On the Greens

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 16, 19 January 1924, Page 18

On the Greens

(By "Ndmbeb Two.")

LEVELLING METHODS

MR. J. P. SMITH'S SYSTEM

AUCKLAND COMMENDATION.

Professor Maxwell Walker* recently returned to Auckland from a short visit to Napier, and while there-he accepted an invitatiofTfrom, Mr. J. P. Smith, pre- . sident of the Port Ajhurhi Club, to try their green. He reports, that he thoroughly tested each rink, and found them all,playing true on .each hand; another noticeable feature being the pet'ect edge. When drawing to the iditch tiiere was no tendency for a bowl to run.on as if it was going down bill, while in (playing on the end rink it was quite |j safe to draw right to the edge without ' losing his bowl, arid also without tbe bowl turning in sharp, as if there wa9 a ridge at the edge. The Professor sums vp v the position by admitting that he has never played on a more level surface, and this is a high compliment from one who is not only thoroughly fa- I miliar with all the greens in Auckland, ! but has also played in numerous tourna- I | ments all over New Zealand. j The point is of special interest just now, in view of the fine surface that so many of_pur greens have this year, and yet^orte is always hearing such remarks ! as "Take the drawing hand," or "Come J up on the straight hand." Nearly every green in Auckland has one or more rinks with quite'- a different draw, according ' to whether one is playing on the fore- | hand or the backhand. ' Others play well one way, as it,is usually marked out on Saturdays, whereas during the week the play is across, and the rinks . that way are not nearly so good. It ! really seems most unfortunate, after all the care that is given to a green, that a good surface does not get over the dif- j ficulty of a faulty level. That is where Mr. J. P. Smith comes in, for he has made a hobby of levelling ; bowling greens, although he points out i that his system is equally suitable for j tennis courts, croquet lawns, or cricket.! ■ pitches. The worthy president of the ■ Port Ahuriri Club gave a lot of interesting • details of his system to Professor Walker. He maintains that the lovell--1 ing of soil is not-the special work of a landscape gardener nor an ordinary gardener, much less an amateur gardener. .It is purely mechanical work, and [ ; only those who have a well-trained eye ■ i and are skilful workers can do the work ' ; accurately. ■ These three grade 3of gardeners may become indispensable factors in the sowing of grass seed and the up- ,; keep of a green. It matters not to;a ' ' mechanic, when the soil is well and truly laid, which kind of manure is used, or 1 "^whether the sward is cultivated -■ in ■ brown top or pennyroyal. Mr. Smith ' ■ goes to the extreme of claiming that it ' gives more pleasure to play on a tTue ; green, even if the surface is covered ; with pennyroyal or dandelion, than to 1 play on an uneven surface covered with >the finest grasses. I The levelling of soil requires great • skill, aud the proper gear. It cannot be done with a spade, rake, small straight-edge, and an ordinary spirit level, which has been proved for many ! years. It requires a much more elaborate system, and the plant required is also expensive for individual clubs, and a good mechanic would soon become an I adept, and could do all the greens. Mr. | Smith was s;ood enough to give all the • details of his system, and a copy is 1 available for any club which cares to [finally get rid of "the straight hand" ' and "the drawing hand," but the system . itself would hardly be of general inter- ; est to most bowlers. Mr. Smith is j careful to explain that he has no machi ines to sell, aud he wants no commission on any that are made. They can be constructed by any engineering shop in New Zealand, and he himself paid the £18 for ■ the one that He used for his own club. Rather an unfortunate thing happened when Mr. Smith went to Wellington last autumn, to give a demonstration. He levelled one green, and then to his amazement he found that all the greenkeepers were up against him, as if he was trying to get them out of a job. Nothing was further from his thoughts ;or intentions, and in a very fine statej nient he recently declared his position in | this regard :"1 would like to address a '• few words to the bowling greenkeepers throughout New Zealand. As I claim to be one of themselves, although fortune has favoured me, lam as keenly interested in their work and welfare as ever. Although I claim the art of levelling is mechanical work, I do not infer there are no greenkeepers with mechanical knowledge, because it is those who possess mechanical knowledge who have tlic best greens. What I desire to impress is this, that there should be no pamusy or ill-feeling with regard to the levelling of any playing grounds. It is nurely mechanical work, and requires proper equipment for doing it, It does not lessen the work of a greenkeeper, but only takes away a lot of .his worries, and makes his own work more satisfactory and pleasing to himself and others, i could more quickly demonstrate the system of levelling than write about it. 1 shall be pleased to answer any question, or oven give a demonstration in any of the principal centres."' ■ MARLBOROUGH AGGRIEVED, The executive members of the Marlborough Bowling Sub-Centre have been concerned about the smalhiess of outside entries for the centre tournament held at Blenheim at the New Year, and the iact that the only club in Nelson disth \r iue l' ePresented is Maitai (states the Marlborough "Express").' This club has shown consistent loyalty to Blennemv tournaments, and its loyalty is appreciated by : Marlborough bowlers'; tat the apparent disinterestedness of the ! ■Nelson Glub—the strongest club in the Centre—is again a disappointing factor which does not conduce to the best intereste of the game in the centre district, lhe following entries were received-— Blenheim, 8 rinks, H puirs; Riversdale, i, i; Wai, 2 4; Picton, -, 1. Totals | H and 26 While support from some ot the Nelson country clubs would have ♦i ? t Y elc°med it was at least expected that the Nelson Club would have made I some effort to remove the reproach th<*:it \vas not doing its best to promote an exchange of visits between Nelson and , -Marlborough bowlers. i | Blenheim bowlers who have attended JNe,non tournaments in recent years ;havo persistently been 'bombarded with inquiries as to why support from this province has generally been so small, ; and the persistence lias almost -»iven r: cause for irritation because Mavlbori i ough has done its' part and Nelson— Jthe Nelaon Club in particular, the club

that charges Marlborough with lack of. support—has failed to rise to its Vesponsibililics as a club and as1 the premier club'in the centre. It is freely acknowledged;"'that no complaint can be macje1 against Maitai, nor is a great deal expected from the | rvelson country clubs, whose members would have to travel long distances in order to attend Blenheim tourneys. But more is expected from the Nelson Club, and if its members'cannot'" find-it convenient to come to Blenheim the least that they can do, in common fairness, is not to harbour the feeling Hhtit Marlborough bowlers have not supported their tournaments, because it is an indisputable fact that they-'nW For many years Marlborough bowlers have been familiar figures on Nelson greens, but are Nelson bowlers equally familiar here? The last time a Nelson Club nnk played in Blenheim in' an official tournament was at New Year, 1920 Ihere were two rinks here then, and prwr to that any Nelson Cluj> visit was sufficiently rare to be a poor return, for the frequency of the Marlborough visits ' suggestions have been made that Marlborough should endeavour to secede from the alliance with Nelson and seek affiliation with the Wellington Centre. Whilst Wellington bowlers generally ha,ve a busy season with local and outside tournaments, there would be. a reasonable chance of their patronising Blenheim tournaments more liberally than is tho case at present with Nekon. Ariii judging from the successful visit to WellinS. toni last February there seems so'much to be gained from a n annual exchange of matches with Empire City bowlers? BOWLING COSTUME. Comment was recently made in "Th ß i"ost on the lack of .uniform worn by some players in the Centre tournament Writing, in tho Auckland "Star" Irundler says that with regard to the correct bowling costume, an enthusiastic greenkeeper recently remarked that iv nis^ opinion it was more important to prohibit players from wearing goloshes on boots than worrying about whether their nether garments were white oc black. There is something in that obi servation that^is often overlooked for. goloshes on boots.are very severe on a green during showery, weather, the only tune they are ever worn. Of course, there are plenty of players who could walk on a green in boots, and deliver a bowl without disturbing a blade of grass, but the majority are not possessed of the delivery of a "profeSsof of modern languages," and they are so severe on the green that they should not be allowed on it until they have:taken off their boots. STOPPING A BOWL. An old bowler happened to remark the other day that if a member of his team.played a bowl on the wrong.harid; after he had given him a shot, he-would' promptly stop it. He was at once re> minded that the rules did not give- him that permission, and that it would come m rather too handy sometimes,' asj for instance, when a wild drive is going to pick out the only bowl of his own which is near -the jack. The question thus .raised is of more than academic interest, for it raises the equally important ques- I tion as to whether an umpire has a right to stop a bowl that i 3 delivered without one foot on the mat (says("Trundler" in the Auckland "Star"). The laws of the game are framed in legal phraseology, and five different occasions are described where a bowl may be stopped. But playing without one:-foot.on the niat is not one of them, and the question at once arises as-to why the laws explicitly provide for a bowl being stopped under five"- different circumstances if it was intended that the umpires should add a sixth, which is not in the laws of the game. In fact, this particular law goes further, and tells exactly what has to be done if certain things happen "before it has come to rest." This surely implies that it doe 3 come to rest, and it does not look alto- ■ gether unreasonable to suggest that if an umpire wants to.stop a bowl wider six different circumstances, whereas the rules provide for only five, a useful preliminary would be to get the rule altered to give him that right. TIME FOR MEALS. : : A writer in a Southern paper was recently complaining about what he described as the "new system" of conducting the Dominion tournament with two matches each day, each of 25 heads. As a matter of fact, this is not new, for it was done that way in Auckland last January, and was the subject of a little unfavourable comment.; The system originated in Wellington, where the idea was to give a long luncheon interval, iii order to give time tor competitors to go-home,, or to their hotels. Here in Auckland.it was proved quite a mistake (says "Trundler" in the ("Star"), and the competitors often got tired. of waiting the regulation hour, and resumed play as soon as their opponents were ready. The system under which we now run our Christmas tournament, and also the one at Easter,would take a lot of beating, for it is I the best system by which those who finish early are not in any way penalised by long games delayed by inquests and ' dead heads, while the day is divided up in the method that is the least tiring to competitors. "Trundler" says that excellent arrangements were made for the comfortarid enjoyment of competitors at the last Christmas tournament, and' one little point was very favourably commented upon, the system of having lunch after the first round, and afternoon tea after the second, so that there ifl no break in the matches. It is not very I long since it was customary to ring the I bell for lunch at 1 o'clock, generally after six or eight heads had been played, wherea* in the meantime a number of competitors had taken the opportunity to have their liihcu after the first match. The beauty of the new system was seen on one green, where four of the matches were completed at 'about 11.30 to 11.45, whereas the fifth did not finish till 12.30. Their prolonged game did not materially upset the time-table, for they resumed in a few minutes, and all the others had the benefit of a welcome rest. - . At the recent Wellington' tournament a similar system to that adopted in Auckland was followed, and seemed to give general satisfaction. DAYLIGHT SAVING. Christchurch bowlers have already shown themselves to be wholeheartedly in favour of tho introduction of day- | light saying in the Dominion, and "it is interesting, therefore, to notice the enthusiasm with which the subject is now being taken up in Wellington and Auckland (says a Christchurch writer). There appears to be a very hopeful prospect that something will be done in tho direction of having a Bill introduced into Parliament next session, and it may be taken for granted that up opposition whatever will be forthcoming from Christchurch bowlers. The chief ob"stacle that has to be overcome is the extraordinary objections raised by the. farming community to the innovation. Once those objections are overcome all will be plain sailing, and;.further, once daylight saving is > given a fair trial, it is not likely to be departed from.