BOWLING.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 4368, 12 October 1916, Page 3

BOWLING.

(By Jupiter Pluvius frowned on the Turanganui Club’s opening last week, but that was as far as he went. He. however, allowed the set proceedings to take place, though Ills frown was noticeable all the time- The green-s, of course, were heavy with the rain ot th(> preceding night and of the morning, but the bowlers upide the be s t or tilings and kept the bowl rolling. Tile caretaker, Mr. Stubbins, had the grounds in first-class order, and ho is to be complimented on Ins work. The two local clubs are to be congratulated on possessing such good caretakers a. s tliev employ. I do not know whether'the' local caretakers PW howls, but down south they have wlmt they call a greenkeepers’ day, when the greenkeepers of all the clubs m the Scotch City meet in friendly rivalry at bowls. There was a fine spirit of emulation, .says a southern scribe, referring to the last greenkeepers games, the games being played witU a keenness (and a spirit of good-lol-lowship) that is worthy of copy by the pure amateur. Not every greenkeeper is a great bowler, hut, among the number are several really good exnonents of the game. Everyone was out to win. which is an unexceptional rule in. bowling, and there wa 8 novel a point missed. A greenkeepers’ day in Gisborne is a long way off yet. There were two heroes at tlio luranganui Club’s opening. Donned their 'flannels, tliev did, and I really believe it was their brave showing that drove Jupiter Pluvius from the scene. Hats off to the bravos! . 'rim ladies, of course, were hardi.v to lie expected to muster strong on ■such an unfavorable day. A lew, however, lent their presence to the occasion, and the bowlers were happy thereat. , , The plav of the enthusiasts "as not expected to be top-notch on opening day and it- was of the in-and-out variety'. Under the circumstances it is hardly fair to comment on the play, so 1 will leave well alone, but m the future I will watch and criticise play in match games. The Tunmganui Club, I notice, have decided to coach their new members. This is a step in the right direction, and one I advocated a couple of weeks ago. The fifteen new members - will be thankful some day for the decision arrived at. For some years past the local clubs have been in trouble in the matte* of completing their dub competition matches before the. close of the season. Generally speaking, there has been a great rush r-4 the finish to get through and in several instances some competitions have been abandoned uncompleted. It has been generally understand tluu- tlm competition matches shall not start until the members have had fair practice, but the Turanganui Club are now taking entries i'or their President’s Fours. s<> that a forward move may bo the order by tlm end of the month. The programme of the Dominion Bowling TournOv at W ellington next January lias boon arranged as follows:—Monday, Jan. 8: Doubles m sections of four; Hi heads to be phi>ed ; section winners and ties to go P> the finals: final game to be 21 heads. Tuesday, 9: Singles to he played on the two-life system: 1G heads to he placed: final game to be 21 headsWednesday. 19 Finals of doubles and singles to be played, and North '. South -Island match in the afternoon (Ladies’ Dav). Thursday, 11: Champion Rinks to be started in -sections of ten : 3 games of 21 heads to be placed each day. Friday and Saturday 12 and 13: Rink matches to be continued. After Saturday s play, section winners and those winning as mane games a.s the lowest section winner shall remain in the competition. On Saturday evening those remaining in will ho formed into sections or Four -net on Mondav these will play three games of 21 heads. On Tuesday, the remaining rinks will phiv °h 0,1 th l sudden-death principle; rinks securing tlm greatest number of wins during the four days’ play to have the preference in tlm matter of byes (it an\). It. was also decided that three players from a club, unable to obtain a imirth plaver to make up a tournament rink, .should under exceptional eirenmstan,.e>s bo allowed to select a player from another club. ' Tlm rink games, it will be seen, ar< to be lilaved on the sectional system, and it is'provided that all "'bo win the same number of games m a section should go on as section winners without placing off. Last tournament this led to incongruities and there wa s much disapproval expressed. On the face of it, there was room for dissatiM'.i:•(!.> i. This was how -t panned out: Fountain, of Dunedin won all j-ji ii(. (fames in his section (the only one to do so). He drew a bye, won another game, Hum met defeat, and was out of it. Laughton, of Newtown only won six of lime games in his section, but as nobody did better ]:e, went on and eventually won the championship. This is an admitted defect in the sectional principle (which has many advantages), and the bow - er who can devise a -scheme which will do away with this blemish and yet show how a tournament can lie concluded in reasonable time "ill earn many thanks. There was also complaint about the same kind of thing in the Doubles. Another possible defect of section play—-that of rinks who have n<> chance giving games away to friends — was not in evidence at the last tournament. I did hear, however, of a skip laying the game with three shots up on the last head who had Two

drives to take'his own bowls out. Tho explanation was that ho was trying to let his opponent tie .with the winner of the section, so that both, might bo in it. This is obviously mistaken generosity, as being unfair to other section winners. . . Recently I referred to the decision come to by the Dominion Bowling Association in regard to the two-leet-on-'the-mat rule. "Tho report of the proceedings of tho Association is now to hand, and I make the following excerpts as showing the opinions or our bowling authorities on this vexed question: The rule, said l Mr. C. R. Smith, was generally favored, and there were only a few tournament players opposed to it. He believed that if tho matter was allowed to go on for a year or two longer popular opinion would enforce tho rule. Mr. Hill said he was an ardent supporter of the rule, but in Auckland lie found tlie rule was entirely disregarded. It was no doubt bard on the players, and probably it would be better to bold the question in abeyance but certainly it should bo made imperative that one foot should be kept on the mat| to which there would be no objection. To enforce +ho “two feet” rule by a penalty would give dissatisfaction. Mr. Nicolson said be. should like to see the rule kept on the book's, as it bad come to stay, and within a year or two it would right itself. Auckland, Mr. M. C. Barnett said, was the chief offender in defying the rule and he made bold as to say that the rule was flagrantly disobeyed on purpose to flaunt their independence of the Council in regard to the rule. 'At tli is Mr. McCall urn. (Auckland) made a move, but did not deny tho soft impeachment. Mr. A. E. Fowler believed that tne law was disobeyed because there was nobody to say that- it should be obey-' ttl Mr Marlow stated that Hie mam argument used against the rule was that no penalty was provided, but the Council had the power to suspend a player for a breach of the rules, but it was considered to be too drastic. The greatest difficulty in the south was that the following year the Council decided in the-tournament to ignore the rule. By keeping both feet on the mat the greens were presex vc to a greater extent- He suggest that if a penalty was to be added t the rule it should bo “that a l.layd who offends once should be cautioned, and on a second breach taking place the team to bo penalised one point. Eventuallv it was decided to request the Centres io see that the rule was observed, and not to introduce an> penalty at present. It was also resolved that Centres be asked to request dubs to provide the regulation si/xd mats.