THE GAME OF BOWLS

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 18 January 1935, Page 3

THE GAME OF BOWLS

DEMOCRACY ON THE GREEN RELAXATION FOR PLAYERS A GREAT SOCIAL GOOD. Lacking the boisterous atmosphere and quaint nomenclature of its cousin, the "roarin’ game” of curling, bowls has other qualities that place it in the company of lawn tennis and golf as a favourite outdoor sport. If all the bowlers in New Zealand could be mustered on one piece of ground they would make, in numbers, a good sized army. That could never be done, but in lieu of it Auckland is having just now a fine demonstration of the game’s popularity, in the 22nd annual Dominion tournament, states a writer in the New Zealand Herald. With more than 500 competitors, drawn from nearly every corner of both islands, and playing on 19 greens, it is the largest tourney in the history of New Zealand bowling.

A game that commands such an entry must have some very solid merits, and no one who watched play this week could have failed to divine them. A bowling green in full use has an atmosphere all its own. There is the broad level green —rather parched just now, but the green nevertheless —in it,s pleasant setting of hedges, rockeries and hospitable pavilion. Often it is a really beautiful place.

BOOD-BYE TO CAKE. The free-and-easy garb of players and onlookers, the many coloured ‘‘blazers” and hat-bands all help to give a holiday air. No sound breaks the afternoon quiet but the voices of the “skips” giving directions, the woody impact of bowl on bowl, and now and tlion a •small burst o£ applause for a good shot. In such surroundings the everday cares of business drop unnoticed from a man s shoulders; the easy, relaxed attitudes and happy sunburned faces of the players proclaim it. No wonder that even the hardest-fought tournament games are carried through in a friendly spirit worthy of the oldest and best traditions of British, sport. Statistics tell how the span of life is being gradually lengthened. An hour at a bowling match should convince anyone that bowls has contributed not a. little to the result. In an age of increasing wear-and-tear on brain and nerves, it is a boon beyond price to thousands of business and professional

men. A DEMOCRATIC GAME. There are many other reasons why bowls more than keeps pace with the growth of population. Not even tennis requires such a small area of ground, relative to the number of players who can use it at one time. The individual players outfit consists of four bowls, which if well chosen will last him a lifetime. A green, properly formed and maintained, means a fair outlay, but considering its possible use the cost is not high. Thus bowls is within the rea<;h of almost any man. On the green all are equal. The social good that results cannot be measured, but beyond doubt bowls is one of the factors that help to make New Zealand a happy family.

Tournaments like the present one do good in their special way by drawing all parts of the Dominion together. At each of them new friendships are made on the green and old friendships are renewed. Along with a tournament is always much hospitality; visitors arc billeted by resident players, and there is a round of social gatherings, official and private, large and small.

YISITOKS ’ WIVES AND FAMILIES

This year—a sign of returning prosperity, no doubt —more visiting bowlers than usual have brought their wives. Many nowadays arrive in cars, even from the South Island, with wives and children, thus making the tournament the nucleus of a summer holiday tour. The local bowlers and their wives provide entertainment for all—croquet for tnose ladies who play the game, excursions, tea-parties and evening gatherings.

Altogether, this year's tournament makes it clear that at the present rate of growth the whole affair may soon become so unwieldy that it will have to be divided or reduced in size. Even is that is done, the game of bowls will not suffer. D i? too deeply rooted in the Dominion’s life.