BOWLS

Southland Times, Issue 23333, 18 October 1937, Page 5

BOWLS

OPENINGS OF CLUBS INVERCARGILL GREEN Several bowling clubs in Southland made a start for the season by opening their greens for play on Saturday afternoon. The Invercargill club was the only city club to hold an opening ceremony, and those of the city clubs which already had opened their greens held practice games. At the R.S.A. green a friendly game was played against the Georgetown club. The president (Mr C. C. Munnings) welcomed visitors and members at the opening of the Invercargill green. There was a splendid attendance of bowlers from sister clubs. Mr T. R. Pryde, vice-president of the Southland Bowling Centre, presented the cup and certificate won by the club in the four-rink championship. He congratulated the club on its sue cess and referred to the close finish to the championship. Te Rangi, he said, appeared “to have a mortgage on the cup,” but Invercargill “came with a late run” and won what turned out to be a very interesting competition. He wished the club success for the coming season and complimented those responsible for the excellent appearance of the green and surroundings. Mrs Munnings rolled the first bowl, a “toucher,” and a rinks game was played.

LUMSDEN GREEN The opening of the Lumsden Bowling Club’s new green took place on Saturday. Ideal weather conditions prevailed. There was a large attendance of bowlers from all parts of Southland The green is situated on the area near the Lumsden swimming lagoon on the ground, portion of which was donated to the Lumsden Town Board by the late Mr G. F. Johnson. It has been decided to call the area the Johnson Memorial Park. The president of the Lumsden Bowling Club Mr C. A. Welsh extended a welcome to the visitors. He outlined the work leading up to the formation of the green and said that the total cost of the work done to date was £340. The money was raised by a loan of £250 from the Southland Amateur Sports Trust and by subscriptions paid in advance, various competitions, and a carnival yielded a profit of £127. At the present time the club had a credit balance of £95. They had estimated the membership at 40, and a women’s club had been formed of approximately 20 members.

“I wish to take this opportunity to publicly thank the numerous people who assisted us so generously to place the club’s finances in such a sound position,” said Mr Welsh. “Particularly, I wish to thank our women members, as it was almost entirely due to their efforts that our carnival proved such an outstanding success.” Mr J. D. Campbell president of the Southland Centre congratulated the Lumsden Club on the successful construction of the green. The green he said was in good order for the first season and would soon improve. He was pleased to have with him many prominent bowlers including Mr J. C. Thomson, secretary of the centre, Mr Scandrett, chairman of the Southland executive, Mr S. C. K. Smith representative on the New Zealand Council, and Mr T. Pryde, an old member of the Southland Centre. He wished the Lumsden members many happy hours on the green. Mr S. C. K. Smith extended congratulations and good wishes. Mr T. R. Meredith on behalf of the Southland Amateur Sports Trust congratulated the club. He felt quite sure that the money advanced would be a good investment for the trust, judging by the enthusiasm displayed. The president in asking Mr J. D. Campbell to officially open the green, presented him with a suitably inscribed silver button as a memento of the occasion.

Mr Campbell returned thanks and asked Mrs Welsh to roll the first bowl and presented her with a silver button on behalf of the club. A presentation of a Loewe pipe was also made to Mr Alex McAlister the first president of the club. Mrs Welsh rolled the first ball and a match arranged by the Southland Centre was proceeded with. MATAURA CLUB’S OPENING Perfect weather conditions prevailed for the opening of the Mataura Bowling Club on Saturday. Upwards of 50 bowlers were present' from the Gore, Hokonui, Wyndham, Edendale and Invercargill Clubs. In declaring the green open for play the president, Mr W. Patterson, welcomed the visitors, and congratulated the Edendale Club on its win last season. The vice-president, Mr D. Russell, took the opportunity on behalf of the members of the Mataura Club to present Mr Patterson with a reading lamp in recognition of the splendid work he had put in on the green. Mr Patterson briefly replied. The first bowl was rolled by Mrs D. Russell. The green was in splendid order, and an interesting afternoon’s play between teams representing the president and vice-president, resulted in a win for the latter by 147 points to

107. Results were:— P. V.P. W. Terry, R. Marshall, W. Patterson, R. Marshall (s) 21 — N. Wright, J. Cullen, W. Piercy, J. Calder (s) — 24 H. Thompson, A. Thorn, A. Paterson, W. Buchanan (s) 19 — C. Davey, E. Calder, —. Birstall, W. P. Thorn (s) — 33 H. Brown, A. Halliday, 1. Cuilen, A. Jones (s) 13 — D. Fisher, L. Brazier, A. Giles, W. Stewart (s) — 25 G. Frame, T. Leonard, A. Auld, B. Clearwater (s) 25 — B. Graham, C. Bates, W. Muir, R. Hutton (s) — 18 D. Withers, A. Richardson, D. Lockhart, A. Cuttriss (s) 13 — J. Shields, N. Pauling, G. Gourley, D. Russell (s) — 26 S. Smith, J. Burns, A. Balneaves (s) 16 — J. Watson, F. Poskitt, —. Fortune (s) — 21 Totals 107 147