500 BOWLERS WILL TAKE PART IN TOWN-COUNTRY GAME TODAY

Southland Times, Issue 23682, 3 December 1938, Page 15

500 BOWLERS WILL TAKE PART IN TOWN-COUNTRY GAME TODAY

By

JACK HIGH

It is expected that 500 bowlers from all parts of Southland will take part in the second annual Town-Country match on country club greens today. At least 62 rinks from the nine city clubs will be engaged. Last year the match was an outstanding success and if enthusiasm counts for anything the match this season should be just as successful.

Clubs which went to Eastern District last season have been matched with Western district clubs this time. Unofficial games have been arranged for the evening. A good day is promised if the weather is good. The following games have been arranged for the afternoon: — Southland v. Riverton and Tuatapere (four or more rinks on each green). Northend v. Otautau (six rinks). R.S.A. v. Edendale and Wyndham (eight rinks at Wyndham). Invercargill v. Gore (eight rinks). Te Rangi v. Hokonui (eight rinks). Georgetown v. Mataura and Tapanui (eight finks at Mataura). Waikiwi v. Aparima (four or more rinks). Bluff v. Woodlands, at Woodlands. Waihopai v. Winton and Winton Central (four or more rinks on each green). Club secretaries are requested to send results of games to The Southland Times.

POSTPONED FIXTURES

Players taking part in the interclub competition will be called upon to play two games next Saturday. The fixtures committee of the Southland Bowling Centre has decided that the fixtures postponed on November 19 will be played next Saturday in addition to the fixtures arranged for that day. The postponed games will begin at six o’clock. Another instance of wrong marking of a card in a club competition game has been shown “Jack High.” In the Northend-Georgetown city rinks match Northend was credited with a win by 113 points to 100. The result should have been 130 to 83 in Northend’s favour. The card in which W. Randle’s Northend' rink played W. White’s Georgetown rink was marked 31 to 14 in favour of Georgetown. Randle’s rink (W. H. Birch, J. T. Bath, C. E. Burley and W. Randle) won by 31 to 14. Bowlers of all clubs will be pleased to learn that Jules Tapper is recovering from the injury which has kept him out of the game for several weeks. Tapper is one of the foremost leads in the Waihopai Club and his return to competition play should greatly strengthen Waihopai teams.

SOUTHLAND COMPETITIONS

Good progress has been made with the club championships at Southland green. Competitions are being conducted in singles, pairs and rinks, and it is intended to hold a junior singles competition. Twenty-seven entries have been received for the champion singles, 17 for the champion pairs and nine for the rinks competition. The green is in good condition, and although the weather has not been conducive to the finest play there has been a high standard of bowls in practically all games. The results of games played up to Tuesday of this week are: — Singles (first round). —W. Snow beat A. Ayling; J. C. Thomson beat Cubitt; McComish beat A. Credginton; J. Irving beat J. Ross; L. Lumsden beat J. Manson; A. C. Campbell beat E. Barron; Evans beat A. E. Gardner; R. D. Donaldson beat S. Fowler; W. D. Graham beat H. G. Fortune; H. Holliman beat A. Clark; W. Stewart beat W. Clark; D. K. Torrance beat C. Dykes; Newman beat Copeland; Folster a bye. Rinks (first round). —Lumsden, Evans, A. Clark and Gardner beat Smith, Kehnan, Donaldson and McRobie; Findlay, Brass, Holmes and Thomson beat Barron, Cubitt, C. Brass and Fowler; Cowie, Ayling, Graham and Stewart beat Folster, Cooper, Holliman and McComish; Fraser, Wildermoth, Manson and Torrance beat Castle, Birch, Credginton and Clark; Newman, Fortune, Snow and Campbell a bye. Second round.—Gardner beat Campbell; Torrance beat Mcßobie; Stewart beat Thomson; McComish beat Fowler; Clark a bye. Champion pairs.—Barron and Gardner beat Donaldson and Mcßobie; Campbell and Snow beat Smith and Holmes; Cubitt and Clark beat Castle and Credginton; Cooper and Holliman beat Folster and McComish; Ayling and Stewart beat Findlay and Evans; Fraser and Manson beat Graham and Fortune; Wildermoth and Torrance beat Brass and Thomson; Irving and Lumsden beat Cowie and Manson.

Nine rinks of the club will be playing in the Town-Country games today, four at Riverton and five at Tuatapere.

AT NORTHEND

The bad weather held up progress in the various competitions at Northend and there was a rush on Monday night to get games off before the time limit expired. No fewer than eight singles and two pairs games were played on Monday, three of the games being played after others had finished. In spite of the gusty wind and dead surface some good games were played. J. D. Shand, a good draw player, put up a good performance in defeating H. Halligan. Shand got a good lead on his

opponent before the latter found touch and held off a strong challenge at the finish. Ure made a good start against Keast (a four on the first head) and won comfortably, and Scandrett showed up with some unbeatable drawing against Farquhar. Scandrett has been playing at the top of his form and. so far has not been beaten in rink matches in any of the competitions this season. His rink in the shield rink competition holds a strong chance of success. D. J. Wesney’s rink scored an eight against a Georgetown rink in the fourrink championship games on Tuesday night. He had A. C. Millar, W. J. Wat,son and J. Ure with him. | Northend will field six rinks at Otautau today, and two others will travel to Queenstown to play a friendly game there. Following are the results of games played up to Wednesday night: — Rinks.—W. R. Leek, A. C. Millar, J. A. Wesney and D. M. Scandrett beat W. Hynes, J. O’Brien, J. W. Cockroft and F. Daubney; T. Stocker, T. D. Pearce, W. Reid and G. L. Swift beat F. D. Farquhar, S. Johnstone, L. H. Burgess and J. Ure. Singles (second round). —J. E. Taylor beat W. B. O’Toole; G. L. Swift beat W. Reid; J. A. Wesney beat J. McMullan; J. Ure beat A. V. Keast; D. J. Wesney beat H. R. Morton; J. D. Shand beat H. Halligan; W. J. McKitterick beat W. Robison; D. M. Scandrett beat F. D. Farquhar; S. C. K. Smith beat T. Stocker. At the completion of the second round the following remain with two lives:—Taylor, Swift, Smith, J. A. Wesney, J. Ure and L. H. Burgess. Each of the following has one life:—D. J. Wesney, F. Daubney, C. J. McEachran, J. D. Shand, W. Randle, W. J. McKitterick, D. M. Scandrett, W. B. O’Toole, W. Reid, J. McMullan, A. V. Keast, W. R. Leek, H. R. Morton.

Pairs (second round). —L. J. W. Hitch and F. Daubney beat G. Hunt and S. Whitaker; W. R. Leek and T. Stocker beat J. W. Cockroft and W. Randle. Those with two lives in the pairs championship are:—Burgess and Ure, Keast and Smith, McMullan and Swift, Hitch and Daubney; those with one life are: —Morton and Scandrett, Leek and Stocker, Shand and Reid, Millar and J. A. Wesney, McKitterick and Halligan, Hunt and Whitaker, McEachran and D. J. Wesney. Intermediate singles.—A. Arthur beat R. Miller.

WAIHOPAI NOTES

Monday evenings have been set aside at Waihopai for rink play. The second round of the champion rinks competition was decided last Monday. Playing conditions were not good. A strong wind blew and victory went to the players who best adapted themselves to the conditions. The results were:—Morrison beat Speirs; Mackenzie beat Wilson; De Latour beat Mills, Stevens beat Coltman; Buchanan a bye.

De Latour and his rink are deserving of special praise in beating a strong combination skipped by P. Mills. The winners found the green to their liking and earned their victory. The second round for the singles and pairs (except handicap pairs) closes today. A number of games in the champion pairs has not yet been decided. Results to date (second round) are: — Stevens and Morrison beat De Latour and H. Miller; Boyes and Adam beat Moore and Bird; Dawson and Gray beat Martin and Pickford.

Results of the singles (second round): —Adam beat Wilson; Morrison beat Meredith; Speirs beat McNight; Gray beat Buddle; Bird beat Mason; H. Miller beat Boyes; Stevens beat McKay; Buchanan beat Dalgarno.

TE RANGI ACTIVITIES

The first rounds of the singles and pairs championships at Te Rangi are now almost completed and the second rounds should be well advanced next week.

Some of the games produced exciting finishes, the closest being the two singles matches between A. Donald and G. Donald and G. Hope and T. R. Pryde. In both cases an extra head was required before a decision was reached, A. Donald and G. Hope being the winners.

Following are the results of games played up till Thursday night. Singles:—G. Batcheler beat W. Donald, M. McKenzie beat A. Paterson, W. Roberts beat R. Cochrane, G. Hope beat T. R. Pryde, W. Keys beat G. Glennie, F. Mayhew beat F. Springford, J. Gordon beat L. Cross, G. Streatfield beat D. Burrell, L. Marshall beat A. G. Froggatt, A. Leggatt beat F. Holloway, R. Dunwoodie beat F. Dyer.

Doubles:—A. Donald and W. Donald beat F. Dyer and D. Burrell, A. G. Froggatt and A. S. Froggatt beat G. Batcheler and W. Keys, A. Anderson and A. Paterson beat R. Dunwoodie and G. Donald, W. Hinton and F. Springford beat J. Soar and R. Lumsden, W. Roberts and G. Hope beat T. Brown jun. and T. Brown, F. Mayhew and G. Glennie beat J. Gordon and W. Steel, L. Marshall and R. Cochrane beat L. Cross and C. Hopgood, G. Streatfield and T. Gibson beat W. McGill and A. Stott, F. Holloway and M. McKenzie beat G. Frobarth and T. R. Pryde. Second round. —Donald and Donald beat Froggatt and Frogatt, Gordon and Steel beat Cross and Hopgood. The introduction of a rinks competition for prizes given by Messrs A. H. Stott and A. S. Froggatt has been most popular. Monday evening has been set

aside for the playing of these games. A prize has also been given for the champion pairs by Mr R. R. Roscow. On Wednesday evening Te Rangi rinks travel to Woodlands to play a friendly match.

WOODLANDS CLUB

A pleasant function was held in the Woodlands bowling pavilion recently when Mr J. McKendry was the guest of honour. All members of the club including three of the foundation members were present. Mr C. J. Roseveare, the president of the club, said they had met to honour one who was not only their best bowler, but the most enthusiastic member of the club. The fine playing surface of the green was equal to the best in Southland, and to a large extent Mr McKendry was responsible for that state of affairs. He doubted if the club could have carried on if it had not been for the work that Mr McKendry done at no cost to the club. On behalf of his fellow members Mr Roseveare presented Mr McKendry with a leather bowls case suitably incribed and wished him every success during his bowling career. The following members also spoke: Messrs C. Lyall, M. P. Schmidt, G. Piercy, W. Bell, J. Greer, S. Foley, T. Lyall. Mr McKendry in reply thanked the members for the handsome gift and said that his interest in the game made anything that he had done to help it a pleasure.

GEORGETOWN NOTES

The second round of the Georgetown club’s Monday evening rinks competition was played this week. Results:—Brown, Withers, Mehaffey and McKenzie beat Whitley, Glass, D. Robinson and Glover 27-14; McFarlane, Hollows, J. Robinson and Marshall beat Dalton, Milne, Smithies and Taggart 23-18; L. Smith, J. Douglas, Johnston and Drummond beat Swanson, Purvis, Barlow and Haydon 24-17; Clent, Wesney, Sinclair and Anderson beat A. Robinson, Parker, McLean and Donald 21-20.

Results in club competitions are: — Champion doubles:—L. Smith and S. Glover beat J. Stobo and R. Wesney; G. McFarlane and A. McKenzie beat F. Brown and W. Marshall; A. Whitley and R. Smithies beat S. Dalton and V. Drummond. To complete the second round in this competition H. Wilson and W. Fraser have to play R. Taggart and H. Donald.

Champion singles.—D. Johnston beat J. Douglas; R. Smithies beat J. Glass; R. McLean beat R. Taggart; H. Donald beat J. Mehaffey.

ALEXANDRA AND MILLERS FLAT

Among the many tournament posters which have come to hand during the past week is one proclaiming the Alexandra Christmas and Millers Flat New Year tournaments. In the last few years the Millers Flat tournament has developed to such an extent that it has become an added attraction to the many Otago and Southland bowlers who have “done” the Alexandra Christmas tournament year after year. Now the two clubs have combined in producing a programme which is likely to become as popular as any of the other holiday attractions for bowlers in the south.

Beginning at Alexandra on Boxing Day bowlers will be able to get five days’ play before the Millers Flat tournament which starts the following Monday (January 2). At Alexandra there are championships in three events, singles, pairs and rinks. Each will occupy a day. The finals of the pairs and rinks will be played on Thursday, December 29. On the Friday there will be a mixed pairs competition (presumably men and women). At Millers Flat the singles will be played on January 2, the pairs on the Tuesday and the rinks on the Wednesday. It is a good programme all round and the officials of both clubs are to be complimented on merging, so to speak, to make the Central Otago circuit a complete and attractive one.

TOURNAMENT ENTRIES

Entries for the Southland Centre’s New Year tournament close on December 20. Another attractive programme has been arranged for this tournament and it is expected that all previous records for entries will be eclipsed. Last year when the New Zealand tournament was held at Dunedin the entries for the Southland fixture were adversely affected. They always are when the New Zealand tournament is nearer home than it is this year. This season the tournament is being held at Auckland so it is reasonable to expect good entries from Dunedin, and possibly Oamaru. The tournament will be spread over four playing days, the singles being played on December 31, the rinks on January 2 and the pairs on January 3. The finals will be played on January 4.

Entries for the New Zealand championship tournament which begins at Auckland on January 9, closed yesterday. Four years ago, the last time the tournament was held at Auckland 164 rinks competed, more than half coming from the Auckland centre. Of the visiting rinks 18 were from South Auckland, eight from Wellington and 33 from other centres in the North Island. For the coming tournament it is expected that there will be about 200 rinks, including rinks from Invercargill and Oamaru. Four years ago Dunedin sent six rinks, Christchurch six rinks, Nelson three and Greymouth, Timaru and Cromwell one each. It is expected that they will again be represented.