1-5 Year Fours Final

8 October 2022

The 1-5 Year Fours Final was played last Saturday at Remuera Bowls, and as we had beautiful conditions, the teams chose to play outside. The match-up saw Howick’s David Weir (S), Mike Dickie, Greg Dowdell and Bruce Fenton take on Blockhouse Bay’s Jim Hunter (S), Herbert Lelo, Neil Prendiville and Colleen Short.

Blockhouse Bay scored first with a three, Howick replied with a five - a steady arm wrestle ensued, the teams trading ones and twos and the scores remaining tight. On the 10th end, Blockhouse Bay scored a three to lead 13-7. 

Howick then played their “get out of jail” card and replied with a six, a two and another two to lead 17-13 after 13 ends. Blockhouse Bay then scored one on the 14th end to get a glimmer of hope at 14-17 down, playing the last end. 

Both teams showed why they were worthy finalists with excellent play during that last end. Blockhouse Bay went on the offensive and on two occasions held the required four shots, only to see Howick respond with some superb draw bowls and reduce the count to one or two.

With his last bowl of the match, Jim Hunter went for the risk-and-reward shot, hoping to snare the jack and drag it to the ditch for four. Alas, his bowl took a wicked turn on the green and nicked the jack on the wrong side to see it skitter to four Howick bowls.  David Weir didn’t need to play his last bowl, Howick took the win 21-14.

Congratulations to both teams on a wonderful display of bowls. Thanks to Peter Bennett and Remuera Bowls for the venue and the hospitality.

Contributed by Gerard Hulst

Winners: Mike Dickie, Bruce Fenton, Greg Dowdell & David Weir from Howick
Runner-up:  Blockhouse Bay's Jim Hunter, Herbert Lelo, Craig Moffat & Colleen Short

Emerging squads at Pukekohe

12 October 2022

A squad of 21 Emerging Auckland players arrived at the Pukekohe Cosmopolitan Club Indoor Stadium on Wednesday evening to take on the Counties Manukau Emerging players.

There were two one-hour games starting with Men’s & Women’s teams, then for the last game, it was Mixed. Most of the games were closely fought, with Auckland just edging ahead as the winner on the night. 

Everyone enjoyed the event, which concluded with a light dinner. We will definitely be arranging a return match soon, in the Auckland region.

Our thanks to Counties Manukau Bowls for their hospitality and organisation.

Contributed by Alison Rennie

The Auckland bowling community wishes to extend their condolences to the de Jongh family upon hearing the news of Joshua (Jos) de Jongh's death on 10 October 2022 at Waikato Hospital, aged 103. 

With over 63 years of bowls, Jos amassed an astounding number of bowling titles - some 61 club titles and 6 or 7 centre titles. His winning ways run in the family daughter Karen de Jongh, a member of Carlton Cornwall, has recorded 14 centre titles so far.

Turning 100 in 2019, Jos was still playing and enjoying bowls! Bowls NZ published an article providing insight into Jos' life and bowling career - here's what they wrote.

A celebration of his life is being held at 11.00 am at the Pukekohe Cosmopolitan Club on Friday, 14 October 2022.

Young talent on tour... with Pete!

Burnside Under 26 Singles
7-9 October 2022

It was the first time Christchurch had October snow for about 50 years & it was the snow that greeted us as we landed in Christchurch on Thursday. After an early hiccup as David managed to catch the flight with a minute to spare, we arrived on a bleak and cold day in Christchurch. 

As forecasted, Friday was cold, especially in the wind - it didn't seem to bother the young ones, they started well. Four sections of eight, played in a round-robin to qualify for the post-section play-offs. David won all four Friday games, Adam 3 from 4, and Liam 2 from 4. This left them all in a position to challenge for high qualifying spots.

On Saturday, it was the final three rounds of section play. David and Liam won their three final section games to qualify for the Division 1 section. David in one game, coming back from a 2-19 deficit, won 21-20, providing him with a tournament highlight. Adam won one & qualified for Division 2. Adam's game against Shamus Curtain was live-streamed. He recovered well from a slow start to eventually lose, 15-21, it was his highlight of the tournament.

The draw for post-section was made, As luck would have it, David and Liam drew each other in the first round. Everyone expected a close game, but Liam won comfortably, providing his highlight at the expense of his mate. Adam, in Division 2 won through to the Semi-Finals - a good finish to his day.

Finals day on Sunday was a hot, sunny day with little wind, perfect conditions for bowls. Adam lost his semi in a close game, and then it was all eyes on Liam vs Taylor Horn in the Division 1 semi. Liam played a great game, leading through the middle stages and still in it at 17-17, he eventually lost 18-21. Taylor Horn went on to win the Final over Shamus Curtain.

It was a great first outing for our young Auckland talent, all performing well and showing they deserved their place in the field.

Other Auckland players: Aiden Takarua also qualified for Division 1, losing to Curtain in the quarter-finals; Ashleigh Jeffcoat and Adam Baillie qualified for Division 3, to eventually met each other in the final, the win going to Adam.

What a great tournament. It was great to see our young talent all together having fun with some tough competition - well done to Burnside Bowling Club. A special thanks to all those, including Bowls Auckland and Kittyhawk, for helping to make this trip possible. 

Contributed by Peter Blucher, images sourced from Burnside Bowling Club

Upcoming events

15-16 Oct – National Intercentre
22-23 Oct – Women’s Open Prem Singles
26 Oct –  Secondary School Pairs
27 Oct  – Bowls 3Five 1-5 Year
29 Oct – Interclub Pennants & Half Day 6s

Centre events

Club news

Have-a-Go Days

Blockhouse Bay
8 October 2022

Blockhouse Bay hosted a Have-a-Go Day on Saturday, 8 October - our first one in the new season. We targeted mainly the Chinese Community to encourage them to take up lawn bowls. 

Just before 3pm, many Chinese families began to arrive, bringing their children and their parents along. All in all, we had 15 adults and eight children attend. Before the start of the session, President Colleen Pert welcomed the visitors. Weng followed the welcome, explaining briefly what Have-a-Go Day was about, then introduced a few experienced coaches and umpires helping out for the day - namely Patrick Ng, Jamie Chen, Ling Qu & Gwen Ng. 

We were fortunate to get their assistance to guide the new players along. They patiently explained the basics of lawn bowls, showed how to hold a bowl, and how to make a good delivery throughout the afternoon. Their help was very much appreciated. 

It was a fun two hours of lawn bowls,  everyone enjoyed it. The day ended with scones, tea & coffee, and a sausage sizzle. We look forward to seeing some return to the club soon.

Contributed by Weng Lim

Mt Albert Bowling
9 October 2022

Our Have-a-go Day invites our local community to try lawn bowls - to join us for an organised bowls tournament or for a casual roll-up.  We had activities for families, youth and adults throughout the day.

• 10am-12pm: Family Fun - bring the kids & Grandies
• 12pm-3pm: Teens and Tweens (under 18) - bring your teens and their friends
• 3pm onwards: Bowls and Beers - aimed towards adults, the bar is open, bring your mates
• Refreshments were available throughout the day, with Captain Crêpes food truck on site from 2pm.
• We also had a raffle and spot prizes on offer throughout the day.

Thank you to everyone who came along to our Have-a-Go Day on Sunday. It was fantastic to see so many new faces giving lawn bowls a go. We were also lucky to get some expert coaching from our very own Commonwealth Games representative Tony Grantham. 

We look forward to seeing everyone back at the club soon.

Contributed by Jhanna Savov

President's Handicap Singles

St Heliers Bowling Club
9 October 2022

The final rounds of our President’s Handicap Singles were played on Sunday, 9 October. There were eight players who qualified from the previous rounds. The winners of the first game played for the Cup, on a knockout basis, and the losers for the Plate. Games were 21 ends.

Some outstanding bowls were played during the day. The Cup final was a very tight match between Titia Ryder and Mary Wong. After 21 ends, the scores were tied 18-18, so an extra end was required. After delivering her four bowls, Titia was holding - with a bowl sitting right on the jack. Mary had one bowl left. She drew a perfect shot, which snuck in between Titia’s bowl and the jack, giving Mary the win 19-18.

The Plate final between Ken Batkin and Steve Hodder was another close match, won by Ken 18-17.

Congratulations to the winners and to all who took part to make the competition a very enjoyable one.  And thank you to all the markers.

Pictured below: Winner Mary Wong, being presented with the Cup by President Sue Curran. Mary and runner-up Titia Ryder. Steve Hodder and Ken Batkin placed first and second together in the Plate contest. Ken is holding a ‘substitute’ Plate

Contributed by Sherwyn Williams, Convenor

130th bowling season

Carlton Cornwall Bowls
1 October 2022

Carlton Cornwall Bowls celebrated its 130th bowling season at its official opening on Saturday, 1 October. Atrocious weather stopped any attempt to play bowls, let alone get on the green, so we moved to Plan B, the indoor green!

The flag was ceremoniously raised by Junior Club Captain Allen Lockie. The honour of rolling the first jack was given to Milroy Fernando, one of the newest juniors. In fact, Milroy is so new, he has not yet been on the green. Karen Hema, National Champion and Auckland Bowls Player of the Year 2021/22 had the honour of rolling the first bowl.

We enjoyed a Champions dinner where we acknowledged and thanked members for their ongoing support & their contributions and who champion the sport of bowls. We also honoured players who had achieved National titles during the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons.

Karen Hema remarked, "just knowing that your club mates are there in support, either in person or via live stream, gives the players a lift. This support was also extended to the Juniors who recently competed in the Centre's 1‑5 Year events." 

Linda Ralph thanked the Club for the organisational and financial support given to the players and teams who competed in Centre and National championship events. Linda remarked, "being able to focus on bowls rather than accommodation and travel is a big part of achieving success."

A highlight of the night was the special cake that Jess had acquired from her secret bakery. The honour of cutting the cake went to the Club's eldest member, Roger Harris (cut on his behalf by Val Bolshier)- the honour of eating the first piece went to the youngest person present, 11-month-old Ava Stanaway.

It was a great opening season, thanks to all in attendance.

Contributed by Gerard Hulst

Club events