THE BOWLING GREEN

Southland Times, Issue 23026, 21 October 1936, Page 14

THE BOWLING GREEN

Need For More Tournaments

(By

“Jack High.”)

The fifth Labour Day rinks tournament to be conducted by the Northend Club next Monday promises to be as interesting as any of the series. Indeed, judging by the late rush of entries it is not too much to say that this year’s event is more popular than ever. A full green will be occupied, and some wellbalanced rinks will be participating. If the weather is good and the green is at all fast there should be some excellent bowling. The Labour Day tournament marks the opening of the competitions in the Southland district. Five years ago the tournament was first held, and so well has the event been patronized by bowlers from all over the province that there has been no suggestion of it ever falling through. The club’s hardest task would appear -to be to cater for all entries, and in future it may be worth while considering the extension of the tournament to other greens. This year several entries had to be turned down and it was known that there were others available. This all goes to show the popularity of tournaments compared with the ordinary competitions conducted by the centre. In Southland _ there is a fast growing opinion that mter-club competitions are taking up too much of the average bowler’s time. More tournaments are wanted apparently. In. the north the inter-club competition is a secondary consideration compared with tournament play. In Auckland, which certainly is a big district, there are no fewer than 190 odd tournaments a year! Previous Results. A glance at the result of previous Labour Day tournaments conducted by Northend shows that two rinks have played an important part in the finals each year. R. Hunter’s (Invercargill) rink has won three tournaments out of the four played to date, and has been runner-up on the other occasion. This record will take some beating. S. Smith s (Northend) rink has won once and has been runner-up twice, so that between them the Invercargill and Northend rinks have won all four tournaments and have been runners-up three times. The detailed results are as follows: — 1932— Won by Invercargill (R. Hunter’s rink); runner-up, Northend (S. Smith's rink). 1933 — Won by Northend (S. Smith); runner-up. Invercargill (R. Hunter). 1934— Won by Invercargill (R. Hunter); runner-up, Waihopai (P. C. Mills). 1935— Won by Invercargill (R. Hunter); runner-up, Northend (S. Smith). Both Hunter and Smith have rinks entered in this year's tournament, but in the case of Hunter his rink will not be the strong rink which has performed so well in recent years. H. L. Hay, who has been his third in . many contests, has entered a rink of his own. Smith will have W. Reid as his third again, but his leads have been changed, and this year J. McMullan and F. Daubney will play for the Northend. side. Young Rinks. There are some good young rinks entered. Two come from the R.S.A. Club and one from Georgetown. Te Rangi is well represented again, but the name of D. Shaw is among the missing. Shaw and Fro bath have generally been together in these tournaments, but this year Frobath is leading for T. Pryde. R. Dunwoodie and D. Lumsden are the other members of this rink. G. L. Swift, who created a mild sensation a couple of seasons ago by defeating all but the winners in the South Otago tournament with a colts rink, has two youthful leads with, him in this tournament. They are L. S. Brooks and G. Webb. The latter is a second year player who is showing much promise and Brooks is a steady lead when he settles down. J. A. Wesney, one of Southland’s younger “old” bowlers, will be Swift’s third. Wesney was playing with such stalwarts as J. Hain and T. Wallace over 30 years ago, but according to the older generation of bowlers he does not seem to be any older now than he was then. He is one of the best thirds in the Northend Club.

Bluff will be represented in a rink skipped by N. W. McGorlick. Bluff can always put up a good showing. McGorlick has a wonderful record as a player and is regarded by the best judges as one of the foremost singlehanded players in New Zealand. His singles record in Southland tournaments and championships is one of considerable merit. “Jack High” hopes to secure it and publish it some day. F. G. Stevenson is another veteran with a young rink. His experience has put him in the running in a number of events in recent years and now that he has a good young rink with him there is no reason why he should not play a prominent part on Labour Day. Stevenson’s rink, by the way, is the holder of the Murihiku Cup at the present time. o Keast, of Northend, will have A. C. Millar and C. J. McEachran leading for him with J. Ure as third. F. Farquhar, who led for this rink last season, is now in Gore and will be found leading for D. F. Tait (Hokonui), whose rinks have been prominent in past years. Several of the clubs missed their entries owing to the fact that their clubs had not opened when the green was filled. That was unfortunate for them. Next year it is hoped that Northend will extend the scope of the tournament and use other greens. Either that will be necessary or other clubs will seek permission to hold tournaments on that day. There is no reason why some city club could not run a Labour Day tournament this year. There are hundreds of bowlers looking for tournament play on Monday. Around the Clubs. The first real bowls weather of the year was experienced on Saturday afternoon when at least a dozen clubs in Southland opened the season. Greens were still heavy, but bowlers were given a “swing,” which was something to remind them that bowls was in once again. Encouraging reports of the Bluff and Edendale green have come to hand. Mr S. Smith, the Southland centre’s representative on the New Zealand Bowling Council, who visited both Mataura and Edendale on Saturday afternoon, was enthusiastic about the surface of the Edendale green. He says that a lot of work has been put in by club members and at the present time there is not a city green to compare with it for play. At Bluff, too, the green has improved “out of sight” and is now carrying a sole of grass and weed which should see the club through a heavy season. The fixture books are in the printer’s hands and should be available to clubs this week.

J. Hutchison, son of S. Hutchison, the Logan Park (Dunedin) champion, is at present living in Invercargill. Four or five years ago the Hutchisons, father and son, won the New Year pairs at the Southland tournament. The final was played on the Northend green in heavy conditions. Bowlers have a lot to thank the Southland Amateur Sports Trust Cup

for. Another example of the usefulness of this body was forthcoming in the opening of the Georgetown Clubs pavilion on Saturday. Both in the laying of its green and the b Aiding of the club rooms the Georgetown Club was assisted by the trust. Now that the 40-hour week has been introduced it is the intention of some of the clubs to have their greens available for play on Saturday morning. There will be plenty of bowlers keen to play on the greens in the mornings. The following paragraph is from the Sydney Bulletin: The British international bowls championship was won for the second successive year by Scotland, giving Caledonia 16 victories in the last 30 tourneys. There were some revolutionary features. For the first time a charge for admission was made, and 1000 Glaswegians were found ready to part with a shilling (English). Most staggering of all, from an Australian point of view, was that players were not allowed to leave the green during the match for a quick one. And this in Glasgow! Boomerang’s Answer. A few weeks ago a question put by “Boomerang,” of The Sydney Referee, was asked in this column. He asked if it were possible to make a dead end without driving the kitty, or forcing it, over the end bank or out over the boundary lines. The answer is yes. If the kitty be driven against a back bowl with sufficient force to bring it forward within the 40 feet limit allowed (still within the boundaries of the rink) the end is dead. New Playing System. In the forthcoming Dominion tournament at Wellington, the council has decided on a change in the system of play in the singles competition. At the last New Zealand tournament in Christchurch, each player in the • singles championship played five games in his section, and those who won all five games, qualified for the post section play with two lives, while those players who won (or tied as winners for) their section with one or more losses, qualified for post section play with one life.

At the next tournament, unbeaten winners of sections will still qualify with two lives, and other section winners and section ties will again qualify with one life, and every winner of four games in his section will be entitled to participate in post-section play with one life. Previously a winner of four games could not qualify at all, unless he were the section winner or tied as section winner.

It was noticed at Christchurch early this year, that many players who had won four out of five games in their respective sections did not qualify as some other player in those sections had registered five wins, while others again with four wins (by virtue of section ties) were allowed a life in post-section play. The amended system this season will allow all players having four wins credited in the section play, another life in the later draw. This will certainly remove an anomaly, and will fairly classify winners of five and four section games respectively, but on the other hand there may be so many in the post-section draw as to make the competition unwieldy. City Competitions FIRST ROUND DRAW Following is the draw for the first games to be played in the inter-club (Saturdays) and four-rink and city rink (Tuesday evenings) competitions: ’nter-club Competition. Saturday, October 31 at 2 p.m.:—lnvercargill No. 1 v. Northend No. 1; Northend No. 2 v. Invercargill No. 2; Georgetown No. 1 v. Te Rangi No. 1; Te Rangi No. 2 v. Georgetown No. 2; Waihopai No. 1 v. Waikiwi; Bluff v. Waihopai No. 2 ; R.S.A. No. 1 v. Southland No. 1; Southland No. 2 v. R.S.A. No. 2. Four-rink Championship. Tuesday, November 3, at 6 p.m.— R.S.A. v. Invercargill; Georgetown v. Waikiwi; Waihopai v. Bluff; Northend v. Te Rangi; Southland a bye. City Rinks. Invercargill v. R.S.A.; Te Rangi v. Geoigetown; Southland v. Waihopai; Northend a bye. Games to be played on the lastmentioned green. Phoenix Club Jubilee. Arrangements are now well in hand for the Phoenix Bowling Club’s golden jubilee at Oamaru on October 24, 25 and 26, and indications point to a large attendance of former members from other centres, as well as a full muster of present members. The club was formed on July 20, 1886, and, after overcoming financial difficulties in the early stages, has progressed and flourished until it possesses one of the finest pavilions in the South Island and two splendid greens, with a steadily increasing membership in both men’s and women’s clubs, in keeping with the popularity of the game. The jubilee celebrations open with a reunion and bowling on the afternoon of Saturday, October 24, followed by a dinner and smoke concert at night. On Sunday there will be a church parade in the morning at St. Luke’s, and in the afternoon a motor drive has been arranged. On Labour Day a jubilee all day tournament will be held, and the celebrations will conclude with a social in the club pavilion at night.