Update 22^nd March  2015.

Congratulations to the 2015 Manawatu  Ladies Masters Team for winning their Tournament last week.

We believe this is the first time Manawatu Ladies have won this tournament.

The Team! 

(Click the image to enlarge it,)

Update 17^th March  2015.

Comment on Bowls   by Denis Duffy.

The strong feeling ‘around the traps’ from the moment that Dean Gilshnan first stepped onto a bowling green was that he would rapidly emerge as an outstanding champion. This process is now well under way. When he completed his first Gold Star last weekend by winning the Champion of Champions Singles, Dean left no doubt that he is already a competitor of rare ability and temperament. This was his second title of the season, and he was also very close to the elusive Singles double, having earlier lost the Open Singles final to Ross Ellery. He already has two Open Pairs titles with Pat Horgan, and this lethal combination will shortly take on the best in the country at the National Inter-Centre event. In the Women’s Singles event, Northern’s Liz Rossiter staged a miraculous comeback to survive the first round, and she also fought came back strongly in the final against Terrace End’s Mere Fryer. However, Mere steadied the ship when it mattered to take out the Noreen McMurtrie Memorial Cup.

Many local bowlers will recall Ian Lewis, who played briefly at Palmerston North after beginning Bowls in Taranaki. Ian is still assisting with Bowls websites in the Manawatu, and is now playing out of Opononi in the Far North. This isolated spot was once home to ‘Opo’ the Friendly Dolphin, and features one of the country’s most picturesque green locations. Ian recently won the local Champion of Champions Senior Singles title 21-20, after a desperate battle with Dan Dickison, nephew of past Games Singles Gold Medallist Ian Dickison.

Visitors to various local clubs may have recently taken part in or watched a strange variant of the game – Corner to Corner. This is a contest to finish closest to a mark on the far corner of a green, having delivered a bowl from the opposite corner. Given the distance to be covered, an intriguing mix of skill, brute force and luck is involved, and Bowls NZ has promoted a national Corner to Corner competition. It offers attractive cash prizes for both individuals and clubs, with generous sponsorship from Grants Whiskey. Local bowlers in Bob Caldwell from Bulls and Palmerston North’s Brian Gemmell have both qualified for the national final by demonstrating their accuracy at Wanganui’s Aramoho green. Best wishes go to both for the big event.

Three teams representing the Takaro Branch of the CT Club travelled south to Invercargill recently for the CT Nationals, no doubt lured by the prospect of copious supplies of the various local delicacies. The champions were Brent Mason’s local combination of Ron Henn, Alan ‘Bones’ Burton and Ken Grant, with Ian Johnson’s local team beating the champs first-up and finishing second overall. Among other notable winners lately are Eric Watson and Brian Henn, who took out the Centre’s relatively new ‘Any Gender’ Over 65yrs Pairs event for the third time in its brief history.

Evergreen organiser of the local Hospice Tournament, Barry Gush, has stepped up yet again to run another very successful event. The details of the final cheque for the Hospice are not yet finalised, but support of this annual event was again outstanding.

This column will now not re-appear until mid-April, as the writer will be visiting family in Japan.

 Thanks Denis.

Update 3^rd March  2015.

Comment on Bowls   by Denis Duffy.

The biggest club-organised tournament in the country has been in full swing this week. With seventy-eight teams in the field , this is the Palmerston North Club’s thirty-first Golden Oldies tournament. The event has enjoyed a charmed life over its first three decades, in that it has yet to experience any significant interruption from the weather gods. Its early years saw a remarkable period of domination by two legendary Skips – one local and one from Taranaki. Between the beginning in 1985 and 1991, only Vic Sellars and Dave Baldwin mounted the winner’s rostrum with their teams. Then followed an outstanding ‘threepeat’ of wins by Ray Dunn’s side from the host club. Since then, multiple wins have been few, and the current title-holders have returned with the same side, Skipped by Levin Central’s Ian Mahoney. The Golden Oldies is an iconic event which has managed to retain support through difficult times, and the Palmerston North club is proud to host its flagship tournament once again.

After a week of intense regional competition on the flawless greens at Gisborne Bowling Club, Manawatu managed to secure three spots in the Tauranga based national finals from a possible eleven. This is a mildly disappointing return in a region which is clearly not quite as competitive as some of the other five. However, our three winners came through only after some really tough contests and nailbiting differential-based outcomes. Congratulations go to Ross Ellery in Singles, the Pat Horgan/Dean Gilshnan Pair and Brian Little’s Four which included the Henn brothers and Eric Watson. Little was a replacement for the injured Brian Looker. The Singles and Pair have been rewarded by Selector Sharon Sims with the same positions in the Inter-Centre team for Christchurch.

Last weekend’s Under 5 Years Singles was an unqualified success. I was amazed to witness an apparent miracle as the requisite twenty-four markers somehow appeared for duty across the whole eight rounds, all of which were played to a finish by the eager field of novices. Special congratulations go to the unbeaten prizewinners, Phil Austin of Palmerston North and Dave Adams of Takaro, while two others merit special mention. These are Bevan Burt from the host club and Johnston Park’s Greg Oldridge. Burt was squeezed out of the prizemoney spots on differential, despite winning eight from eight, and Oldridge dropped only two games all weekend after taking up Bowls a mere four months ago.

Skoglund Triples Supremo Stan Goston reports that the field will now split into three sections of eight teams, which will begin Round 2 on March 10th. The Jack Tucker Trophy for Round One goes to Northern Gold with 99 points, who won narrowly from Terrace End Gold on 95, and Takaro A on 93.

Thanks Denis.