BOWLING NOTES

Free Lance, Volume XVII, Issue 915, 25 January 1918, Page 18

BOWLING NOTES

By Wcong Bias

nn HE bio- Dominion tournament is - 1 - over and Dunedin players have carried off all the honours —Rinks, Doubles, and Singles alike. Of course, -with- the play going on in its midst, Dunedin had a great preponderance in the number of entries, but that does not mar the glory of the achievement, for there was plenty of talent from other centres engaged in the struggle. Let me resume the parable where I paused last week. In the Rinks contest all teams scoring 7 wins and over in the 9 section games were admtted to a second lfe of three games. There were just 13 rnks of these lucky beggars, and for the second life they were grouped into 3 sections. Professor Maxwell Walker's rink (Ponsonby) was the only one to get through its section with an unbeaten record of 9 games. Bailey (Hataitai), with 7 wins and 2 losses came through with him, and to Bailey belongs the distinction of being the first to inflict defeat on the Ponsonby Professor. This happened in the first game of "the second life." But it was Bailey's expiring effort, for his other two games were failures, and so he passed out. Among others who got into the second life also were Colville, of Edgeware (one of Christchurch's suburbs) and the Caseys, of Ponsonby, whose rink was skipped by Parsons. These had a record of 8 wins and 1 loss. Wylie (Te Hiwi), Noble (Newtown), and Gray (Kelburn) were amongst the larger number who got through with 7 wins and 2 losses. The ultimate winner, long Russell Smith, of the Otago Club, was amongst this crowd. The gates of Paradise were closed upon Magnus (6 wins and 3 losses), and Ted Hill (5 wins and 3 losses). In a game played between Thomson (Carlton) and Underwood (Newtown) .37 heads were played, 16 of them being burnt. How is that for high in the wayi of driving? Noble started well in the second life by beating Fastier (Caversham) 26-16, but he lost to both Russell Smith and Johnston. Gray (Kelburn) tied with Parsons (Ponsonby) 2 wins each and went down in the play-off, 2 under. Just prior to this Gray had a thrilling win against Colville (Edgeware). At the last head Colville was 2 up and lying the shot and with Gray one shot to go. With his last shot the Kelburn skip drove the jack into the ditch for 3 and won the game. In the semi-finals, Smith (Otago) quenched Maxwell Walker's light 2 up, and Parsons (Ponsonby) disposed of Smellie (Green Island) 5 up. The final on Saturday between Russell Smith (Otago) and Parsons (Ponsonby) was rather a cake-walk, the Ponsonby rink (which included the Caseys, father and son) being not up to form. When 14 heads were gone Smith was 7 up, and this was still the position when the last head was reached. Parsons, got 2 out. of it, and the game ended in Smith's favour, 23-18. Robson led for Smith and Spinks and Falconer were Nos. 2 and 3 respectively. Casey pere led for Parsons, McLeod was No. 2, and Vic Casey was No. 3. As Russell Smith is this year President of the Association and a jolly good fellow to boot, his win was highly popular. By the way, it is the first time the South Island has won the Dominion banner. In the Pairs contest, as I pointed out last week, the sectional games proved fatal to all the pairs of Wellington district except Compton and Wylie, of Te Hiwi. In the play-off between section winners Wylie started well by beating Tom Sanders, of Kaituna, 22-15, while Parsons (Ponsonby) beat MaeDougall (Christchurch) 3 up. Hogg and Harraway (Dunedin) inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Caseys, of Ponsonby, 22 to 9. In the next round, Harraway passed out Wylie, and Parsons knocked out Woolf (of United, Christ■church), a former champion, 26-15, and then beat Brown, of United, 25-12. The final struggle lay between Parsons and Haxraway. It was a close game, played in a fast-fading light. Parsons was 1 up with 19 heads gone, but Harraway was not to be denied. Hβ scored 2 and 1 respectively on the last 2 heads, winning by 21-19. Harraway first came into the electric light at the South Island tournament of 1902 at Dunedin where, as a young man, he played substitute No. 2 for Geo. Prince, of Newtown, and ma-

terially assisted the Newtown rink to win the championship. Since then he has won the Singles Championship, and has ever since been in the first flight of players. Only the enthusiasts remained for the singles, which started on Monday last with improved weather. They were divided into 9 sections, each section being allotted to. a separate green. At the end of the first day's play the only Wellington men who remained in were Ingram, of Wellington (last year's champion) and Houldsworth (Te Hiwi), the latter having 3 wins, and Ingram 2 wins and 1 loss. Prince, Crane, Fossette, and McWhannell were out of the hunt. Harraway (Dunedin) put up a record by beating Longworth (St. Clair) 44 to 6. The latter got his first score (a single) on the 14th head, when Harraway had 39 to his credit. Parsons (Ponsonby) passed out Ingram in the 6th round by 23 to 16, and Houldsworth survived till the 7th round, when he succumbed (5 down) to Woolf, of United (Christchurch), an ex-champion. At the end of the second day only three competitors were left in the contest, viz., W. Foster (Caledonian), Maxwell Walker (Ponsonby), and J. McCurdy (St. Kilda). Foster had an unbeaten record, and the other two had sustained only one loss each. Joe Bentley (Otago Club), who also_ had one loss, was put out of the semi-finals by Foster. In the semi-final stages, Foster beat McCurdy 21-14, and Walker gat even with Foster (hitherto unbeaten) by scoring 19-10. Then came the final on Wednesday afternoon between Foster and Walker, Foster getting his revenge and winning the Singles Championship by 16 to 11. Foster is a veteran of the Caledonian Club and a brilliant and resourceful player. Maxwell Walker is a professor of Auckland University College. Noble (Newtown) was put out of both Pairs and Rinks by the eventual winners. By a bit of ill-luck he let Hairaway through in the pairs when he had him practically beaten. It was the last head of the game (Noble having an unbeaten record and Harraway one loss), and Harraway was 2 down but was lying the shot. It would have been wise policy for Noble to let him have it, but he tried to draw the shot instead, and shifted the jack six inches, giving Harraway a second shot, which enabled him to make a tie of the game. In the playoff Harraway won, and Noble went down and out. * * * * The Wellington Club celebrated Anniversary Day (Monday last) by playing a rmk tournament for President and Vice-President's prizes, and the players were also the guests of the President (Mr. Erskine) and Vice-President (Mr. Albert Wylie) at luncheon, when the usual loyal and patriotic toasts were drunk, and Ted Hill let himself go thrillingly in "Rule Britannia." The section winners (3 games) .proved to be (A) Kinvig and Hill (tie), (B) Grenfell, (C) J. J. Roberts, (D) Bary and Sievwraght (tie), (E) Bush and Ledger (tie). They will play off to-morrow (Saturday) at 4 p.m. Victoria Club had a rink tourney on Monday for the benefit of the Patriotic Fund. Teams skipped by Jackson, Scott, Townsend, Langton, Keith, Marks, Mack, and Ring competed, and

the winners turned up in Baggo-tt, Armit, Youmans, and Keith (skip). Scott's team (Tingey, Rawnsley, Kershaw, and Scott) were runners-up. The Lyall Bay tournament was highly successful. Twenty rinks of various clubs took part. A Section was won by Brackenridge (Newtown) with. 5 wins; Section B by Martin (Lyall Bay) 5 wins; and Section Cby M. Smith (Newtown), 4 wins. To-morrow (Saturday) Smith will meet Brackenridge and Martin will play the winner. The annual fixture between Otaki and Hataitai (3 rinks a-side) was played on the Haitaitai green on Monday. One game of 25 heads and two of 16 heads each were played, and Hataitai won by 191 to Otaki's 123. Pryor's to Windley's 8 was the most crushing"" game."Willie McLaren, now headmaster of Oamaru South Public School, and winner of no end of bowling trophies, was in Wellington on Monday last returning from a trip to Auckland. He was a missing number from the Dominion tournament. Mr. McLaren had the misfortune to be burnt out of house and home in Oamaru on 12th December, when all his numerous bowling trophies perished. Among them was the 40-guinea gold watch that he won with the Singles Championship of Australasia when the All-Whites made their celebrated raid. Last week was a very quiet week at Thorndon. The few afternoon players graft away as usual, and the five o'deckers make a good evening show. The only event of the week was a visit from the Brackenridge family, resulting in a most interesting and close 25-head game. Dad skipped, and Jim and Jack, with a friend, made tip the team. Thorndon was represented by Freeman, Hunter, Ross, Conlin. Oh the last head the score stood 18 all. Conlin, with his last bowl, scattered the head and lay two. Dad sent up a fast one, but failed to alter the score. Wet weather at the end of the week prevented play.