BOWLING NOTES.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19178, 8 December 1927, Page 14

BOWLING NOTES.

BY "SKIP." The majority of clubs are getting through their championship games very nicely, thanks to Daylight Saving. Every evening sees the majority of greens crowded with. players, and it is not an unusual sight to see quite a number on the bank, waiting for a vacant rink. The extra hour in the evening has been the means ol more enthusiasm being shown in bowling in Canterbury than ever before, and it is safe to predict that increased membership in many clubs will follow.

Many bowlers are uow looking forward to the Dominion Championship Tournament winch takes place in ChribtcJiurcli this year. As entries close on .Monday. December 12th, local players should forward their applications immediately and so save the secretary a rush of work on the last day.

It i< quite pleasing to record thai the Metlnvn Club has taken a new lease of' life. There has been a good increase in the- membership, and a number of players who have been a bit lukewarm in past years are quite keen on the game again. The club promoted handicap and champiou singles and pairs competition and received a record number of entries. Supporters of the club have been particularly generous, and the club is well supplied with trophies for the winners of the various competitions.

The local bowl tester, Mr Tom Marker,, has had a very busy season, and one cannot help but speak in most appreciative terms of his work. He has been at the call of all players, and never once has he 1 ailed in, his duty, while his matured'advice on the altering of 'bowls has * been much appreciated. As Mr Marker- will -be leaving for Britain with the New Zealand team it would be advisable for any bowler who has not already had his bowls stamped' to see they were done before he leaves

The many friends of Mr Charles Hoggan, late of Canterbury Club-, will regret to hear that he. is at present seriously ill. Mr Hoggan left Christchurch some little time ago to re-enter business in Dune-din, but shortly after his arrival in the southern city his health seemed to fail and. has gradually become worse until-he is now confined fo bed. Mr Hoggan was well and favourably known amongst bowlers throughout the Dominion, and was one of the. members of the team which went to Australia a few years ago.. As a lead he could hold his own with 'he Iflrst and along- with his partner, Bernie • Finnigan, won the champion pairs of the Canterbury Club. His old club-mates wish him a speedy recovery and. complete restoration to health.

The Christmas bowling, tournament, which is run by the Timaru Bowling Centre,. is one which has attracted a great many of the City players, who, in. a measure annually look forward to a few days -at ■ the seaside town. As the entries close at a very early date, it is desirable that those players who intend taking part send their entries in at once, as those first roceived have preference over any late-comers owing to the restricted number, of greens.

The annual town and Country match took place last Saturday,- and resulted in a very decisive win for the country players.. It-seems a pity that one or two more of these fixtures cannot .be arranged each year,- as it gives a very gTeat deal of pleasure to players residing in the country districts. At Rakaia, Leeston, etc.; the town playerß were most cordially .received, and the hospitality meted out to them has been the topic of conversation during the past few days. No doubt the town players-'will reciprocate to the same extent, when the opportunity arises.

A recent decision-of the South Canterbury Bowling Centre, viz. "That the Centre should reserve the right to redraft club teams taking' part in the four, rink championship competition, ,r brought forth a strong protest from the West End Club, and although the posi-tion-was •re viewed at a special meeting of'the Centre a little over a week ago, no settlement has • been' effected. The latest development is the withdrawal by the West End Club of its _ teams from the championship competition.

• Mr.P.-Vance, the ex-Mornington (Dunein) player, has joined up with the Sumner Club. Sinco his arrival in Christchurch Mr Vitnce has not enjoyed the best of health, but his many friends will be glad to know that a decided improvement lias, set in, and that it will not be long before he is quite his old self again.

.A northern newspaper devotes a good deal of space to an article on the etiquette of bowls, or somo of the etiquette, for nothing short of a two volume publication would cover the subject fully. Some of the points made by the writer are: — In cricket one is taught to play for his side, and'make sacrifices; and the same rule it is held should apply to bowls. Bowling Selection Committees may have a very, difficult task, as almost everyone thinks he is qualified to be selected for the shield matches. Unfortunately, it is hot an uncommon thing for players to "grouse" because they are not selected; and, even worse, it sometimes happens that a selected player crosses out his name on thenotice board, because he does not care for the position in which he is chosen or for those with whom he is chosen to play. For a club member to put a chalk mark through his name for this reason is, surely, one of the worst offences against good form that he could be gnilty of. After dealing very candidly with thoughtless bowling green smokers, the writer quotes a notice posted in one of the Brisbane pavilions:— Do not spit, or throw matches on the green. Do not spit in the ditches either. Show Bome consideration for your fellow-bowler. Be clean.

To emphasise the point about matches on the green, he relates that in a rink game recently one team were_ lying seven on one head wtih the jack a couple of inches from the ditch, when the opposing skip, with his last bowl, drew up near the kitty and was going into the ditch, but was_ stopped by a match, and the other rink lost tke game.

Mr Wallie Duncan (late of Kelvin Grove, Glasgow) acts as honorary instructor for Prattcn Park Bowling Club, New South Wales. Mr Duncan, without either fee or reward, meets those about to take up the game one afternoon each week, and gives them practical instruction in tho art of bowling. He has also issued a small booklet containing clear-cut photographs illustrating his remarks. He admits that somo good players do not deliver their bowls according to the advice he gives, but he maintains that his style is at any rate a good one.