SPOTLIGHT ON BOWLS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19550, 4 February 1938, Page 9

SPOTLIGHT ON BOWLS

By “MAT”

General Notes

Tolaga Bay’s annual tournament, held last week-end, was a brilliant success. Glorious sunshine and generous hospitality added to the enjoyment of those two happy days, and Tolaga is assured of strong support from Gisborne again next year.

Gracie, Power, Walker and P. Smith (Gisborne) meet Poole, Smith, Slight and S. McKenzie (Poverty Bay) in the final, which is to be played at Kahutia this week-end. McKenzie won the A section outright with six wins, while Smith and Tempest (Tolaga Bay) each had five wins in the B section. In the play-off, Smith succeeded on an extra head, 11—9.

Stephenson’s rink made a good passage to record four wins on the first day, and until they met McKenzie in the last round had suffered only one loss. Right from the start McKenzie showed that he was out to win, and his team rose to the occasion. A fine partnership exists between the Poverty Bay skip and his No. 3, Alan Slight, evidence of which was seen in more than one game at Tolaga.

Expectations were reversed. Before leaving Gisborne evei'ybody gave Armstrong’s quartet a great chance, but they failed in three games.

Vic Hurlstone is one of the outstanding personalities of bowls on the Coast, and is secretary of the Tolaga Bay Bay Club. He is a great player, and Tolaga’s ace bowler.

Bob Branch went 'to Tolaga in a rocke’t. At least his team thought so, and it may have been the cause of their bad performance. With the assistance of Tom Hol’t, Tom Atkinson and Les Bright, it is hard to believe that Bob finished in front only once in seven starts. Bob is the same, happy-go-lucky character under all circumstances, even when his game is not productive.

Neal’s rink from Gisborne upset Walker’s chances when they met the Tokomaru Bay team in the seventh round. Until then, Walker had won five games, having beaten Stephenson in the fifth round, 14 —12. Walker laid five up on the last head 'to win, but Neal drew fourth shot, and the Coast team went down by a single point.

E. Hankey led finely for Walker throughout, and was always a source of trouble to the opposition leads. J. Corbett, Walker’s No. 2, played soundly.

E. Harries is one of the most Sunny Jim like personalities at Tolaga, and everybody enjoyed his perpetual smile. Best known among bowlers as “Barney," he is president of the Tolaga Bay club.

Although Branch's successes were few, he gave Smith’s rink a nasty fright. With three heads to go, Branch led by eight points, but after that faded badly. Smith scored a four, six and a full hand to give him 15 points on the last three ends. Seldom has a team recovered so brilliantly.

Heard a banker remark about a player who frequents the greens a lot: “He ought to be able to play, he practises a lot.” He does not attend for daily practice, but for the daily exercise it affords. That applies to many.

0. Horne Wins Colts’ Singles Cecil Horne won the Colts’ Champion Singles of Gisborne Club last Wednesday, when he defeated “Beau" Lockett (one life) in the final, 21—6. Horne, who was unbeaten in this competition, was a strong favourite from the outset. There was no doubt of his superiority in the final, and although Lockett played well at times, he was no match for Horne. Horne’s drawing Was deadly, and he soon had Lockett driving. On several heads Horne placed three of his four bowls within inches of kitty.

Horne has been playing consistently well this season. Before Christmas he won the skips’ section of the junior progressive pairs at Kahutia. His leading for Armstrong in the Peace Shield tournament gained him further distinction, and in the Orr Pairs, Horne and his partner, Bert Butcher, are the only couple with two lives. • • •> • Poverty Bay’s Anniversary Day pairs tourney resulted in a good win for Cliff Hands and Cecil Somervell (Kahutia). At one stage in the final they led Duncan and Fredericks 14 to nil, but the Poverty Bay pair made a fine recovery, and with two heads to play the score stood 14—12. Somervell clinched the issue with a five and a single.

“Sailor" Roderick defeated Ralph Morse in the Kahutia Champion Singles, and now meets R. Jenkins in the final of the winning section. Jenkins won the club championship last season.

F. Simpson and Arthur Sawyer succeeded against Bert Clark and R. Campbell in the final of the winning section in the Kahutia Champion Pairs.

Writing from Sydney, D. G. Robertson, isecnetary ol the Gisborne Centre, states that he found the playing surfaces there heavy and coarse after the New Zealand greens. Bennett’s Singles Title In winning the New Zealand singles championship, W. D. Bennett, Hastings. played very steadily. He is essentially a drawing player, and this he ably demonstrated throughout the tournament. Bennett’s opponent in the final was George Claridge, St. Kilda, Who has come right bade to his best form after an illness.

On the twelfth head, Bennett led 13 —5, but Claridge improved thereafter, and was only three down on the twentieth. Claridge drew a fine shot up to the jack on the last head. Bennett replied with a good bowl that left his opponent with the difficult task of trailing kitty slightly for three. Claridge’s shot was narrow, however, arid he obtained a single only, Bennett winning match and title, 17—If).

From lead to skip, the Linwood team played soundly right through to cabture the Dominion rink championship. The winners were S. Sneddon, F. Redpath, P. Munn, and H. Wilson, skip.

The Hawera rink, skipped by L ,1. Bull, were Wilson’s rivals in the final. Bull’s luck completely deserted

him in this match. Although he fought valiantly, lie had no hope against the Linwood players, and when on the nineteenth head the score stood 27 —9 in Wilson’s favour, Bull retired.

This is Wilson’s second success in the Dominion rink classic, for in 1934 he skipped the champion team. Wilson has been playing for about 15 years, having learned the game at Kaiapoi before joining Linwood (Christchurch).

In the final of the New Zealand pairs championship, R. Clarke and Charles Tyrrell, skip, (Roslyn, Dunedin) completely outclassed J. L. Smith and 11. B. Oakcy, skip, (Elmwood). The winners played great bowls, reaching highest championship standard. The game ended on the nineteenth head, in which there were only six bowls left on the green, all belonging to the Roslyn pair.

Tyrrell has played for the Lyall Bay, Masterton and Roslyn clubs, and has three times been champion of champions in Dunedin. In Dominion tournaments he has numbered such outstanding players as Willie Carswell and Maxwell Walker among his victims.

N.Z. Tourney Sidelights The singles champion at the New Zealand tournament, Bennett, represented Karori (Wellington) in the rinks and Hastings in the singles. His two-bowl play for Bill Gilbert’s rink could not be compared with his fourbowl drawing.

The good old woods won the singles for Billy Bennett, but it took compos to collect the rinks and the pairs. In a few years woods will be a rara avis. Home of them used in the tournament looked like overdone Christmas puddings.

Charlie Tyrrell, skip of the winning pair, was the fastest player at the championships. Some wag suggested that he was the author of "Up Guards and at 'Em."

Only one eight was scooped throughout the whole tournament. It was scored by Dick Haworth's rink against Harry Campbell, of Kahuna. But Campbell's rink won the game and gut the cheers of the tournament for his feat. There were plenty of sevens scored, and also "limiters” (sixes) in die pairs.

11. Howarth (Canterbury), winner of the rinks championship in 1936 and 1937, fell a long way short of getting the hat-trick by registering a final win again this year. He obtained only five wins in the section play and did not qualify for post-section play. His play was well below championship standard, but he had not been keeping well.

RULES OF BOWLS

RESULT OF HEAD , 75. No measuring shall be allowed until the head has been completely played. 76. After the last bowl of a Head stops running, a half-minute shall be allowed, if either side so require, before the shot is counted. 77. When measuring between a bowl on the green and a jack in the* ditch or vice versa, a cord or other flexible material shall be used. An instrument in the nature of a calliper is not allowable under such circumstances.

78. Every bowl not resting against another bowl, and which has been admitted by the other side to be a shot, shall be removed from the head. 79. If a bowl requiring to be measured is resting against another bowl which prevents’its measurement, the best means available shall be

taken to secure it in its position, whereupon the other bowl shall be removed. The same course shall be followed where more than two bowls are involved.

80. When a head is dead, it does not count and shall, bo replayed. When the arrangement of the game is by heads, drawn heads shall count. After a head is made dead, it must be regarded as though it had never been begun, and the winner of the previous head should throw the iaek.

81. At the conclusion of the play in each head, ‘the bowl nearest the jack is the shot and counts one to the side to which it belongs, and every other bowl belonging to the same side that is nearer the jack than the opponent’s nearest bowl shall count one additional shot.

82. In the event of each side having a bowl or bowls touching the kick, or if the two nearest the jack belong one to each side and are at an equal distance from it, the head is drawn.

PROWESS AT BOWLS

ONEHUNGA PLAYER WIN IN AUSTRALIA F. Livingstone, who secured a wellmerited win in the singles at the Australian bowling in Sydney, has been one of the mominion’s foremost bowlers for the past five years. He commenced his 'bowling career in 1922 when he was

a member of the Papatoetoe club. He left Papatoetoe to go farming in the Matamata district where he was associated with the well-known Matamata player, P. Stewart, in many successes. He then went to Onehunga, his present club. In all three clubs Mr. Livingstone won the club championship. He has been twice champion of Onehunga, first in 1932 and again last season. He followed this success by winning the champion of champions competition of the Auckland Centre, an honour he holds at present. In 1936 he won the Dominion championship singles at Christchurch where he defeated the late C. E. Hardley.