Update 3^rd April 2013.

Bowling On

April usually sees champion of champion events each week but with these events having been run off earlier there is little else other than club open tournaments for the rest of the season.

The exception is the Centre Open pairs to be played from 13-15 April but I gather there are not a large number of entries. With club news non existent or not being passed on I am making this my final column for the season. I am not going to trundle through an almanack of the season but will share a few highlights as I saw it or personally enjoyed.

• First in the order of highlights was the sight of two Northern women Anna Davis and Mere Freyer contesting semi-finals of the National singles at Paritutu in New Plymouth. Both contested admirably and an ounce of luck here and a slide there could have seen them both in the final.

• Not far behind were the efforts of Palmerston North and Northern in winning the National Second Division Interclub for men and women respectively. The second Division is far more strongly contested than first division as many clubs see themselves as only cannon fodder in the higher echelon. Palmerston North is arguably the oldest team to win a National title with Trevor Butcher, Colin Cherri, Rex Stokes, Brian Grammer and John Pene all long serving members of the National Superannuation club and Paul Rowe starting to knock on the door. The only relative youngster is singles player Dean Gilshnan who marked his coming of age as an outdoor bowler winning his five matches. John Pene at 81 would be right up there amongst the oldest to win a national title.

• The performance of Manawatu's mens team in finishing second at the national intercentre was very meritorious and they were but one shot from possible victory. They proved to themselves that Auckland greens need hold no fears for them.

• Two champion of champion victories that gave me delight were the tiny Shannon club's Women's triple and of course Lyn Jensen of Johnston Park (and the other half of my bed) in the singles.

• With the absence of centre open events I found myself playing a lot more open tournaments. The more I play the more I enjoy them and the one that gave me particular delight was my first foray into Palmerston North's Golden Oldies.

So those are some season highlights as I saw them.

Easter saw Northern's very popular three day triples held and it proved to be yet another highly organised and hotly contested event. It is a very good format with 20 of the 32 teams taking home prizemoney. In the top division final Terry Curtis skipped the two Rossiters Terry and Liz to victory over Neil Gordon, Brian Henn and Lynlea Rogers. "Scruff" Gordon showed his legendary toughness by dragging his team out of a 13-3 grave to get back to 15-16 only for Curtis to kill the end after the final bell.

One of the real features was the number of local bowlers who took the opportunity to play a tournament with players from other clubs and there were at least a dozen such combinations. Mike Hodge from Terrace End had his parents from Whangarei join him for the tournament which must be pretty special for those involved.

And my bowler of the season? A deadheat between Reg Webb from Te Kawau and Dennis Richards from Masterton. It's not for their on green performances but the phenomenal way they support the game by entering tournaments. I see more of Dennis than most of my clubmates and Reg's name seem to be in every tournament. Those types are the real ones who keep the game healthy.

TONY JENSEN

Thanks Tony. Enjoy your winter break!

Here are a couple of candid shots taken during our Easter Tournament.

Click on them to view a larger version.

Bill has a long hard look! Ray concentrates on his delivery!

Interested spectators!

Scruff and Terry in the Final

Ray looking out over his old stomping ground!

More of the tournament spectators!

Update 25^th Mar 2013.

Northern’s women’s team wins the Division 2 Interclub Title.

Congratulations to Julianne Mills, Carol Davidson, Lynlea Rogers, Sue Meyer, Jacinta Cousins, Julie Palmer, Christina Bryan, Pat Baker (Manager) and Noeleen Elston (Coach).

You can see the full results  here http://www.bowlsnz.co.nz/events/bowls-nz-national-interclub-championships/interclub-results/

Well done!

This weekend. Starting on Friday.

NORTHERN Bowling Club

SILVESTER/CLARK

2013 EASTER TRIPLES   

Well worth coming down to the Club to see some top bowlers in action.

Update 19^th Mar 2013.

Congratulations to all involved with the annual Hospice tournament and fund raising. A marvellous effort all round and a great day on the greens as a bonus.

Wanganui East paid a return visit to our club on Sunday. For those who don’t know, Northern managed to scrape home winners overall by 1 game. Very close, and a lot of enjoyment for all those involved.

A great day of bowls played with our good friends from the River City.

Bowling On - 19^th March 2013.

Bowls can provide some great sporting moments on the green but for those gathered at the Northern Club last Saturday the feel good generated by the annual Hospice tournament would be hard to match.

It brings the entire Manawatu bowling fraternity (with other centre support)  together for a common cause and this year there was an additional sense of poignancy with the loss of Fran Frith, one of Manawatu's very best women bowlers, two day beforehand at Arohanui Hospice.

While the three greens had a capacity field of 48 teams the bowls seemed of little consequence as the crowd set about raising what looks like a final figure of over $10000 to go to the Hospice. One of the highlights is always the auction and this year was no different with that aspect of the day raising $6500 by itself, with a lot of spirited competition and good banter. The Gush family with "Dadio" Barry and son Craig with his partner Erin are the principal organisers of the day but all the Northern members and many others bend their backs and open their hearts and wallets to make the day the success it is.

• Regional Club Championships were held last week and the Palmerston North men's triple (Chris Barrett, Steve Toms and Graeme Cooley)  and Northern women's four (Feona Sayles, Anna Davis, Jacinta Cousins and Julianne Mills) were the the only teams to win and thus qualify for the National finals at Invercargill in June. It is a surprisingly small success for Manawatu Clubs against the other centres in the region, Wairarapa, Gisborne/East Coast and Hawkes Bay. Perhaps it was the Napier greens that tripped our bowlers up or dare I suggest that using champion of champion winners rather than an open tournament meant we sent less capable bowlers to the event? I look forward to the howls of protest on that one!

It is a big financial impost on players to have to head to Invercargill for the second year running and I frankly believe Bowls New Zealand executives must have rocks in their heads to go back to a venue so close to the Antarctic  in mid-winter, even if it is indoors. Travel costs to such an outpost are ridiculously high.

Last year Terrace End and Palmerston North had teams travel there and got together to organise a fundraising tournament to raise funds which was most successful so hopefully a similar event will take place.

• The centre is light on for open tournaments this coming weekend and a mixed triple at Himatangi on Sunday is the only option. That should ensure they have a full field. I found a two day fours at Manakau in the Kapiti area and am looking forward a tournament on a green I've never been on.

 Terrace End tell me there are still a few vacancies in their 2-4-2 mens pairs on 20 and 21 April. It is usually a top weekend. Unfortunately I'll miss it this year as I'll be performing in "Joseph" at the Regent.

• One of the reasons for the lack of tournaments in the Manawatu this weekend is Palmerston North are hosting the National Inter club finals. Good luck to Palmerston North men and Northern women in the second Division.

• The loss of Frances Frith on the day the first Pope Francis was appointed was someway fitting. If there is a bowls sainthood she would be right up there awaiting canonization or at least beatification. Fran was a very, very good bowler winning 21 Manawatu titles to add to the six she won beforehand in Kapiti. On top of that she had a myriad of successes in Interclub, Representative teams and other tournaments. It was as a skip I remember Fran best - no pressure was ever too much and she could bail any team out of trouble.

• Palmerston North RSA won the national RSA tournament last week for the second consecutive year. Brian Looker, Paul Tregoweth and Graham Gosnell were the successful bowlers on both occasions.

A good club member at Terrace End Fran did her share in administration, coaching and umpiring and she had not long become an internationally accredited umpire when she became ill. We have lost a few bowlers this season but no one could have anticipated we would in the one season lose three such quality younger bowlers and people as Fran Frith, Laurie Gordon and Bob Williams. A huge lose to us all but first and foremost to their families.

TONY JENSEN

Thanks Tony.

Update 12^th Mar 2013.

Congratulations to the Northern Ladies Second Division teams who qualified for National Finals in Palmerston North on March 23^rd and 24^th.

The winning team was Julianne Mills, Lynlea Rogers, Carol Davidson, Christina Bryan, Julie Palmer, Jacinta Cousins and Sue Meyer. Manager Pat Baker. Well done girls!
Congratulations also to Northern's first division Men’s and Ladies teams who finished  second to Bowls Napier and Gisborne respectively.

Craig Gush playing Singles in the first division went through unbeaten. 

Bowling On - 12^th March 2013.

Northern's Arohanui Hospice fundraising tournament takes place this Saturday and it is now etched into the bowls programme as one of the absolute must enter events on the calendar.

It is not the biggest event, it has little in the way of prizes but it brings bowlers together in a spirit of common purpose like no other tournament can. During it's lifespan the tournament has raised over $100000 towards the running of one of our community's greatest assets and I don't mean assets in a bricks and mortar sense.

The tournament is not about winning although inevitably there are stacked teams like any event. Barry Gush has deputised son Craig to assist with the running these days and their good marketing has seen a capacity field of 48 teams enter. Apart from four games of bowls there is a bumper raffles table and an auction afterwards which usually provides plenty of entertainment. Bowlers not participating and members of the public will be most welcome to call at Northern and spend a few dollars. I'm looking forward to it and will line up for the pre-match breakfast as well.

• There may be 192 bowlers lining up in the Hospice tournament but last weeks Golden Oldies at Palmerston North remains unchallenged as the Centre's biggest event with 320 bowlers participating. It was my first foray into this event for the "aged" but any suggestion that it was not competitive or qualitative were soon dispelled. I witnessed some wonderful bowls over the four days and intense competition with five divisions vying for prize money over the last two days.

Robbie Robertson from Wanganui East had two club mates in Cyril Evans and Peter Raymond with him and their fourth player, Ces Bell from Napier skipped the team. Winning 11 games on the trot in any company is a wonderful effort. It was the first time I had played with my skip Barry Wynks and lead Pat O'Neil from Heretaunga while I had enjoyed the company of Terry Curtis at the National fours earlier in the year. We managed to finish second and like everyone I talked to we'll be back next year.

As with most tournaments that are enduring Palmerston North do not muck round with the format and that club's organisation with support from Terrace End is outstanding. When you see how successful and well supported an over sixties event is it is a timely reminder to Bowls New Zealand where the game's real strength lies. It is not with those in the younger age bands.

• The centre's event for two year and under bowlers the Hibiscus Cup was held last Sunday and the remarkable occurrence was that Kimbolton, one of the Centre's tiniest clubs provided the most entries with six and the winning pair Justin Wyatt and Kendra Perkins. The tournament has been a Terrace End benefit in recent times but no one would have expected that dominance to end this way. Runners-up were Ross Martin and Gary Boyd from Terrace End.

Regional Interclub finals were held in Napier last weekend and Northern missed out in both premier divisions But took out women's Division Two and Palmerston North grabbed the men's equivalent. Both teams will go on to the New Zealand finals.

Also being played this week in Napier are the regional National Club Championships and our champion of champion winners are representing our centre in the four gender disciplines while Janeen Noble and Barry Wynks play the mixed 2-4-2 pairs.

Some good bowls to be had in the next few weeks and the negative affects of the drought are balanced by great bowling conditions in the Autumn.

TONY JENSEN

Thanks Tony.