SHORT HEADS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10683, 1 February 1913, Page 6

SHORT HEADS.

NOTES FROM THE GREENS. (By THIRD PLATER.) The matter of unstamped bowls will have to bo taken ill hand by the authorities, either with a- view .to franiincr ,v more comprehensive rule or arranging for the present rule being .strictly acted up 10. Already there is a rule which appears to meet the case, but to carry it out means that before a tournament is opened every bowl must be examined by an officer of the Association, the unstamped bowls being; ruled out. ! would suggest, as a way out of the difficulty, thai at I'Uturo tournaments the position .should be clearly act out on the entry form, and that all players, when entering, should he asked for a declaration, that their bowls wore dulv tesLed ami

stamped. 1 have, however, no sympathy to waste on the players who went into the iccent tournament with un.stainjjed bowls. They must, or at any rate slum Id, have been aware that, under the, rules, they were required to have their bowls tested and stamped. They took their risk deliberately and have only themselves to blame for the tnSublo they la ruled themselves in. The weakness of the position was that there wns no official examination of bowls, and the onus of detecting those not conforming to the rules was thrown on players. The unfortunate part of the business was that there were hosts ot unstamped bowls at tho tournament of which no notice was taken. Oil one green, on singles day, an unstamped set got tho length of the green final. There was talk of an objection early in the day, but nothing 'was done and the player just missed getting into the final struggle for tho Championship Singles. There was a lot'of grumbling over this subject during tournament week, and the" Association-will havo to adopt some more satisfactory method of dealing with the troublo before tho next tournament is held.

I had quite a number of interesting conversations, during tournament week, concerning the programme of events at our big tournaments in the South Island, mid the amount of play entailed on thoso who choso to take part in all of them. Various suggestions were made for effecting improvement, onlv one of tho many players I spoke tospeaking up strongly for the present system of rink;;, doubles and singles. His a/rgnment was that the Association was catering for three different classes of players, and that each event should have its place. Ido not think, however, tliorc is much in this point. My own feeling is that tho best arrangement would bo to confine play to rinks, a plan which has been adopted by tho Northern Association for some years with very satisfactory results. The arrangements provide plenty of play, without any undue rush, and with two subsidiary competitions for those beaten in the principal event the_ intercr-t is well maintained to the finish. Th-sre, as in the case of our own tournament, the section system does not al;vays work out well, as it leaves i-oom f or " pointing." 'Phis seems to be freely admitted on all hands, but I think a. remedy can bo found. A leading touthcrn player brieflv outlined to mo a scheme which had been tried with success and ho has promised to send me, full particular, l ! later on. I expect the arrangements for next year's tournament, the first under tile ausp'evs of the Dominion of New Zealand Bowling Association," will be one of the early questions to claim the attention of tho executive when it \nkes office. Already, from what I can learn, the subject has been discussed at an informal conference, at which the two existing Associations were represented. No. definite conclusions luw?. been arrived at, but I am prepared to find that rinks and rinks only will find a place in the big tournament next season. Those who have been through the mill will admit, I think, that tho programme as carried out by the New Zealand Association for pome years past entails far too much play on the competitors, more especially on those who may be fortunate enough to get well through t their engagements in more than 0110' event. The rink competition moans seven hours and a, half of plftj' on Monday, and a similar amount on Tuesday. On Wednesday doubles occupy the time from 8.15 a.m. till 8 p.m., and on Thursday the singles keep tliem on the green, though not playing all tho time in the early, part of the day, from 8.30 a.m. till 7 p.m. The result is that tho competitors who have got through this programme of engagements are getting stale by Thursday night, and do not approach Friday morning's contract with the vim that is essential for a high-class performance against the strenuous opposition they are called on to encounter, the competitions having by that time been reduced to a battle of the giants. I have known men discuss the question of withdrawing from the singles on Thursday, so as to keep themselves fresh for doubles and rinks, but few of them have the courage to take this cour.se, and after they have failed badly on Friday, they realise, all too late, that they have lost all through reaching out after too much. <■ ( . As is usual after a tournament, driving is very popular on many of the local greens just now. Having seen some of the champion drivers, turn the whple course of a. game with a fast shot, inexperienced players have conceived the idea that the drive is the great match Avinner. Later on,.after paying for the information, they will discover their error. The drive is a very handy shot to have in the locker, and the player who can use it effectively and at the right time is a good one to have on your side. It can, however, be very easily overdone, and when introduced at the wrong moment it frequently spells disaster. After all, tho best rr-atch-wirming factor is draw, which will always beat indiscriminate driving. There were some very deadly drivers at the recent tournament. The South Island champions and such Wellington stars at the game as Portions and Webb, were well known to the crowd. For. consistent accuracy in their fast shots, however. I Would'give tho palm to the Auckland pair, .M. Walker and V". Casey. Some of their displays during the week in the way of cannon ball shots, were, equal to anything I ever

saw. It can be taken as pretty certain that there will be a b.ig gathering of North Island players in Dunedin next January, on the occasion of the first tournament of the amalgamated Association, representing the whole of the dominion. When bidding farewell to some of the local players last Saturday, "Mr M. Casey, the veteran Auckland player, president of the Northern Association, said if he was in the flesh he would certainly be at Dunedin for the big gathering, and he further promised that there would be a strong contingent of players from Auckland and other parts of the North Island. This is good news, and South Island bowlers will, I am certain, welcome the host the North can scud along. Tn these days when young men have taken so keenly to bowling, we do nob hnd the veterans playing such a prominent part in the tournament finals as was formerly the case. Under these circumstances, it is therefore pleasing to find, the old hands pushing their way to the front, if only occasionally. Mr D. L. Christie, a■ member of the Tnieri combination which secured fourth nrir.e in the Champion Rink?, celebrated his sixty-ninth birthday on' the Friday of tournament week. Mr M. who, with his son, gained third prise in the Clmmninn Doubles, is even further advanced, his age being given as seventytwo. Tfc many years since Mr Christie took part in his first tournament nnrl T remember seeing him play second for Carswell in a Champion Dink filial in Dunedin thirteen years ago, the Taicri pin, vers on that occasion being beaten bv a Dunedin rink, skipped bv J. TTunter. I hope many years will elapse before Messrs Christie and Casey have to drop out of tournament play. ■iHiiiiiniM

the recent tournament, the one that attracted the greatest amount of attention was the Lai! Auckiander, Maxwell Walker. 'lllis was his first visit to the. South island, but ho hail earned a big reputation in tin; north as a high grade player, and lii.s funic had preceded him. I lis performances throughout the tournament showed that his ability had not been over-estimated. Ho is still only a, young player, having had hut six years' experience, but he possesses a very sound Juiowludgo of all points (if tin; game, while he is capable of giving a brilliant demonstration of his ideas. In every department of play,'from a delicate draw to tho fastest of drives, ho was equally proficient, and his clean style, quite apart from results, was the theme of general admiration. 'ihe genial Aucklander has been singularly unlucky so far in his toiirnament record. At each of tho Northern Association's tournaments in whieh_ he has taken part he has reached tub linal stages out has not~yefc succeeded in securing the highest honours, though usually a solitary point hau stood in tho way of success, that being again his record in the Champion Singles at Christchurch, when JJenfcley gained a .sensational vicLory with his last bowl, after Walker lay game. 1 understand wo can look forward to another visit from Walker for next year's tournament. and I am sure he will tako the public fancy in Dunedin just as much as ho did in Christchurch.

J. G. Bentley, who won the champion singles at tho recent has for several years past been one of tho leading tournament players in the South Island. Four years ago lie skipped tho winning double in Christchurch, and last season, at Dunedin, lie was successful in champion singles, besides taking first place in the B doubles and B rinks. ' He is a quiet, unassuming player, well armed at all points of tho game, and his form at tho recant tournament was of a high order. The success of A. I). Miller and J. Rcnnio in tho champion doubles was richly deserved. They had no easy pas- ] sage through the various stages leading | to the final, and some of their experiences were of a character to severely test the nerves of the, average player. The Southland pair, however, are singularly. blessed in this respect, as I doubt whether two cooler or more imperturb-able-players ever fought their way through a tournament. Miller gives the impression to the casual observer that he is careless, but nothing could bo further removed from the reai facts, as there is no keener player about than the popular " Dusty," who, by the way, is a Christchurch youth, though he learned the game in Invorcargill. Piennie's style is altogether different, every bowl being put down with cool deliberation. In temperament, however, they -havtii much in common, and both of them, seem equally unruffled, however the head, may bo going. They are, in brief, an ideal match-winning pair; and, though this was their first big win, I will be greatly surprised if it is tho last time they figure in a final. They have had a good deal of tournament experience, and are all that remain to tho Southland Club of one of the warmest rinks that ever came from the far south. The rink comprised "Miller, James Taylor, Rennio and Rolk ert Taylor (skip). Robert Taylor, in his day looked on as the finest player in Southland, has dropped out of the game, while James Taylor, now a resident of Christchurch, is a popular member of tho Edgewaro Club, and at the recent tournament, where he showed good form, though' without getting into tho prize list, he was among the wfirmest admirers of his old club mates. - The success of I.'Woolf's United rink in the champion rinks should serve as a big object-lesson in the value of combination. It is several years since three of them made their first appearance in company, the original rink, I think, consisting of J. Mercer, W. Fraser, I. Woolf and John Brown, sen. Three years ago, at Dunedin, they made a big show in the champion rinks, and wound up, I _ think, in fourth place. Since then, with changes in the order, they have competed together on several occasions. For the recent tournament they secured as lead John Brown, jim., a second - year player of exceptional promise. The . result quite justified expectations. Undeterred by the importance of tho i occasion, the "youngster" gave a high-class exhibition of leading. It is, in fact, no disparagement of the throe old hands, who will probably freely admit the point, that the success of the rink was mainlv due to the consistently solid T>lay of John Brown, junior. lie was, of course,, well backed up, 'for tho whole team played soundly, without any of the fireworks displays given by other combinations, but game after gams tho other sido was kept busy to get rid of those deadly first bowls. The United rink has my hearty congratulations over a win which was welcomed in all bowling circles in Christchnrch, especially as it broke, a long spell of failures by Canterbury teams in the Champion Rink competition. It is twelve years since L. B. Wood gained a memorable victory for Christchurch, but I hope wo will not have to wait nearly so long before another rink from this quarter emulates the deeds of Woolf and his doughty supporters. Local players, after the excitement of the big tournament, are once more settling down to normal conditions, and club competitions are once more the order of the day. For the benefit of .all concerned, I would just, throw out the reminder that the Christchurch Centre will probably be holding the Champion of Champion Rinks and t he Champion of Champion Singles (Maddison trophy) competitions next month, so there is not much time left in which to find club champions. The final of the Simcs Cup Rink competition was played on the Edgeware green on Thursday evening. Eleven rinks took part in the preliminary games, divided into two sections, and the section winners were:—No. I—W. Pearce, T. Dent; J. Jowsey and P. L. Davies (skip) : No. 2—J. W. Dollan, A. Masters, W. Johnson and A. Dickson (skip). In the final Dickson started off smartly, putting on ten in the first five heads, but Davies got six in the next two heads. From that point the game was stubbornly contested up to the seventeenth head, when Dickson's advantage was five, hut he more than held his own in the concluding stages, eventually winning by 23 to 13 on the twentieth head. Davies was unfortunate in the first part of the game, his team failing to catch the strength for a few heads, and Dickson, all of whose team had played on an adjoining rink earlier in the day, took full advantage of this fact, the lead he gained in the first few heads proving too great a handicap for his opponents. This was Dickson's second success in tho Sillies Cup, as he also skipped the winning rink last year. The President's Rink competition on the Christchurch greon has reached the final stage. It was played in three sections, tho following being the winners: —Section A, Williams, Newhurgh, . Lewis and Sandstein (?l:it)): Section B, Langford. Elliot, M'oslpy and S: Manning (skip); Section C. Price, Atkinson, (x. C. Smith and. Clark (skip). In the play off Manning heat Clark. The following gives the position of the Champion Rink Competition at the Christchurch green : —■Newman, Atkinson, Quane and Barnett (skip) Avon one game; Seagcr. Bunting, Inkson ana Sandstein (skip) lost two games; Ridtev. Cr.tighcy, Relliwell and Gurney (skip) won one; G. C. Smith. Thomas, Grange and. S. Manning (skip) won two: Smithson, Mosley, Wright and Davies (skin.) won two; Pairman, Cr. Smith, Daniels and Macdougall lost two: Price, Joynt, Clark and Hardie (skip)\won one. A peculiar position has arisen over tho Thursday Pennant Competition, in which Canterbury and Sydenham A were leading with one loss each. Sydenham protested against Canterbury lor including two Saturday players in one rink against Edgeware on January 17, and Canterbury retaliated by prot.estina. Hfrninst Sydenham'A for not

playing its match against Sydenham B on 'the same day. The two,_ protests ■were considered by the executive of tho C.'enfci'o last night and they were both upheld. Tho result of this is to completely upset all over the Pennant. Canterbury loses its match nn tho protest, the game going to I'klgeware, which is left with only one defeat; Sydenham A also loses its unphiyed match, and thus baa two oefeats, as has "Canterbury. The other team in the competition, Kaiapoi, lost its second game when beaten by Edgewaro on 'Jhursday, so it looks as it the straightening out of the tangle had given the Thursday Pennant to Edgewaro, which also won it last year. file Champion of Champion Rink competition will he. played on March 8 and .15, and entries will close on Febru-ary-28. The Maddison Trophy Singles competition will he played on April 3, and entries will close on March 22. An effort is being made to secure a strong team from the Christchurch Centre to play Otago at Dunedin. The suggestion is to fix tho match for the end of this month.