BOWLS— Without Bias

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12393, 12 March 1926, Page 10

BOWLS— Without Bias

By “Armada.” Naturally, tile correct way to cut the grass on a bowling green is with a scythe, says Mr Tom Robertson, of South London Bowling Club, past president of the English Bowling Association, but this is an art that very few greenkeepers can master, therefore, they are obliged to use the mowing machine. Besides cutting the grass, scything or mowing serves a very useful purpose in opening up the roots of the grass, so that air gets at them, but as a rule, this benefit is very spon nullified through the roller being used immediately after the cutting is dene. Now this is a very great mistake, as when the grass is cut the opposite way to ,the play, there is no need for the roller to be used that day, unless on very special occasions. I should recommend that no roller be used over 2j cwt. A heavy roller is the root of very many troubles, more especially when the grass is moist when rolled. #•» • ■

British bowlers generally during the recent tour, and Mr Walter Wake in particular, were of th ecaiinion that the bowling greens in New -Zealand are not nursed.or cared for as are the English greens, and that once the season is open there is no rest for the green —or the greenkeepr—until the last bowl is rolled, unless the. weather has compelled the players to give the green a spell. In fact, the greens which have' maintained their condition are pressed into service for special games and tournaments, the champion of champions games, etc., so that when the end of the season does arrive there is hardly a green left which is not almost at the end of its tether. Heaven only knows what would happen if the innovation of playing by electric light—as in Auckland- —were introduced. Perhaps it is something to be thankful for that after Easter the evenings are too cold to permit play in comfort/ • • • •

Another point on which Walter Wake waq in no doubt is the matter of rolling. He is convinced that New Zealand greens on the whole get too much rolling, and that in the majority of cases the rollers are too heavy. The Britishers are proud ot their greens, and keen players though they may be, if in the middle of. the season the green requires a rest it gets it, and it is no uncommon. sight to see the green roped in for a fortnight to enable it to recover One has only to look round the Wellington greens to see the effect of the continuous rolling, yet the. greenkeeperq. have no option, as in nice weather they are played upon daily, and in certain cases seven days a week. . Incidentally there are fewer greens in Wellington which suffer from seven days’ play a week than there used to be. The number of Sunday bowlers in Wellington is surprisingly large, and quite a fair proportion of them are averse to any publicity being given to the fact that they do play on Sunday. Is there any more harm in a game of bowls than there is in tennis, golf, motoring, surf-bathing or a dozen other ways of spending the Sabbath ? Yet it is being said that New Zealand is getting into the way of the Continental Sunday ! Maybe it is. •'" » •

Rather- wandering from the subject of rollers and rolling though. Wellington green surfaces generally have that hard baked appearance denoting hard play 'fi-iiai.(plenty of rolling, _ too much. The greens -lack that elasticity which ia theufiiade iof British greens, and in dry weather are too fast, just as a billiards ..table can be too fast and make delicate .touches arid shots impossible. There would be fewer burned bowls and-.m.ore eujoyabte games on turf which had some resilience in it. and a greejt, which is green is very charnfing to lopk upon.

The greenkeepers must not think thesq w&rds are intended for criticism of the manner*-in which they perform their duties. Far from it. The wonder is,that they maintain their greens at such <v high pitch of. excellence under such: exacting conditions. It.is simply a case of neeik must when, the devil "drives. - Take Wellington, Thorndon. Hat Altai. Kolhurn, and Victoria greens. Hardly a day’s rest—except Sundays—have they had since the season opened. Rain lias interfered once cr twice, but as soon as the rain has cleared-the .roller has had,to go on to make, a level surface far play. The rain has no chance to do the good that it should do. The pores of the ground are closed, the grass is crushed and bruised, and instead of kcepifig green dries up like hav. Until bowlers are prepared to make some sacrifices for their greens and give. them some rest they cannot expect to get ideal greens * *. * *

the English Bowlins Association Year Bools contains a verv instructive article by Toni Robertson on the construction and maintenance of bowling greens, and as the article is based on practical esoerience the Dominion Bowling Association might do worse than reprint it and circulate amongst the bowling clubs of the' Dominion. We may quote something from it towards the end of the sea son. when the clubs will bo preparing to put +hsir greens in order. • * * • • THE SONG OF THE JACK (From His Prison House.) Oh J long have I lain in darkness here, With never a ray of 6un to cheer!

Longing I’ve been to roll on t]ie greett And bask once more in a sunlit scene. Chorus:

Then come, ye bowlers brave and bold, Release me from my den; For I would on the green be rolled, Before my merrie men. At last I hear welcome voices near, As the bowlers,gladly now appear: M,v prison doors they’ve opened wide, And in there flows a radiant tide. ‘ Chorus. Oli! jolly it is on the green to roll, I’m now a very merry soul; And, may they bowl at me with might and main, Though not to shut me up again! Chorus. As tne biased woods towards me curve, A thrill runs through my e\ery nerve: And lo! as they compass me around My pulses leap with a joyous sound. Chorus. ~ . , —'Samuel Everett. Bristol, 192-i. (Trom the English Bowling Association Year Book.) Tom Gray, of Keltmrn, cannot complain of his bowling record this seaeon unless it is on account of his luck in. getting through semi-finals only to lose , the linrds. Twice he has reached the final of the Dominion rinks only to find himself the runner-up, this being the case at Dunedin in this year. year he. was ?n. the final of the Wellington champion of champions rinks, but was only the runner-up in the end. fie did it again last week, and succumbed in the. final to . the Lyall Bay rmk skipped by Jack Reid. Stephens was skipping the Kelburn rink and played well. ; Kelburn. were two up with one head to go, but the Bayitee came to light at the crucial moment and scored three, thus winning the champion of. champions rinks. &Gdrman played well for the Bay, aa did the skip. * - • ' : * ' • ' Jack Reid has himself and his club with glory to ho sure, -He tvou the treble jn his rlqb, singlae, pairs, and rinks, and gal to the final in the champion of champions singles, where he lost to the fiutt representa» tn e. fie went out early m tne chainpion of champion pairs, but lie aid remarkably well -to . win bis way through the rinks 'and secure the honour. A good rink it is, too! Congratulations to you, Jack. • * . • Thought' it was time Seatoun' cats* tured the Stansell Shield again as hinted last week. The match between Hataitai, Seatoun and Lyall Bay took place last Saturday in ideal weather with a big attendance and hard play’ Games were even, but Seatoun won on aggregate. Well dome, Seatoun! 1011 must come to the top with such good material. * • . . ■ What a hiding Newtown administered to Wellington last -Saturday in the senior pennants. It lay between Wellington, Newtown" and Hataitai as to who would be the section winners.- Newtown settled the issue decisively so far as Wellington is concerned by winning all fofir games, but I am picking Hataitai to give them the game of their lives for the honour of being section winners. Whichever club wins wilt -find ,a. doughty opponent in Victoria,, winners of section B, whom they wilh meet in the final for the pennant. * . . ' . . Karorir won the junior pennant, defeating Seatoun in the final, as was predicted in- this column a . fortnight ago. The - Seatoun rink fought gamely up to a point when the weather broke and the Karoru rink stood up better to tlie changed conditions. It is a good rink that has won the junior pennanta, and- deserves the hearty congratulations it has received on all hands. - . . ... Tf you see. a high-powered closed Hudson careering along the Hutt road round the roast to Eastbourne on a .Sunday; you will be making a safe bet-that it is H. F. Wood (Tony to bis jfals) making his way to tho green, ns he likes a roll np when -the exigencies of tlie De Lnxe. King’s and Queen’s Theatres permit, for he is'fhe supervisor of oonqlsr houses. He has a delightful tenor voice, and he will very likely be singing “For the Green” ns he merrily rolls along. He is a Rotarian, » Savage an Orphan and was secretary to the We'! r lngfJ>n Orphnns’ Club'for six Years. His hands pro so full nowadav. that be gets yery little time for bowls, which is bis loss and he knows it He mnstn’t let, bis business ties deprive him of all his hobbies -if onlv for health’s sake. Four teams from Victoria left last week end for the annual match with St. Albans at Christchurch. St. Albans sent four rinks to Victoria last year. It is doubtful if the meeting will lyi continued owing to the' demands of the club programme for the season, for it, liccomes increasingly difficult to get touring teams together. • • • • Dolton, of Victoria, had a hit of bad luck, possibly due in some measure to bad judgment, in tlie champion of champions rinks last week. His rink was meeting Wellington (Fairway) and on one occasion when Wellington were lying one Bolton essayed to drive the shot out. Instead he got amongst the other timber and gave Wellington seven. Despite tlm reverse, the Victoria rink played plimkily and only lost by four, so th»t. wh»t. might havw happened bad be let well alone is to be coniertured. •' 1 * Tlie Lloyd Cup games were commenced at Kelburn last Saturday, the tropliv being one presented b> Mr Lloyd, the well-known jeweller. Four section games have been nlaved and two more will be placed to-morrow (D.V.). The final will be reached about the end of the month. It is a rink event. f.owrie and Tom Grey each have three wins and a lose to their credit and are in the lead, esc*

Island Bay have had a good measure of success in their travels this year. Having won the Wanganui tourney thev sent a rink skipped by W. J. Ferkins to the Rotorua tournament, and it reached the final with a Taiiranga rink. The Bay team gave the northerners a rattling good game, hut the Taurnngn rink was just too good for them, winuinr* 17 —l4 The Island Bay rink was Hobbs, Willoughby, Priddle, and Ferkins.