BOWLING

Taranaki Daily News, 6 January 1927, Page 4

BOWLING

NEW YEAR TOURNAMENT VOGELTOWN WEST END IN FINAL. (By “Toucher.”) New Zealand Dominion Bowling Association Annual Tournament, nt Auckland; singles, January 10 and 11; rinks, January 12; pairs, January 17 and 18. Taranaki Centro Open Tournament, at New Plymouth, January 24, 25, 26. Rotorua Tournament, at Rotorua; first tournament, February 7; second tournament, February 21. The many tournaments held throughout the North Island during the Christmas and New Year holidays can now be reckoned as among the doings of the past, and their results can be chronicled and placed in the pigeon-holes for future reference. Chief among these tourneys, and of the fullest interest to Taranaki bowlers, was the New Year fixture of the Taranaki Centre. Forty-four rinks competed. The greens were in good order. The players were divided into six sections, and the winners of the various sections were:—Section A, Billing (West End); Section B, Spurdie (Inglewood); Section C, Fuller (Waitara); Section D, Honeyfield (West End); Section E. Beal (West End); Section F, Ruebe (Vogeltown). In post-section play Spurdie beat Billing by 4 points, Honeyfield beat Fuller by a similar margin, while Ruebe 'beat Beal by 10 points. In the semi-final Honeyfield beat Spurdle by 1 point. The final between Honeyfield and Ruebe takes place on Saturday afternoon. Previous winners of the New Year tournament are as under:— 1915. —West End: Haslam, Sutcliff, Lee, Johnson (s). 1910.—Fitzroy: Oxenham, Coxhead, Avery, Smith (s). 1917. New Plymouth: Rundle, Wood, Luseombe, Medley (s). 1918. —New Plymouth: Hooker, Green, Firth, H. Smart (s). 1919. —New Plymouth: Hooper, Ford, Phillipa, A. K. Smart (s). 1920. New Plymouth: Binnie, Dickson, Bellringer, Rundle (s). 1921. New Plymouth: F. Hooker, Gilmour, Plumtree, H. Smart (s). 1922. —New Plymouth: Chaney, Grainger, Roberts, A. K. Smart (s). 1923. —West End: Walsh. Dailey, Lee, Billing (s). 1924. —New Plymouth: Saunders, Morton, Inder, C. N. Johnson (s). 1925. West End: Mason, Guild, B. Petty, J. N. Johnson (s). 1926. —Eltham: Stanners, McKay, Harrison, E. Bary (s). It may be interesting to mention that the highest aggregate score in any game in the tournament on 21 heads was that in the game between Oliver and Goldsmith, when a total of 52 points was scored. The smallest aggregate score was 20, put up in the games between Hammond and Horton and Beal and Patrick. The highest score put up by any one rink was 36, scored by Murray’s rink against Roebuck and by G. Oliver againtt Goldsmith. The smallest score was 8 points, registered by W. Healy against A. K. Smart. In this game Smart secured the biggest marginal win of the tournament, 24 points being the difference. Games won by the narrowest possible margin were those secured by Chittenden over Street, Tiplady over T. C. Fookes, and Hammond over Horton. Perhaps it may also be of interest to mention that there were some rinks that secured nary a win in the tournament, namely those of Woollett, Wigley, Robertson, Patrick and Roebuck.

I hope bowlers taking part in the New Year tournament will pardon me if I make free with their names in the following paragraph:—’Way down in Norfolk or in Surrey, Valentine’s Day is held as well as . Patrick’s. Alexander Ward went along the Street to the Goldsmith’s to see the Styles. A Ruebe! What a Boon! I will Putt it on; it looks so Smart. A Carter passed by, and offered the Young Ward a lift over the Firth. He was Fuller than he thought, and an Inch or two too Short, and the result was a Tiplady. She was furious. You Lowe man! You have taken too much Goldwater! What will the Guild think of me, you Looney? I feel like Cain. I will be all Brown and White. Hay, you Taylor, give me a lift on your Douglass, over the Ford, through the Glen, and up the Hill. I will walk through the Marsh, and you may sound the Bell for me when you reach the Bigwood. Did you see the Drake and the Cock in the Henwood? The Whitehead lad left his Shoemark on the Lee shore when he attempted to Hurlstones at them. It was a Petty thing to do, at which my Sole revolts. I must pick up the Mail, see the- Mason about the Charters, and finally visit the Honeyficld, where I keep the Roebuck. Though my hands may Beal, I will Washer, and then to sleep.

THE OPEN TOURNAMENT. The chief event in bowling circles in Taranaki is the open tournament, to be held by the Taranaki Centre, commencing on Monday afternoon, January 24. Eight games of 21 heads will be played in the section play, two games being played on the Monday afternoon and three games a day on the two subsequent days. No rink with less than six wins will be eligible to compete in the post-section play. After section play the full two-life system will be applied to all teams left in, and each team, when it has been beaten twice, drops out of the competition. Priority of byes at any stage will be given to rinks which score the greatest number of wins during the section play, but no team will have more than one bye unless unavoidable. There will be a time limit of 2J hours (including all tea adjournments) in all games except in the final, where there is no time limit. Play will commence on the first day at 12.45 and following days at 9 a.m. with luncheon hour from one to two. To ensure punctuality rinks arriving late will be penalised two pointe for every five minutes or part thereof, up to 20 minutes, when the executive may register a win against them by default. Entries for the tournament will close on January 11. THE CHRISTIE SHIELD. The Christie Shield, the trophy annually competed for at Christmastide by the Western Division bowling clubs, was again won this year by a Manaia rink skipped by Smith. The winners of the shield to date are:— 1924. —Pihama: L. Harrop, D. Harrop, Neilson, F. Julian (skip). 1925. —Manaia: Toroa, Franklyn, Hotter, Smith (skip). 1926. —Manaia: Butler, Toroa, Johnson, A. C. Smith (skip).

THE SYME SHIELD. The most coveted bowling trophy in South Taranaki, the Syme Shield, was competed lor by the Manaia, Hawera, Paten and Park clubs at New Year. , Four rinks whs the strength of each club. Wet. weather interfered with its conclusion, and the finals will not be played till February 26. The winners of the shield to date are: 1923. Hawera. 1924. —Manaia. 1925. Hawera. 1 192(1. — Manaia. THE DOMINION TOURNEY. From reports which have come to hand since the last column appeared, it is very likely that Mr. Harrison (“Boomerang” of the Referee) will not be able to make the trip to New Zealand which he anticipated earlier in the season. This is mueh to be regretted, firstly, because there arc many bowlers who would like personally to express their thanks to him for all that he has done for bowling in the Dominion, and his efforts to get teams from Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria to come over here; and because of the kindness shown to New Zealanders who have been on visits to Australia; and, further, because they were very keen that he should see the two-life system in operation, and judge of its merits for himself. At one time he was very much opposed to it, but of late he has eome to believe that there is something in it. He is open to conviction, anyway, and was very desirous himself of getting some practical experience of it. He would then have been able to talk straight from the “horse’s mouth,” and his opinion would have carried a lot of weight on the other side. He is evidently not one of those who—- “ Convinced against his will Is of the same opinion still,” hence it is not surprising to know that he has a strong feeling, and that his views are treated with respect. We ean only hope that the difficulties which have arisen will be smoothed over so that New Zealanders may have the opportunity of extending a hearty welcome to him. “WICKED MELBOURNE.” Another invasion of the Sunday’s peace is the start of games of bowls, says Bowling Life. Melbourne has no trams on Sunday mornings, though it lias trains. It has no newspapers. Its restaurants are mostly closed. Efforts were made to establish tennis as an institution, but it was violently opposed. Golf hides away in it own quarters, and football and cricket are played surreptitiously in park corners by a few youthful heathen. The Church of England Grammar School, which has a spacious area off the St. Kilda Road,' allowed the boys to have cricket in the season; but influences got to work, and it has been stopped. Considering how the games have been crushed out by the ruthless foot of authority, the audacity of bowls clamoring for Sunday recognition has astounded even the Lord Mayor, who is the president of the association. The club which has openly defied the conventions by starting the game received in a speech his unmeasured reprobation. Ho can see the youth of the metropolis demoralised by the sight of aged men stooping down and slowly evolving a bias. Apparently there are other associations, though he docs not mention them. If they have any reference to a small group of players standing under cover and taking a cup of tea you can appreciate the fury which a leading citizen must experience in the terrible conditions.

QUESTION OF UNIFORM. In view of the requirements to wear bowling uniform at the coming Taranaki tournament, the following report of a meeting of the Bowling Council at Sydney may be of interest:—Mr. J. Henley raised a discussion of rule 26, which provided that players must appear in uniform. He argued that they must have a penalty for breakers of this rule, which was now honoured more in the breach than in the observance. The rule was made to look ludicrous with no provision for its enforcement. A delegate: What if players won’t wear uniform? Another delegate: Disqualify them! Mr. Wall thought that, in some cases of bowlers coming from long distances, the rule might be relaxed; but the pennant committee should have the power to disqualify players who deliberately flouted the rule. A delegate stated that in one pennant match last season five or six of the players did not appear in uniform. Such conduct should not be disregarded. Mr. W. Roberts thought the rule should be amended to give the pennant committee the power to disqualify offenders without a reasonable, excuse. Mr. Taylor: It would inflict no hardship to ask a player to appear in white trousers and hat. On Mr. Henley’s suggestion the president stated that he would have the clause re drafted. ~ THE PARITUTU CLUB. The following will represent Paritutu in a friendly game against Inglewood, at Paritutu, on Saturday:—Hill, Thomson, Bennett, Adams, (s); McWhinney, Sims, Vincent, Lobb, (s); Harvey, Mackie, Jackson, Walls, (s). The following will complete pairs competition :—Lister and Mclntosh v. Moverley and Jackson ; Brown and Hay v. Whitehead and Thomas. These matches must be completed on this date or forfeited. The following will play in club games. — H. Sole, Barnes, Curd, Haughey, (s); v. Fulker, Des Forges, Evans, B. Sole, (s). Stewart, G. Bennett, Nesbit, Bullin (s), v. Carter, Phillips, Elliott, Briggs (s). PARK (HAWERA) TROPHIES. The feathers competitions were held at the Park Bowling Club's (Hawera) greens yesterday, when the holders were defeated by 26 points to 23. The results were as follows (the previous holders being mentioned first): Drynan, Brown, Milton, Brunette (s) 23; v. Dillon, Hall, Kendall, Goodwin (s) 26,