City Bowling Greens Are Badly In Need Of Fine Preparation

Southland Times, Issue 23989, 2 December 1939, Page 16

City Bowling Greens Are Badly In Need Of Fine Preparation

By

JACK HIGH

Bowling greens in Invercargill are not playing as well as they should be playing at this time of the year. It is less than a month to the South Island championship tournament, and at present some of the greens which-are certain to be wanted for the tournament do not give promise of providing that good surface so necessary for fine drawing and good bowling. Some greens, of course, appear to be “kept for the annual New Year tournament at Invercargill and it is possible that all will be well when the time comes along.

Last week most of the country greens on which the annual Town-Country games were played were in excellent condition and looked more like bowling greens than most of the city greens. The reason was not hard to find. The surfaces had been cut and rolled thoroughly; three or four of the city greens were badly -in need of cutting during the week. Although it will be a generous gesture by those responsible for the control and preparation of city greens in ensuring that good surfaces be made available for the South Island championship tournament, the players who pay for the maintenance of the greens should not be overlooked. They are entitled to the best possible surfaces, particularly at this time of the year when clubs are going through the preliminary rounds of finding their champions. „ Year after year local players wade through some greens in the playing of their championship and inter-club games and when it comes to the New Year tournament and centre championships they are as fish out of water. If the best surface is good enough for the players who take part in the tournaments it should be good enough for the many hundreds who do not or are unable’ to take part in tournament play but who play regularly in the weekly fixtures. FASTER SURFACES REQUIRED It is not so many years ago since Southland could say that it had as good surfaces as could be found anywhere in New Zealand. Unfortunately that is not the case today. Some green rangers are obsessed with an idea that a green only is a green when it is green. They apparently do not know the thrills of a billiard-table surface. If they did they would hasten to lower the cut and give the champion as well as the novice something to play for. Only the best bowls can be played on the finely-trim-med and well-rolled surface; anybody can play bowls of a sort on the easy or slow-running green. Players in several clubs have complained about the condition of the greens, and because of those complaints a general appeal is made for better and faster surfaces. Not until they are produced will the standard of bowls improve- in Invercargill. The Country players showed the Town players last week that the standard of bowls in the country is higher than that of the town. The country greens were fast and demanded careful play; that was the difference. SOUTH INLAND TOURNAMENT The latest entries received by the Southland Bowling Centre for the South Island tournament include entries from an Anderson’s Bay (Dunedin) rink and from a member of the Imperial Club, Christchurch. The Anderson’s Bay rink consists of J. A. Lindsay, a former member of the Northend Club, W. Marslin, jun., W. Marslin, sen., and J. J. Read. The last-named is a former president of the Dunedin Bowling Centre who has visited Invercargill on several occasions. Read and Lindsay will be partners in the pairs and Marslin and Marslin will play together. T. Falkinder is the name of the singles entrant from the Imperial Club. Southland bowlers are reminded that entries for all events at the South Island tournament close with the secretary, Mr J. C. Thomson, on Saturday, December 9. It is expected that the draw will be made on December 11.

The entries for the New Zealand centennial tournament, to be held at Wellington in January, closed yesterday. Southland will not be as well represented as in the last few years. Only two players, both from the Northend Club, are said to be taking part. They are S. C. K. Smith, the Southland member of the New Zealand Bowling Council, who has not missed a “Dominion” for several years, and P. C. Thomas, who will play with Smith in the pairs. GEORGETOWN’S SUCCESSES The Georgetown four-rink team continues in winning vein, and after three rounds of matches is the only team without loss. Georgetown scored good wins against two of the strongest clubs in the competition, Northend and Southland, so it cannot be said that their performance was a flash in the pan. To beat the formidable Southland team on its own midden was no mean achievement. Northend got out of the losing rut at Te Rangi on Tuesday night and scored a decisive win. This club has the material to field a strong four-rink combination, and as has been stated before it is only a matter of placing it correctly. Young players nowadays are getting their opportunities as skips and some of them are making the grade in convincing style. C. E. Burley, a City rinks player, was given his first job as a skip for Northend against Te Rangi on Tuesday night. He made an impressive start and gained a good win by 31 points to 11 against some experienced players. Another young Northend skip who has done singularly well this season is A. C. Millar, who, in addition to gaining success in all of his Tuesday night games, has performed creditably in the rink championship of the club. The champions cannot escape in the game of bowls. Two or three years ago G. Frobarth and T. R. Pryde (Te Rangi) won the champion of champions pairs, and by their play they could be looked upon as being as strong a pair as has ever won the championship. This season they were paired up in the Te Rangi Club championship, but alas, early season form proved fickle and in the first two games they were eliminated. R. Dunwoodie and G. Donald and Froggatt and Froggatt (father and son) were the executioners. The attention of players is drawn to that rule which says the mat when not in use must be placed on the bank and not allowed to hang over the bank within the limits of the rink. On any green the rule may be seen broken or disregarded. If a toucher or a jack hits a mat which may be hanging over the bank it is dead. WAIHOPAI NOTES The Waihopai Club enjoyed its games at Hokonui and Gore last Saturday. The surfaces of the greens were in excellent order and the hospitality was well up to Eastern standard. The Hokonui green was in particularly good order, and was rather fast for some of the city players. Like other greens in Inver-

cargill Waihopai is well covered with grass and weed and the “going” is inclined to be holding. The cutting-down of the growth and some good rolling would have a good effect. The second round of the club s rink championship has been played. Following are the results:—G. R. Baxter, H. Young, A. E. Broad and R. G. Speirs (s) beat F. McKnight, J. T. Hunter, A. Adam and A. C. Wilson (s); E. Dawson, W. H. Boyes, J. McKay and R. G. Morrison (s) beat Callan, De Latour, G. T. Stevens and H. Miller; Campbell, Mills, W. Duncan and R. Buchanan (s) beat W. Grieve, J. Danskin, G. Tapper and E. Mackenzie (s). Miller’s rink, with two losses has been eliminated. i In the champion singles E. Dawson beat J. T. Hunter; J. McKay beat A. C. Wilson; H. Miller beat E. Mackenzie and W. Duncan beat Cuthbert. In the champion pairs Dalgarno and Buchanan beat Parsons and Hunter; Dawson and Morrison beat Duncan and Speirs and Smyth and Callan beat Cuthbert and de Latour. Four rinks from Waihopai visited Woodlands on Wednesday evening and had an enjoyable evening. Playing conditions were ideal and the green played well. , Waihopai, which holds the Diggers Cup, has withstood two challenges, the first from R.S.A. and the second from Georgetown. The next challenger is I Hokonui. These games are creating interest; both matches have been followed keenly by a good gallery. The cup is serving a double purpose in keeping alive the Digger spirit among the players and also providing keen contests for the onlookers. NORTHEND COMPETITIONS A start has been made with the club competitions at Northend. Most of the games in the first round of both of the competitions has been completed, and by next week a start on the second round will have been made. In the singles championship several evenly-contested games were played. Those between T. Stocker and F. Daubney, C. J. McEachran and J. Greer and W. Reid and G. L. Swift all were decided on the last bowl of the match. In the Reid-Swift game Swift had a lead of nine points to one, but failed to hold it. ! J; Hannan, one of the younger players, distinguished himself by beating D. J. Wesney. The latter led for more than half of the board and at one stage led by 17 points to 11. A four to Hannan, followed by a three, altered the complexion of the game and at the twenty-first end Wesney required four to tie. The task was too great and Hannan won an interesting game by 21 points to 18. A. C. Millar’s rink caused a surprise by beating J. Ure’s rink so decisively. Millar has a young team with him. Most of the games, although played in good weather, have been played in conditions not usually associated with Northend. The green has a splendid surface, but the grass has been permitted to grow too long and too thick and generally the pace has been slow. With two months of the season completed conditions should be fast and keen. Singles Championship Following are the results of the games in the first round of the singles championship:— P. C.' Thomas beat R. Miller; T. Stocker beat F. Daubney; C. J. McEachran beat J. Greer; J. A. Wesney beat J. Ure; W. Robinson beat J. Gillanders; S. C. K. Smith beat S. Whitaker; W. Randle beat G. Hunt; W. Reid beat G. L. Swift; J. E. Taylor beat A. C. Millar; H. R.' Morton beat W. B. O’Toole; G. Reid beat R. Cook; J. Hannan beat D. J. Wesney. Kink Championship Three of the four games in the first round of the rink championship have been played. Results:—T. Stocker, T. D. Pearce, W. Reid and G. L. Swift (s) beat J. O’Brien, L. J. Hitch, J. N. Cockroft and P. C. Thomas; J. Greer, W. Randle, C. J. McEachran ’and W. J. Watson (s) beat J. McMullan, H. R. Morton, J. E. Taylor and S. C. K. Smith (s); R. Miller, G. Hunt, S. Whitaker and A. C. Millar (s) beat R. Cook, J. Hannan, L. H. Burgess and J. Ure (s). Champion Pairs Following are the results of the pairs:— C. E. Burley and W. B. O’Toole beat L. J. Hitch and F. Daubney; W. Reid and S. C. K. Smith beat A. McMurdo and C. Jackson; J. Greer and W. J. Watson beat R. Cook and J. T. Bath; H. R. Morton and D. M. Scandrett beat R. Miller and A. C. Millar; G. Reid and A. V. Keast beat J. A. Fraser and J. E. Taylor; J. A. Wesney and T. Snow beat W. Robison and W. H. Birch; L. H. Burgess and J. Ure beat W. R. Leek and T. Stocker; J. Gillanders and W. Randle beat J. O’Brien and J. W. Cockroft; J. Hannan and G. L. Swift beat C. J. McEachran and D. J. Wesney; G. Hunt and S. Whitaker beat A. Arthur and S. Johnston. Intermediate Singles Following are the results of the first round 'of the intermediate singles:— W. Robison beat S. Johnston; J. W. Cockroft beat H. Hendrick; J. O’Brien beat P. A. Pearce; J. T. Bath beat L. Gee; R. Cook beat L. J. Hitch; G. Webb beat W. H. Birch; G. Hunt beat C. E. Burley; W. N. Blakie beat C. McEachen; G. Reid beat C. Jackosn. TE RANGI RESULTS Te Rangi is well forward with its competitions. Results of games played during the last eight or nine days are as follows:— Champion Singles Springfprd beat Blue; Stott beat Mitchel; A. S. Froggatt beat A. G. Froggatt; Keys beat Gordon; Hope beat Marshall; Streatfield beat McGill; Dunwoodie beat Hinton; Steel beat Dunwoodie; Froggatt beat Steel; Mayhew beat Hinton; Crawford beat Stott; Hope beat Batcheler; Blue beat Dyer. Champion Pairs Gordon and Anderson beat Preddy and Batcheler; Dunwoodie and G. Donald beat Frobarth and T. R. Pryde; Paterson and McKenzie beat Murdoch and Smith; Froggatt and Froggatt beat Frobarth and T. R. Pryde; Donald and Donald beat Steel and Keys. GAME AT LUMSDEN Teams from the Makarewa and James Macpherson Clubs visited Lumsden in the annual Town-Country fixture last week. The visitors, who played as a combined team, were successful by 110 points to 38. The results of the individual games were as follows:—Beattie (Makarewa) 27 beat Dore (Lumsden) 11; Ewart (James Macpherson) 21 beat Ogilvy (Lumsden) 14; King (James Macpherson) 29 beat Sims (Lumsden) 8, Randle (Makarewa) 33 beat Clouston (Lumsden) 5. ALEXANDRA TOURNAMENT A poster advertising the Alexandra Christmas tournament and the Millers Flat New Year tournament has come to hand, These popular holiday meetings are always well patronized by local and visiting bowlers and according to reports it would appear that they will be well supported again. Once

upon a time Southland bowlers were regular attenders at the Alexandra fixture. In recent years, however, they have confined their attentions to the Southland New Year tournament, which this year, becomes the South Island tournament. That event may not deter Southlanders from taking part in the Central Otago fixtures. In the Alexandra tournament play will be spread over five days, from Christmas Day to December 29, and with Millers Flat tournament rinks, pairs and singles will be played on December 30, January 1 and January 2. Good trophies are offered for all events.