ON THE GREEN

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 926, 20 March 1930, Page 6

ON THE GREEN

Bowls and Bowlers

(By

JACK HIGH.)

: Helensville Again The Helensvilie club for the second ' season in succession since its en- | trance into the competition has pulled off the honours of the section play in j the inter-club pennant competition, j while the Auckland club has contrastingly scored its first success, by collecting the honours of the B section. Tho concluding games will be played next Saturday, when four teams—the full strength of the Helensvilie club’s quota—will meet four teams from the : Auckland club, which will be ballotted ; for by the Centre Executive. * j History Repeated I To the Helensvilie club much credit is due for the fine performance of the J participating members. At the close | of last season the club, which had won j tire competition with two teams, gener- ; ously decided to enter four this year, thus taking the risk of not being able 1 to muster the necessary sixteen players I as many members of the club were ! able to indulge in play only on week i days. In this respect the Helensvilie j club has not only fulfilled its commend- ! able undertaking, but has also succeeded in repeating the success of last season, showing conclusively the high standard of play at that small but creditable club. In the first round the participants established a 50 per cent, victory, and never looked back from ! that interesting commencement, j steadily increasing their percentage of j wins until 'was theirs. Kick In Old Club Yet j Auckland’s victory in the B section j established conclusively the recent contention that the old club has at last entered the realm of competitive play I to advantage of the establishment of i a higher exposition of bowling among ; its members. Time was, and that not j many seasons ago, that the club was ) particularly noticeable for an almost complete absence of its members from j prominent tournaments. Of later

years a marked change has taken place, many teams entering (w i t h good results) the major events staged in bowling in this city. Good greens have also during the past two seasons materially assisted the members of the club. The green committee settled problem of placing

better playing surfaces at the disposal of its members, and with the engagement of a capable green-keeper, Mr. Cairns, they have met with success in this direction. These two factors, coupled with a moderate influx M good bowlers into the club, have largely assisted in bringing about the victory. Moreover, to' some measure, success is due to the selection of teams by Mr. A. J. Parker, in whose hands the duties of sole selector have been placed.

Reputation Maintained Although not being in its usual plq.ee at. the top of the list in the A section, the Carlton club has certainly maintained its reputation for possessing remarkable playing strength among the rank and file of its members. The policy adopted by the selection committee this season was generous and democratic to a degree, the principal involved giving as many members of tho club as possible participation in the competition, thus maintaining the basic purpose of the event and the elimination of possible discontent among the members. Remuera Fights All Along While it might seem unkind to state that it was not expected that that wonderful club, Remuera, could pull off -the honours this season, it may be said that the actual winning as far as that club is concerned was only incidental. The members there did their part, in tho competition by giving good games to their opponents, thus filling the purpose of the competition. The record of wins established in their favour showed a remarkable advancement in the,standard of play as the rounds advanced. In The Melting Pot In section B things were in the melting pot until last {Saturday Ponsonby had pressed Auckland hard the previous round. Hillsboro won both its games against the leaders of the seelion. Manurewa. Ponsonby scored only 50 per cent, of wins thereby placing itself second at five o’clock on Saturday. Nevertheless the most pleasing feature of the competition is that there is very little difference generally between the playing strengths of the clubs participating. No doubt the Centre executive will take all the varying factors into consideration at the close of the season, and endeavour to unify them by increasing the respective clubs’ quotas for next season. Two Good Records It is pleasing to place on record that during the past two seasons both W. Coltman, of the Carlton club, and Harry Woolley, of the Auckland club, have skipped teams which have won all games in the inter-club pennant competition. In addition to this splendid performance Harry Woolley has also met with similar success in ordinary inter-club events. Such records surely provide a fine tribute to the consistent bowling ability of the two mentioned players.

Jolting the Giants Among the younger generation of the Auckland club, there is a fair leaven which is even capable of giving some of the most prominent hands of the game a jolt from time to time, and from whom even Max Walker, a player who stands in a class by himself in New Zealand bowling, is not free from an occasional onslaught. In this respect Max got one of the surprises of his bowling career the other day—which provided certainly one of the most amazing sensations of the season. Max had to meet a colt in the Diamond Jubilee Handicap—one of the club’s permanent competitions. The game started well for the bowling idol of the Dominion. Indeed, in the early stages it looked as if his opponent had as much chance of drawing a shot with a bowl on the wrong bias as collecting the final honours, for Max played with his accustomed ability and ran up the score to 24—8 in a short time, having to give his opponent six points in a 21-point game. But here the surprise was staged. The junior player settled down to exceedingly close heads over which a mat could be thrown and cover comfortably, thus running out the winner by 21—2 5. The promising player is named S. Dadley. He commenced his bowling career a couple of seasons ago with a remarkably fine natural delivery, and has given many of the old hands as well as Max some sound trouncings this season. It was justly a day of pride for the young player when he defeated the redoubtable Max. Champion of Champions Entries for the champion of champions competition are required to be ; in the hands of the secretary cf the i Centro executive today. At the Dominion Road club the championship has reached the interesting stage arid tho finalist will be found this afternoon. Three contestants were left m to fight out the honours at the end of last week. They were W. D. Denison. B. Ramsay and F. Truman. The game between Ramsay and Denison

was interesting. On the 17th head the scores were 10 all. On the next three heads Denison did all the scoring and ran out the winner on the 20th head. Denison met Ramsay in the next round and on the 11th head the scores 'were 11— 6in Ramsay’s favour, but the former managed to pull up the lea way and won by 19—14 Denison, who has two lives now. has to meet Truman and thus decide the championship. It is interesting to note that the president, Mr. S. E. Chappell, had to drop out of the competition owing to an enforced absence from the city, giving his game to F. Truman. Dominion Road Club In the handicap singles at the same club three are left in. They include F. Truman. B. Ramsay and W. D. Kelly. In this competition strangely enough Ramsay was responsible for the elimination of Denison. Truman will meet Ramsay in the next round and the winner will meet Kelly for the final honour. Auckland Club’s Champion The Auckland Club’s singles championship was concluded yesterday, and the new champion was found in H. R Allan. In the semi-final Allan met P. Moir. Allan scored six points on the first four heads before Moir opened up his account. The latter then scored :» four and settled down to the game. On the eleventh head the score read 12 — 9 in his favour. However, he stayed on 17 points and Allan ran out the winner by 22 —17. In the final game, Allan v. J. Baxter, the former scored 11 points lief ore Baxter put his chalk on the board. Allan maintained a healthy lead throughout the game and ran out an easy winner by 21—10. It is notable that Baxter lost his two lives to Allan winning all his other games against his other opponents.