Update 29^th October  2013.

Congratulations to Doug Hayward and Ann Corlett who defeated Liz and Terry Rossiter in the  final of the Centre mixed 2-4-2 pairs on Monday.  J

Good Bowling to those Northern players who are taking part in the first day of Interclub on Saturday and the Club Singles championships on Sunday. The long range weather for the weekend looks a little suspect but how often do they get it right? Here's hoping, not this time!

Bowling On

29^th October.

Bowls Manawatu Division One Interclub commences on Saturday and a unique change is the joint competition with Wanganui Clubs.

Each Centre will still provide a representative club to go onto regional and perhaps National finals and in theory one of the Centres could grant that privilege to a club finishing fifth overall although unlikely.

Manawatu will be represented by Palmerston North, Northern and Terrace End in both gender competitions while Johnston Park and Takaro will be the fourth team in the women's and men's competitions respectively. Wanganui and Wanganui East will be in both competitions for the Wanganui Centre and the highly ranked Aramaho and Durie Hill are the other two men's clubs. Laird Park and Marton complete the four clubs in the women's competitions.

What the change will do is remove a lot of the predictability with travel, different greens and unknown opponents being considerations for all players and how they cope on day one may dictate the outcome.

Wanganui teams are not known to me but at Centre level our representative players often struggle to compete and I expect they will be very competitive all round. Northern women will be without Feona Sayles, Chris Quinn and Sharon Sims but it's side still looks well balanced and exemplifies the club's depth. I like the look of Terrace End's women's team while Johnston Park is newly promoted to Division One but will feel the loss of their two best players Robyn Schischka and Lyn Jensen who are both unavailable.

 At the risk of being ageist Palmerston North women look just a little too seasoned to foot it - I await the howls of protest.

Northern also have several changes in the men's seven with Philip Sloglund Jnr, Craig Gush, Cameron Nairne, Grant Simms and Ray Lovie all gone from the club or unavailable. Palmerston North have lost singles exponent Ross Ellery but lose nothing in replacement Chris Barrett while Pat Horgan will skip a four with two new faces in Clayton Simpson who has transferred from Terrace End and Dean Gilshnan who came of age last season.  Brian Little skips Graeme Cooley in the pair and I expect they will be a formidable combination.

Takaro and Terrace End will be competitive with the mens sevens they have named but I question some of the playing order particularly the Takaro four which has an upside down look about it.

Men's Division two is back in numbers with eight teams and Johnston Park and Palmerston North have two entries each. It is usually a matter of which of the Palmerston North teams wins this grade.

Most divisions play two rounds on day one then three rounds on subsequent days which I find thoughtless and totally illogical. If you lose time in a competition it needs to be made up and common sense says if you lose the time later on you can't return to day one to make it up! Play three rounds a day from the start is the only sensible approach.

Manawatu Division One teams are (singles players are shown first followed by pairs skip, lead, fours skip etc): Women, Palmerston North, Robyn McGregor, Pat Cohr, Joan Ware, Ngaire Cowen, Nancy Meads, Marilyn Free, Jewell Griggs; Johnston Park Ann Corlett, Gillian Friis, Christina Bryan, Tina Vartha, Lois Tyler, Tania McKay, Maureen Coffey; Northern, Mere Fryer, Liz Rossiter, Noeleen Elston, Sue Meyer, Anna Davis, Juilanne Mills, Janeen Noble: Terrace End, Patricia Hansen, Bev Budd, Georgie Kahui-Rogers, Sheryn Blake, Hine Bennett-Davies, Ailsa Lindsay, Sharon Groves; Men, Palmerston North, Chris Barrett, Brian Little, Graeme Cooley, Pat Horgan, Steve Toms, Clayton Simpson, Dean Gilshnan: Northern, Terry Johnson, Mark Noble, Neil Gordon, Grant Davis, Adam Johnston, Rhys Hakkens, Bruce Harris; Terrace End, Brian Looker, Shane Rogers, Graeme Gosnell, Dave Newell, Barry Evans, Scruff Anderson, Mike Hodge; Takaro, Terry Rossiter, Barry Wynks, Don Sones, Clark Norris, Kevin Bryan, Ian Johnson. Terry Curtis.

• In a thrilling finish Doug Hayward and Ann Corlett (Northern) beat the husband and wife combination of Liz and Terry Rossiter in the final of the Centre mixed 2-4-2 pairs at Northern on Monday. The score was 12-12 going into the last end and Corlett immediately plonked a bowl right on the jack and it stayed there. All of those characters are in the "Good Guys" category and all a little unheralded as well.

• The Centre is still to set a date to play the carried over final of the Open singles which will be between the crusty old Palmerston North bowler Brian Henn and the highly rated Mark Noble. There is some disquiet among bowlers after the final was carried over after a Monday was set down for the tournament. Several top bowlers did not enter because of work commitments and were bemused to see such a change can be made on a whim.

• Good Bowling

Tony Jensen

Thanks Tony

Update 8^th October  2013.

Northern was handed a bit of a hiding on Saturday by Paraparaumu.

I believe that the score was something like 23 to Northern and 53 to Paraparaumu. 

It is good tactics to let them win once in a while, keeps them interested. J

Bowling On

8^th October.

Manawatu Bowls will swing into full gear for the season with the playing of the Centre Open Singles for both genders this coming weekend.

The only disappointment for me is completing the tournament on Monday rather than a later weekend thus precluding some working people from playing. It is easy to suggest taking leave but many jobs are such today that one off leave days are not easy. There is enough thought that bowls is an old man's game without going out of the way to make workers unwelcome.

Nevertheless there is a good field lining up and the top half of the Women's B section at Feilding has the look of the draw from hell about it. Included in the eight players are Noeleen Elston, Sheryn Blake, Feona Sayles, Mere Fryer, Anna Davis all top Manawatu representative bowlers of recent vintage as well as Taradale's Colleen Ferrick who has been prominent at National level. The bottom half is only marginally less fierce including Georgie Kahui-Rogers, Janeen Noble, Joan Ware, Sue Meyer and Sharon Groves.  Many of these women will be in the one-life draw after one round so that won't be an easy path. Selector Viv Lozell will be delighted to see so many good match-ups to look at as she looks to find her teams for the season.

The men's sections do not have the same spread of talent but there are some good first round match-ups all the same. At Shannon Brian Schischka who won the open singles when it was last played two years ago meets Current Representative Barry Wynks and with both bowlers sporting reputations as slowish players I can see markers hiding in the locker room to avoid that game.

At Woodville Philip Skoglund jnr plays Darryl Johnson (who has joined the exodus from Foxton & Beach to Himatangi Beach) who is a formidable singles exponent. Another top match there will be Terrace End clubmates Brian Looker and Shane Rogers. The pick of first round games at Palmerston North will be Mark Noble playing Clayton Simpson.

After two rounds a quarter of the field will exit and the numbers will reduce quickly from then. I am a proponent of the two-life system and some good bowlers will be marking come the third round. The most prominent bowlers missing are Scotty McGavin, Stephen Love and Chris Barrett.

. Bowls administration hit a new low last weekend when the running of the annual hexagonal event in Wanganui turned into a shambles. The Manawatu Centre President Phil Skoglund is guarded about commenting but it would appear that after Centres agreeing some time back that the event would now be open to eight year and under bowlers the agreement was overturned during the tournament. All of us in bowls know that conditions of play can only be altered by the Controlling Body but a decision was taken by a group comprising the Managers of the women's teams.

That being  allowed to happen is incredulous enough but that it only applied to the women's event and not the men's adds to the suggestion that someone who couldn't run a bath was running things. The upshot was that Manawatu won the women's event on the green but were penalised two points for each game they fielded a player that was not a five year and under bowler. I understand the Manawatu women reacted with admirable dignity when informed of the assinine decision but I can't understand the Centre having no comment. In this day and age social media means the information is spread around the bowling fraternity rapidly so staying "mum" is no response. I awoke to a text before 6-00am on Monday alerting me something was up. It is said the Lord moves in mysterious ways but he has nothing on Bowls administration.

• It is probably bittersweet now but I thought it a fantastic achievement from Kylie Yates of the Ashhurst Club to make the "eight year" and under Manawatu team. The club has but three women bowlers so to excel at centre level has been a special effort.

TONY JENSEN

Thanks Tony

Update 30^th September  2013.

The weather was not kind over the weekend causing the cancellation of the Fitzherbert Rowe Any Gender triples on Sunday.

Good luck to the Northern Members going down to Paraparaumu this weekend.

Bowling On

30^th September.

The draw is out for the Centre Open singles and while there is a familiar look to much of the field there are some notable names missing.

The event will be played from 12-14 October and sections will be held at Woodville, Palmerston North (2), Johnston Park and Shannon. There is a reluctance from some clubs to host singles because of the need to provide markers but the two life system means exiting players should be able to mark all games after the second round.

The women's event has drawn 28 entries and Northern (10), Palmerston North (6) and Terrace End (6) provide the bulk of the entry with Takaro, Himatangi Beach, Hokowhitu and Johnston Park having a sole entry each and the remaining two being visitors from Taradale and Marton.

It is not a good omen for Johnston Park's ability to compete in the combined Wanganui interclub competition with a single entry.

Notably absent are Sharon Sims, Christine Quinn, Sophie Fisher and Lyn Jensen.

The men's event has drawn a field of 48 and 37 of those entries come from four clubs being Palmerston North (12), Northern and Terrace End (9 each) and the surprise package is an entry of seven from Himatangi Beach. The most notable absentees are Ross Ellery who is having a break from the game, fellow Representative bowler Chris Barrett and the promising Dean Gilshnan. Ellery has been a stand out as the Manawatu singles player and Barrett may well have have been in consideration for the spot if he had fronted for this tournament. Selector Terry Puklowski is unlikely to defer to the old guard with players like Pat Horgan and Philip Skoglund so there is a real opportunity for a younger bowler to stand up and say pick me.

The extremely talented Shane Rogers is one in that bracket but to use harness racing parlance he is on the unruly list and will need to alter a few behaviours to meet Puklowski's favour. Others in the younger bracket who could press for representative spots are Clayton Simpson and Michael Abraham who are now at Palmerston North and Michael Hodge.

• One of the stand out tournaments that is deserved of player support will be held at Palmerston North Bowling Club this Sunday. The Rescue Helicopter fundraiser is an any gender mufti fours and about $4000 was raised last year. Get your entries in and support this great cause that will touch us all at some stage.

• The annual hexagonal tournament for eight year and under bowlers will be held in Wanganui this coming weekend. Teams are; Men, Glen Curtis ,Alan Burton, John Osborne, Kevin Bryan, Rob Christiaans (all Takaro), Chance Hausman (Bulls), Mike Hodge (Terrace End), Michael Bowey (Palmerston North) and Graeme Black (Northern). Women, Ailsa Lindsay, Sharon Groves, Glenda O'Conner (Terrace End), Tania Harris (Northern), Christina Bryan (Takaro), Sophie Fisher, Michele Welsh (Himatangi Beach), Mary McConway, Beryl England (Palmerston North) and Kylie Yates (Ashhurst).

• Don't forget entries close for the Labour Weekend Centre 2-4-2 pairs this Friday 4 October.

Enjoy your bowls.

TONY JENSEN

Thanks Tony

Update 23rd September.

The Handicap pairs was a bit of a wash out last Saturday.
We managed 1 game and about 6 ends of the second game before the heavens opened up and the plug was pulled.

Bowling On
23^rd September

Bowls New Zealand is honouring it's century of existence with the overdue establishment of a Hall of Fame.

At a recent function 36 bowlers were named as the inaugural inductees. Of those 27 are named as athletes of the highest calibre and a further nine were selected for their outstanding efforts in support of the sport. Manawatu provides three athletes in Phil Skoglund Snr, Sharon Sims and Russell Meyer and all are justly honoured.

Five of the 27 athletes were chosen to wear the mantle "Kiwi Bowling Legends" and the only two males in the five are Phil Skoglund and Peter Belliss from our neighbouring Centre Wanganui. The women included are Elsie Wilkie, Cis Winstanley and Millie Khan and I wouldn't expect any arguments there.

 Many have long espoused Skoglund as New Zealand's finest ever male bowler and it is good to have that recognition. He remains the only bowler to win three consecutive National singles and that was in a time that the tournament attracted three times the numbers it does today. He is also a NZ Sports Hall of Fame inductee.

What disappoints me about the line-up named is the absence of the names Nick Unkovich and Gary Lawson. Both are superior bowlers to some of those named and one can only assume it was their brushes with officialdom that caused their absence. They remain our only double gold star National winners. Hopefully their omission will be rectified in time.

•  I have noticed with interest that in the latest edition of it's handbook the Manawatu Centre is again publishing membership numbers for each club.

While not wanting to sound too negative a good number of clubs are clearly on life support. In the five city clubs there are 432 members using a total of 14 greens. In days gone by the rule of thumb was 100 bowlers per green but the above statistics work out to only 31 bowlers per green. Only Palmerston North is located on freehold title and I wonder how satisfied the Palmerston North City Council is with effective use of its assets.

City Clubs are more vulnerable than the country clubs, players have options and are more likely to move clubs for a variety of reasons including dissatisfaction with green standard, to play with mates or a spat with someone in the club. As long as they can get someone to keep the green our country cousins seem to survive. Kimbolton, Ashhurst and Te Kawau with seven women between them have largely ineffective women's sections and with a total of 271 women playing in the Centre that game is more at risk than the men's.

• Terry Puklowski has returned to selecting duties after a long absence and will select our men's teams at all levels. No doubt one or two fringe players are offering to mow his lawns!

• Players need to be getting entries in for the Centre Open singles from 12-14 October and I am glad to see a return to the two life system.

• I'll battle to make this a weekly column without support from Clubs. Email news to tony.jensen@aon.com. So far I have had a nil return from my first appeal for news. Good bowling.

Tony Jensen