Update 11^th September  2015.

Notes of interest from the Club Captain

Opening Day

Keep fingers crossed for a fine day for our opening which is on Saturday September 19. We will be playing for the Herbert Plate with games to begin at 1:00pm. Club colours please. We plan to have the new club booklet available for you on Opening Day.

Te Raki Cup

This is to be held on Saturday September 26 at Takaro with a 10:00am start. Names on the board please or return email to me.

Men’s Pants and Shorts.

A reminder that samples of these are in the clubrooms for you to try. Please read the notes on the board carefully as they relate to the different sizing of the pants and shorts. A reminder also that the final product will be the same green as our shirts, with a back pocket on the pants as well as a permanent crease. Order form on the board.

Comment on Bowls   by Denis Duffy.

As a new season arrives with a menacing chill still in the air, the recipe for stemming the rapid leakage of players from our game remains as elusive as ever, but there’s no lack of positivity among the many keen bowlers looking forward to  what lies ahead in the coming months. There have been successful outcomes for locals from events played during the Winter at Hawkes Bay’s Heretaunga indoor facility and in pre-season tournaments held in the Kapiti region. Shane Rogers started last season with a run of top results, and going into the last round of the Keith Elliott VC Invitation Fours held annually at Raumati South he was right on track for something similar. Shane had a powerful line-up in front of him in the form of Scotty McGavin, Darryl Johnson and Adam Johnston, but a slip-up in the final round saw the main prize go to a side paying long odds with the bookies. This was the Terrace End combo of Scruff Anderson ,Wally Parker, Dave Gibb and Ted Hodgson – a great win for them, but then any astute Bowls watcher knows that a team with ‘Tip-Top’ at Lead will always be dangerous. In times past the Webber Shield Open Fours was a prestigious extended event not dissimilar to the Taranaki Open, and run annually by the Heretaunga Club in Hastings on its now vanished outdoor set-up. These days it’s a three day indoor event still run by Heretaunga on its new site, where Takaro’s Barry Wynks has featured in several recent finals with various combinations. This time Barry was denied by a fine performance from the Johnston Park combo of of Tony Jensen, Stephen Love, Bruce Mudgway and Bruce Harris. Later on, at the same Hastings venue, the Palmerston North Triple of Phil Austin, Dean Gilshnan and Brial Looker took out a Classic Triples event. Then, just last weekend, Dean combined with Terry Johnson to win the Plate event at the Paraparaumu Beach Club’s Invitation 2x4x2 three day Pairs tournament.

The Palmerston North club recently farewelled its long-term greenkeeper, Ken Murray, into a well-earned retirement. Having the benefit of Ken’s undoubted expertise, shrewdness and experience for so long has been a priceless asset for the Centre’s oldest club, and Ken’s replacement, Matt Van Rysewyk, will be well positioned to follow many of the guidelines left behind by Ken.

The Takaro Club is nothing if not innovative, and a current initiative there may well see a series of evening tournaments contested under floodlights during the Summer. The lighting involved will be at a level sufficient for Bowls, but not of enough brightness to create a nuisance for neighbours.

This season’s Centre programme reveals a discernible move to   hold important events later than previously, hopefully avoiding as much as possible of the wild Spring weather, but the first event of significance will again be the Pathways Mixed 2x4x2 Pairs held over Labour Weekend.

Thanks Denis.