FINDING CHAMPIONS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 37, 13 February 1930, Page 25

FINDING CHAMPIONS

A VERY GOOD SYSTEM WHAT ISLAND BAY DOES Much controversy has taken place this year with reference to the system of finding the champions of clubs to go forward to the champion of champions contests. The Island Bay Club seems to have hit upon an ideal system. The competitions of the Island Bay Club, whether for pairs or rinks, aro nominative, and tho singles competition is open. This year twelve teams entered for the rink championship, 22 pairs, and 43 in the singles.- Tho winning rink was found by Ist February, and the winners of the singles and pairs by Bth February. This was smart going, but tho secret lay in the fact that the draw was arranged on the lines of the Dominion tournament draw, every man drew when he had to meet his opponent, and who he would be in the first and second rounds, and the rule was strictly enforced that if a game was not played by the date fixed (except for bad weather) then it had to be forfeited. In the rinlis it was necessary to play five games in the two sections. In each case there was a section tie and that involved playing another game* to'decide the section winner before the final was reached. To guard against anything in the nature of a "flukey" win, the club lays at down that finalists have to play the best two put of three, which meant this year that by the time the skip of the champion rink had won through to that position he had had to play nine games. Furthermore, if there is a tie on the 21st. head in any one of the last three games to decide the champion, no extra head is played, but the whole game is wiped out and has to be played over again. .The champion rink of the Island Bay Club this year is: Inniss, C. A. Wilson, F. J. Jones, G. Bedell (s). W. Kerr and M. J. Hale (s) won the pairs, and D. Munro the singles. The club has had a new entrance to the pavilion opened up on the west end with an outside stairway and double doors, and this ia a decided improvement. Mr. H. F. Clark; the first secretary of the club, still holds that position, and although he is in the thirteenth year of office, ho declines to think that there is anything unlucky About that. Caledonian Club's Jubilee. Last Saturday afternoon, with a jgreeh full of players and a large number of friends, including many ladies, members of Caledonian Club, Dunedin, Celebrated the jubilee of the institution. The circumstances were altogether favourable, both the weather tad the green being excellent. Mri W. H. M'Leod (president) made a few remarks of welcome, and members were then divided into sides representing Ancients and Moderns, and filled in the afternoon with a jolly game. The result was as follows (Ancients being mentioned first): D. J. Pope, G. Porter, D. C. Jolly, A. H. Jones, 13; J. Reddington, J. Ross, J. Scott, W. H. M'Leod, 27. a. Proctor, E. Carroll, W. Gilligan,. A. Tretheway, II; C. Latham, Bowarth, A. Emslie, H. Smeaton, 12. E. Cox, J. Richardson, W. S. Neill, J. f. Hinehcliff, 23; J. Carroll, G. Walker,

C. Lyng, W. Foster, 14. A. Sumnierell, R. E. Brown, W. Chapman, V. Paine, 17; E. Harris, J. Ogg, W. Miller, W. G. Lloyd, 17. J. Hawkins, J. Hunter, A. M'Carthy, E. Beatson, 21; L. Tuckey, W. Smith, J. Smith, D. Smith, 19. 1\ J. Forrostor, A. Bennett, F. ixettle, G. C. Claridge, 16; D. Scott, R. Procter, W. T. Henaghan, H. Isaac, 23. E. Clancy, P. Webb, W. Elliott, D-. Hutchison, 16; Hinchoy, R. Marshall, W. D. Wyatt, C. R, Tillie, 22. Sutherland, Kain, Vaughan, A. Honeyman, 16; J. Roscoe, D. F. Murie, R. P-ockie, V. G. Cavanagh, 23. Total: Ancients, 133; Moderns, 157. At a social gathering in tho evening Mr. R. H. Todd proopsed the toast of "The Canadian Bowling Club." Speaking for Dunedin bowlers generally, ho congratulated the club on its long and worthy career. The club had been fortunato in having good men as foundation members —such men as Mr. H. S. Fish, Mr. W. Dawson,.Mr. C. F. Greenslade, and Mr. J. S. Speight. In the early days the club had met the usual difficulties attending the institution of a new body, but grit and determination had overcome these, and the club was now one of tho leading bowling organisations in the Dominion. He expressed pleasure at seeing with them Mr. John Ogg, who laid down the original green, and was tho only foundation member now living. He trusted the club had another fifty years of prosperity ahead of it. Mr. W. H. M'Leod responded, and traced the growth of tho club since it was first formed. ' The opening game was played on 16th January, 1880, on the old green at the rear of the Caledonian Hotel. The membership in 1881 stood at ninety, and at the end of that year a now eight-rink green was opened. The club steadily forged ahead until 1905, when a large number of new members strengthened it considerably, and from being moderately successful in contests with other clubs the improvement was rapid. 'That success was due, no doubt, to the green, for which Mr. John, Ogg was responsible, and the results of his work in the early days of the club were noticeable in tho excellence of the playing: surface at their command at present. "Absent Friends" was proposed by Mr. W. T. Henaghan, who made a strong appeal to his fellow-members to bestir themselves in the matter of raising funds to build a new pavilion. He promised substantial financial assistance on his own behalf. Singles Champion Honoured. Mr. F. Lambeth, winner of the singles championship at the recent Dominion tournament, was entertained by the Balmacewan Bowling Club, Dunedin, last Saturday night. Mr. Lambeth, who was cordially toasted, said he was proud to have won the championship for three reasons—first for himself, secondly for Dunedin, and thirdly, and more especially, for his club. He thanked the Balmacewan bowlers for ahandsome copper bowl which they had presented to his wife, and said he was sure she would • appreciate it. The hardest game he had played in the tournament, said Mr. Lambeth, was that against Mr.' Chapman (Caledonian), and he also marie reference to the very fine play of Mr. P. Vance, who was at one time a member of the Mornington Club. Heavies v. Light. The fad for heavyweights and "big fellah" bowls carry with it a popular supposition that they have many advantages over their more diminutive breth-

ren. Ninety-nine per cent, will toll you that a small bowl is easily turned over, and when coming in contact with the big one takes second prize, writes "Boomerang" in the Sydney "Referee." The fact is that there is no advantage in using a big bowl except against a wind. It is not generally known that when a small bowl is lying on its flat, and a larger one essays to push it through, .the littlo'un is very obstinate. This ia' accounted for by reason of the fact that the smaller article or'obstacle, is "hit "at a point above the centre. If tho same heavy bowl were to strike one of its own size, or larger, in tho same spot, it would turn it over nior- times than it did the small one. This can bo proved by demonstration at any time. A light bowl can be knocked "up" by the same rule that knocks it "out" when beyond the kitty, but this does not apply to the same degree when the positions aro reversed. I noticed some of our recognised best players trying to manipulate a maximum size bowl on the city green. In their firm work and fast drives they were the acme of imperfection, not One scoring a hit in ten attempts. Humphries of Mosman used to be a very reliable hitter, but playing with a "wopper" bowl in his recent engagements, his fast ones have imitated the young lady and invariably taken the wrong route if not the turning. Get the fad off your mind, and use a bowl you can work with. There is no compromise, no "near enough," it must be the proper size for your hand, absolutely. Recently I ventured the opinion, when asked, that a more than ordinarily good player in the far North was using a bowl one size too big. I told him it would" make '' a ton of difference," and he now writes me: "By jove you were right, it does not amount to much, that fraction less in size, but it does make a ton of difference, as I have found to my delight." Australian. Items. The death occurred recently, in his 92nd year, of Mr. Davie Easton, the grand old man of Bklmain, Sydney, N.S.W., in whose pubiic. life as alderman, hospital trustee, and bowler, he had taken a prominent part for many years. The Balmain Club of which. Mr. Easton was a past president, and a member of nearly thirty years' standing, was well represented. The Gladstone Park Club, of which Mr. Easton was' a foundation member, was represented. Mr. J. 0. Redmond, New Zealand, also attended. Mr. Easton was greatly respected, and loved by all who knew him. Truly it might be said of him: "His life was gentle and the elements so mixed in him that Nature might stand lip and say to all the world, 'This was a man.' 1 The late Mr. Easton lived in Wellington, New Zealand, during the early 'fifties and 'sixties, and was associated with the late Mr. Paul Coffey, of Oriental Bay, in shipping interests. Scotsmen, are noted for thoroughness, and when they take to bowls it is generaly found that they adopt bo half measures. An example of this is Archie Wilson, a player of a year's standing in St. George's Club, of Sydney. t Playing in. the singles handicap the. other day against an experienced player in Amos Goode, who has had the honour tolead for the State, Wilson put up a great performance. After Goode had overhauled him and was lying game, Wilson, then live points behind, hung on with Scotali tenacity, and got up to win by 31 to 30. This is the kind of beginner who will make good. . .'.... Whether or no Nero actually fiddled when Rome was going up in flames, or Francis Drake played bowls with the Spanish Armada in sight, it's a fact that Prime Minister Scuilin calmly played bowls at Canberra on Anniversary Day, despite threats from a par : tieular section that he would be forced out of power unless he adopted a certain policy. Heard at the late New South Wales

■v. South Australian cricket match, at Sydney, one of those periodical outbursts from tho hill at Sydney Cricket Ground: . "Gam, why don' y'r play bowls, y'r ole woman?" A good many bowlers in Wellington will remember Mr. R. Rogerson, who skipped the West Australian rink m the Test matches, Australia v. New Zealand, at the 1929 N.Z.D.B.A. Tournament, and it will be interesting to learn that ho won the W.A.B.A..'s handicap singles at Perth recently. Dominion Bowling Association. Speaking at a social function in Dunedin on Saturday night, Mr. D. M. Fastier gave some, interesting facts relating to tho formation of tho Dominion Bowling Association. Mr. Fastior said that the first association was formed in 1886, and was known as the New Zealand Association. It was composed entirely of South Island clubs. In 1891 the North Island clubs formed the Northern Bowling Association, and there were thus two associations in New Zealand. In 1895 the Auckland Bowling Association was formed as a separate body, which brought the number up fo three. There were some differences in the rules of each body, and the opinion became general that one body could control the game more successfully.' Accordingly representatives of tho various centres met in Dunedin in 1913-14, and it was resolved to amalgamate under the titlo of the Dominion of New Zealand Bowling Association. The constitution and laws of the game as decided on at the formation of the present association were to a large extent the same as were originally adopted by the first association, and present players were indebted to those men who had drafted the original rules. Mr. Fastier then dealt with the present membership in various parts of the Dominion, pointing out that progress was much more rapid in the North Island than in the South, and urging Dunedin players to do their utmost to increase the membership of their different clubs. They had as good facilities here as anywhere, and larger memberships meant lesser financial burdens. The Correct Stance. The first step is the acquisition of a stance that enables the wood to be delivered smoothly and consistently. There are several different stances, and one is as correct as the others. The first thing to do, however, is to stand upright at tho mat, with the bowl held lightly and ready for delivery, and survey tho field you have to conquer. You must plan your shot, marking the turn of the wood and the line of the draw to the objective right through. Some players have the whole shot planned by the time they stoop down> Others leave final adjustments until they have the'eye nearer to the level of the green. It does not matter greatly which method you adopt so long as you are consistent with it. There are at least five recognised methods of surveying the situation, of which this upright attitude is probably the best. Assuming that the calculation is made while standing, the wood must be delivered immediately on going down, or perspective will be lost and there will come the temptation to a change of mind—which is always fatal.