisiting the Dominion, following on a six months' tour abroad, including a visit to England, Canada, and the United States of America, left for Sydney by the Awatea on Tuesday last. Mr. Pierce, who is Tasmanian;born, was at one time attached to the New Zealand Department of Agriculture as an orchard inspector, but following war service he returned to Tasmania. He subsequently spent some years in California. Whilst in San Francisco on this occasion he was appointed as the Australian official representative of the American Lawn Bowling Association, with the object of bringing under the notice of Australian and New Zealand players the fact that that association is anxious to have overseas competitors .„ at its big open bowling tournament to be held at San Francisco and Oakland from September 4-16 next. Mr. Pierce has interviewed the Dominion Council Executive at Auckland o*. the subject. He understood from Mr. Arthur Parker, the well-known Auckland bowler, that he is hopeful of taking a rink to San Francisco. Mr. Pierce is sanguine that a team of 30 or 40 American bowlers will tour New Zealand and Australia from March to May next year, not for the purpose of taking part in any tournaments, but to view the scenery, study the social conditions, and to get nearer to the people on this side of the world, particularly the bowling fraternity. Should this visit actually take place, it would have special importance in view of the world-wide unrest and the growing general feeling of the need for the peoples of the great democracies to draw close together in every way. Whilst in .England, Mr. Pierce made a careful study of indoor bowling greens, as he is hopeful of one being established in Hobart and then possibly in Melbourne, where the matter is already being gone into. Mr. Pierce found that the indoor green game was going ahead by leaps and bounds in England, and that some 90 clubs in and around London, for instance, had indoor greens. These greens are either specially built for the purpose or buildings, such as indoor swimming baths, etc., are adapted for winter bowls. Jute fir felt carpets are used for floor covering.