Daylight saving starts at 2 am on Sunday 25 September 2022, so don't forget to put your clocks forward 1 hour.

1-5 Year Triples

17-18 September 2022

38 teams entered last weekend's Triples event. Alas, we had a team withdraw on Thursday and another on Saturday morning. Fortunately, both withdrawals were at the same venue, so with some Convenor magic, the draw was amended to avoid two byes. Kudos to the Blockhouse Bay team for arriving early. 

Qualifying can be described as a tale of woes!

Round 1 at Blockhouse Bay saw Howick against Māngere. Howick had their nose in front right until the 17th end, when they dropped a five. Despite a fine two on the 18th, it was not enough - Mangere wins 16-15. Both teams qualified even with the setback.

In another Round 1 game, Epsom took on Auckland Bowling Club. Epsom led 10-4 after eight ends. ABC fought back to lead 12-10 after 12 ends. On the 14th end, it was 12-all. On the 17th end, it was 14-all. ABC kept their composure and scored a two on the final end to be victorious.

At Epsom, Carlton Cornwall receives the OMG trophy for bad luck. In their first game against Blockhouse Bay, they held a smidgen of a lead all the way. That is until they dropped a silly two on the 17th end. This allowed BHB to draw to level the match, 11-all. With some momentum, BHB scored a one on the final end. In their second game, the CCB came up against East Tamaki. East Tamaki leads 7-3 after three ends. After 11 ends, it was 10-all. The Carlton Cornwall trio secured six shots over the next four ends and must have fancied their chances, only to drop seven shots on ends 16 and 17. A one on the 18th squared the ledger and forced the game to an extra end. The team encountered a cruel twist of fate - which is best left on the green - to drop a one d lose the game. In their third game, they came up against Titirangi RSA, who needed the win to qualify. In an extremely tight contest, Carlton Cornwall won 10-9.

East Tamaki then needed to win their last game against Pringle Park, who had already qualified. East Tamaki's team combined extremely well and managed to win 14-9.

A Houdini award must go to Ross Powell, Gary Plumer, and Robert Docary from Royal Oak. They won all three games on an extra end;

• In their first game against Kohimarama, they dropped a three on the final end. 
• In their second game against St Heliers, they made up a seven-point deficit over the final four ends. 
• In their third game against a Composite team, they scored a three on the final end.

Having suffered the agony of defeat on an extra end in their first game, Kohimarama experienced the relief of an extra end to win in their second game against a Royal Oak combination.

The post-section draw was done by Marika Ivanov. Marika told me she was a former Olympic gymnast for Hungary and had competed at the 1968 Mexico and 1972 Munich games. She had popped into Epsom Bowls for a quick drink to celebrate her 71st birthday, which fell on 14 September.

Post Section play at Blockhouse Bay was under sunny skies. Seventeen teams had qualified, which meant the majority of the players had no excuse for missing church before bowls!

Round 32 Game 1 saw Howick’s David Weir, Graeme Thomson and Greg Dowdell against Papatoetoe HC’s Prakash Ranchhod, Bazil Waititi, and David Ward. Howick had their noses in front the entire time and led 16-14 after the 17th end. But as they say, “the game is not over until you sign the card.” The 18th end had plenty of drama. PHC held the upper hand and held two shots and with a blow on the jack, it would move to two other PHC bowls for four. Talk about the curse of the commentator! In what can only be described as a cruel twist of fate that is best left on the green (the Carlton Cornwall team will relate to this), PHC would ultimately score only one and lose the game 15-16.

Round 16, Game 3 saw Māngere against Howick. After 17 ends it was 12 all. Mangere scored a two on the final end to take the win. Round 16, Game 5 saw another Howick team against Royal Oak. A fluctuating score saw both teams level after 17 ends. Howick exerted their dominance to take two shots and advance to the next round, 17-15.

Round 16 Game 8, it was Pringle Park against the third Howick team that qualified. As in the qualifying, Pringle Park had the upper hand; however, they dropped a five on the 17th end to trail 17-20. Unfortunately, a one on the final end was not enough.

Quarter Final Game 4 Epsom was up against Howick. The game had a strange pattern - Epsom would lead, then Howick would draw level. This pattern was repeated on ends 4, 6, 9, 14 and 18. And so the extra end would be the decider. Somehow Howick broke the curse and secured two shots and the win.

The Triples Semi-Final and Final is at Remuera Bowling Club on Monday, 26 September, starting at 9:00 am. We will be outdoors if the weather permits. 

I look forward to the contest continuing.

Contributed by Gerard Hulst

Top - Royal Oak's Ross Powell, Gary Plumer, and Robert Docary
Bottom - Composite 1: Colin Ayris-Webster-Royal Oak, Steve Fisher-Royal Oak, David Motu-Ellerslie

Images courtesy Royal Oak Bowls

Upcoming events

24-25 Sep – 1-5 Year Singles
26 Sep –  1-5 Year Triples Finals
1 Oct  – Auckland Rep Day: 1-5 Year
2 Oct  – Auckland Rep Day: Open Prem
2 Oct  –  Auckland President’s Day
8-9 Oct – 1-5 Year Finals / Reserve Day
15-16 Oct – National Intercentre
22-23 Oct – Open Women’s Prem Singles
26 Oct –  Secondary School Pairs
27 Oct  – Bowls 3Five 1-5 Year
29 Oct – Interclub & Half Day 6s

Miriam Corban Blue Ribbon

Glen Eden Bowling Club
18 September 2022

The Miriam Corban Blue Ribbon Tournament was the fourth charity event the club has held to bring together players, sponsors & supporters to help highlight important health issues for the community.

 Under blue prostate sky and a slight wind, the club held its annual fundraising event on Sunday, 18 September. At 9:00am, 16 teams had entered, but the chief organiser thought a team had come in and paid without being on the list. A little confusion set in, which allowed a team’s third player to arrive late - so our president played the first game under the acceptance of the chief organiser and the Ellerslie team who they were playing.

It was pleasing to see a full green of bowlers from all over Auckland to help us support the Prostate Cancer cause. Visitors from Henderson, Browns Bay, Ellerslie, Royal Oak, Mt Eden, New Lynn, Blockhouse Bay, Grey Lynn, Oratia and our own Glen Eden members.

The prize winners on the day were:

• 1st: Jeff Tough, Jeremy Brosnan, Graham Lintonbon (Glen Eden) with 4 wins.
• 2nd: Bill Fulton, Tony Garjela, Lyndsy Gilmore (Henderson & Browns Bay) with 3½ wins.
• 3rd: Parmesh Raman, Keith Prosser, Mikey Pretley (Mt Eden & Glen Eden) with 3½ wins.
• 4th: Danny Delaney, Ville Fifita, & Joe Whitelaw (Ellerslie & Royal Oak) 3 wins.
• The consolation prize went to Wayne, Rosco & Phil from Glen Eden.

A big thank you to Dan, Jenny and Graham for their help on the bar, also to Yvonne, Jennifer, Sharon, Melissa and Agnes for help with morning tea; Jim for being the go-between with Toby's Fisheries for our fish and chip lunch; and Graeme and Jim for organising the auction of donated goods which raised $450 towards our end goal.

More thanks to members of GEBC for their generous sponsorship. There are too many to thank and name… but we will: Peter Lipsham, Peter Bell, San Kent, Graeme Storie, Graham Lintonbon, Janet Pihigia, Barry Shaw, Ken Thomas, Graeme Ward, Wendy Mather, Jim Close, Dave Gwilliam, Keith Pickernell, Jeremy Bronson, Grant Bronson, Prutvi Kumar, Siosiana Simpson, Robin Neal, and Don MacDonald.

Finally, thanks to our regular sponsors, Miriam Corban Retirement Village (Ryman Healthcare) for their continued support. Ryman’s official charity partners for 2022, as picked by their residents, is the Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand. Residents and Ryman team members are running raffles, barbecues and bake sales over the year and for each dollar raised Ryman chips in another dollar.

After all calculations and all prizes were paid out, the club donated $1,622 to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Contributed by Darren Schroeder

Green turns blue 'n white!

Spotted this on the Bowls International Facebook page yesterday morning. 

A greenkeeper in Australia has painted an entire bowling green in blue and white in a show of support for the Geelong Cats Aussie Rules football team.  And he didn’t tell the bowls club he was going to do it!

Tuesday's Open Triples

St Heliers Bowling Club
20 September 2022

22 Triples teams (19 from St Heliers, two from Kohimarama & one from Remuera) played in our second Open Triples of the season, sponsored by Grace Joel Retirement Village. 

The weather experts, and I use this term very loosely, said the previous three days would be 100% rain on Tuesday. After lunch some players put on their rain gear, but to no avail - we barely had a drop at the club while we were playing.

It was a pleasure to play on our grass B green even though it was a bit slow, but it is early in the season - I am sureit will speed up. 

Suzanne, thanked all the members who helped to make the day a success, and welcomed Jacki O'fee from Grace Joel. Jackie gave an informative short talk on Grace Joel and invited everyone along to their fashion parade being held this Saturday.

Pictured with Jackie, the very happy winners: Mark Posa Roger Johnston & Ian Dee, with 4 wins, 23 ends & 50 points.

Second: Maurice Smith, Barry Robinson & Mary Wong with 4 wins, 18 ends & 41 points.  Third went to Richard Kempthorne, Bruce Fenton & Norma Percy with 3 wins 22 ends 51 points.

Contributed by Roger Seaton

Playing triples in spring weather

Remuera Bowls
22 September 2022

20 teams were split across two greens at Remuera for the Thursday Triples. The unlucky ten teams playing outside finished early after two games, due to rain.  Fortunately, the day had been organised as two competitions, so we finished the rain-affected one early, with the winners being Norman Ng's team from Carlton Cornwall. 

Pictured are the winners who played their full three games on our covered green, Pauline Campbell, Estelle Hickey and Sue Curran from St Heliers, alongside Murray Lander, the event controller.  The day was generously sponsored by Magness Benrow.

Contributed by Cynthia Morris

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