GOLF AND BOWLS ARE VALUABLE ASSETS

Taupo Times, Volume II, Issue 59, 4 March 1953, Page 4

GOLF AND BOWLS ARE VALUABLE ASSETS

'"jpHE Annual Meeting of the Taupo Golf Club and the formation of a Ladies Bowling Club, both reported in this number of the Times, are events whieh, call for special comment. Both golf and bowls are todav so generally popular that provision for them has b^come a necessitv in any tourist and holiday resort. The name of Taupo is commonly, and with complete justification linked with the trout fishing which has nrade the Lake and its tributary waters an angler's Eldorado. But fishing alone is hardly sufficient to make a holiday as .full and complete as it might be. All fishing and no play may make Jack a dull boy, not to mention its possible effects on Jill. In supplying facilities for enjoyment of these two popular games the Taupo Golf Club and the Taupo Bowling Club (and now the Taupo Ladies Bowling Club) have provided not only a ser--vice for their own local members but also an added attraction to a great many of the visitors who make Taupo their holiday Mecca. Ihe Golf Club has for a good many years past been an active and progressive organisation and the remarkable improvement in its nine hole course is itself a tribute to the hard work of its officers, committee and all who have assisted and supported them. Residents of Taupo who may nct have seen the course for some time would undoubtedly be lmpressed were they to visit it. The Club is now in process of developing a second nine holes, a very big job, but in dcing this are following the principle that the original course is not to be allowed to go back, but rather to be improved. The vital need, if the interests of visitors to Taupo are to be catered, for, of this expansion ro a full eighteen Ihole course, is indicated by the faet that the Club last year had 102 country members, an increase of twenty-six over the previous year, while green ! fees last year increased by £100 to I a total oi £339. This continuing | increase in the use of the course by \ visitors demands the provision of more holes," and the foresight of the Club in preparing to meet this demand is to be commended. t'v hile the Bowling Club is not as long established a body as the Golf I Club, its progress is evidence of the i cnthusiasm and energy of its officers i and members. Its green is already } a ttiacting visitors, and will continue : to do so increasingly. The im- i provement of the green and the I grounds generally, and ' the comple- j tion of its amenities, will call for • more than the payment of subscrip- ; tions. Much hard work on the part ; bf members will be required. The | example of the Golf Club's achiev- j ment, and the evident enthusiasm of ! tne bowlers, give ground for hope | that hard work will be duly forthcoming. The newly formed L. dies Bowling Club will undoubtedly greatly augment the attraction to visitors, provided by the men's Club, and should also greatly assist the latter. It may be said that these Ciubs aie? afcer all, catering for the enjoyment and pleasure of their own members. That is true enough, but it is not the whole truth. Thev are nct catering for their members only. but are providing valuable assets for the community. Taupo is the better for their work.