Update 22^nd October  2015.

Final Blog update.

Unless there is someone else out there who wishes to continue with this blog, this will be the final update.

(if someone out there is interested in continuing with it, let me know.)

I will now be limiting any postings of Club news, events, pictures and the like to our Facebook page only.

”Northern Bowling Club Palmerston North”

http://www.facebook.com/northernbowls

Please have a look at the page and (Like it).

You will then be able to keep up with what is happening at the Club.

 You will also be able to comment on any postings and make posts yourself.

If you don’t already have your own Facebook account, you may have to set one up.

If anyone needs help in doing this, I can help.

Comment on Bowls   by Denis Duffy.

The re-appearance after an absence of many seasons of Wayne Sellars in the colours of Johnston Park will add considerable spice to the Men’s Interclub series played over two consecutive Saturdays in November. Playing then out of Northern , Wayne took up the sport at a young age and became one of the undoubted stars who made Manawatu a major force in national Bowls during the golden era of the 1970’s and 80’s. Finishing with a double Gold Star and twelve Centre titles, he formed a lethal combination in Fours and especially in Pairs with his legendary father, Vic. However, Wayne’s Singles record in his heyday also ranked with the very best. He was unbeaten in the  solo position when Manawatu won the Rothmans national Inter-Centre title at Christchurch in 1980, ran second in the fabled Manawatu Lion Masters, and also won the Manawatu Open title when it drew a heavily loaded field of close to 200 entrants. Wayne represented the North Island, and at one stage was in serious contention for the national side. The game has changed during Wayne’s long period off the scene , with the advent of narrower drawing bowls and the more direct style of play that they bring, so he will face a real challenge in re-establishing himself among the elite. Free now of work commitments, he will lead in the Pairs for Tony Jensen at the sharp end of a likely-looking Johnston Park team that has seasoned campaigner Stephen Love playing the Singles. The Four is Skipped by Keith Walker, with Simon Westby, Colin Commerford and Terry Puklowski in front.

With the Palmerston Norh side announced some time ago, the remaining men’s teams who will contest Division 1 were unknown at time of writing. Hot off the press though was word of the Terrace End women’s team which will defend the title they won with plenty to spare last season. Mere Fryer, unbeaten in last season’s Inter-Centre finals, will play Singles, with Georgie Kahui-Rogers and Lynlea Rogers contesting the Pairs. Sheryn Blake will Skip the Terrace End Four, with the evergreen Bev Budd at Third. Taking care of the front end will be Ailsa Lindsay and Julia Wood.

Thanks Denis.

Notes of interest from the Club Captain.

G and G McKenzie Mixed Pairs

Unfortunately had to be cancelled.  Hoping to re-schedule this for later in the season

L.J Hooker Any Gender Open Triples – Thursday October 29

This is the first of our Thursday Open Triples and we hope that there will be many Northern entries. Sign up form in the clubhouse.

Labour Weekend Centre 2x4x2 Pairs – good luck to the Northern teams who have entered.

Weekend of October 31 – November 1

There are no scheduled bowling events listed in the handbooks for this weekend, but our match committee and selector have organised the following –

Saturday October 31 – Club roll up, 12:30 start. Names in by 12:00pm please. Teams will be drawn and organised depending on number of entries. This is an opportunity for all club members to get together and enjoy an afternoon’s bowls. There will be a sign up sheet for this on the notice board. Mufti dress.

Julia Wallace Ladies Gala Triples at Northern - Monday November 2.

A signup sheet is on the board. Your entries please. Donations of groceries etc. to help with the raffle prizes will be much appreciated. Please leave in the club rooms.

Bowler – Non Bowler

Following last season’s successful Bowler /Non Bowler competition we have decided to run this again for four weeks beginning on Wednesday November 18 at 5:45pm. This is an opportunity for all of our club members to introduce a family member, workmate, neighbour etc  to the game of bowls by having them play with you in a fun competition run over 4 Wednesday evenings. Please consider who you could ask to join you, and we will be asking for entries and sign ups after Labour weekend.

Social Activities

Housie – I will be running a Housie night this coming Friday (October 23) starting at 5:00pm.

Target Bowls – this will be run on the following Friday (October 30)

Lucky Jackpot - this is drawn every Friday at 6:00pm and will also kick off this Friday. All members (financial) have a club number and if this is drawn and you are present, the jackpot is yours.

Quiz Night – yes the great Northern Quiz night returns on Friday December 4.

Teams to be a maximum of 6 people and a minimum of 4. $5 per person to enter; Lots of spot and fun prizes as well as the main prize for the winning team. Special prize for the best dressed team – fancy dress not compulsory but does add a lot of fun to the evening. Pizza will be available for dinner at 6:30pm with the Quiz to start at 7:15approx. More info to follow but now is the time to think about getting your team organised. The quiz is open to all so we encourage you to bring family, friends, neighbours or workmates or ask them to make up teams of their own. Other bowling clubs in town will be invited to enter teams – please check with your friends in the other clubs to make sure that they have heard about the quiz.

Update 8^th October  2015.

Comment on Bowls   by Denis Duffy.

Palmerston North’s Ross Ellery found the going tough in Malaysia at the international event which he has recently been competing in . Ross gained entry with his win in last season’s National Club Singles and travelled with the Women’s winner, Sandra Keith, formerly of Ashburton and now playing out of Allenton. Ross is not the first to discover the problems posed in that region by unfamiliar and very slow surfaces, intense humidity and the growing power in the game of many Asian nations. He qualified for post-section play with two hard-fought wins, only to be beaten 17-16 and eliminated by the Philippines representative. With Keith, he was also knocked out of the Mixed Pairs event in the first knockout round. The pain of Ross’s loss may be eased when he reflects that several of the wins that took him to Malaysia were also achieved by narrow margins, and that differences in player ability at international level are often very fine indeed. He will return to discover that the Palmerston North club’s selectors have again named him to play Singles in the top grade of this year’s Interclub. The rest of his team, the only one confirmed for the competition as yet, features Terry Johnson Skipping the Pair with Dean Gilshnan, and Pat Horgan Skipping a Four that includes Chris Barrett, Brian Looker and Graeme Cooley.

Both Men’s and Women’s Manawatu teams finished in the lower positions at the recent Inter-Centre Under 5 Years rep match played annually at Wanganui.  This event is played on artificial surfaces at the old Wanganui club that much more experienced players have found challenging, but of course it is often observed that the conditions are the same for all competitors.

The annual tournament  in support of the local Rescue Helicopter operation will be held at Palmerston North this Saturday, October 10th, and further entries are needed. This is an ‘Any Gender’ Triples tournament, played in mufti, and the cause is obviously a very worthy one.

Thanks Denis.

Notes from the Club Captain

Fellow Bowlers

Thanks to those of you who played in the Monaco Shield Challenge against Palmerston North on Sunday. A most enjoyable afternoon with the results not quite going our way this time. The return match is to be played in March. Congratulations to Graham Black who has been selected to play in the Men’s 8 year and under Tri Series on October 18..

Centre Mixed 2x4x2 Open Pairs

Entries for this Labour Weekend Tournament close at 5:00pm today. If you are putting in your entry at the club please make any cheques out to Northern Bowling Club and Secretary Christine will send in one payment for all entries.

Wednesday Aggregate

Remember to have your names in by 12:30pm please for these Wednesday fixtures.

Men’s Trousers and Shorts.

A minimum of 10 orders required before we can send in the order. Try on the samples in the clubrooms to determine your size.

Club Shirts

There is also a sign up for the new club shirts if you wish to order.

Up Coming Tournaments/Interclub

Please check out the notice board for a number of tournaments coming up as well as availability for Inter Club. Unfortunately last Saturday’s tournament had to be cancelled due to lack of entries. Please support the club and enter when you can.

Skog Triples and Elizabeth Walker Tuesday tournaments begin next week.

G and G McKenzie Mixed Pairs is on Sunday week, October 18.

The LJ Hooker sponsored Any Gender Open Triples is being held at Northern on Thursday October 29.

Good Bowling to you all

Doug Hayward

Club Captain

Update 23^rd  September  2015.

Comment on Bowls   by Denis Duffy.

Two recently confirmed moves by top players will  make a significant impact on relative club strength in the new season. The big one is the move by Philip Skoglund to the  strong and famously cashed-up Eastbourne club, competing in the Wellington Centre’s Interclub. Eastbourne has previously imported national legend Gary Lawson and former NZ Singles champion Justin Goodwin in their quest for the kudos of being the top club in the country. Former top Manawatu player Ray Lovie also plays there, and Philip’s arrival will further add to their strength. The Wellington Interclub season is much longer than the Manawatu one, and this extended competition at a good level will appeal to Philip. Locals will surely wish him well in the light of his long and dedicated service to Manawatu. Philip’s illustrious father, the late Phil Skoglund, also trod the Wellington greens for a couple of seasons when in his prime in the early 1960’s . This was when he had just the first of his National Singles titles in his CV, and before he became established as an all-time great in the game. Just how the move will affect Philip’s representative status remains to be clarified. Northern’s ace Singles player, Terry Johnson, already a full Palmerston North member, has now made himself available to represent the Centre’s most numerous club in this season’s Interclub. These moves leave a gaping hole in the top echelon of players at Northern, and will make it a real challenge for the traditionally strong North St club to repeat last season’s success. Johnson’s shift must further position Palmerston North as favourites this season.

The recent opening of the Manawatu Centre’s season at Johnston Park was favoured by idyllic weather conditions and was greatly enjoyed by all participants. So well were the Johnston Park greens running that many of the early deliveries ended up in the ditch, and their superb condition so early in the season earned many plaudits. Johnston Park will be the venue on 18th October for an Under 8yrs representative match involving the Wairarapa, Kapiti and Manawatu Centres. This fixture will be an important part of the build-up to the national Under 8yrs event which Manawatu bypassed last season but are preparing for in earnest this time. The winners on the day were the Takaro trio of Ian Johnson, Kevin Dustin and Brian Jarvis.

Thanks Denis.

Update 11^th September  2015.

Notes of interest from the Club Captain

Opening Day

Keep fingers crossed for a fine day for our opening which is on Saturday September 19. We will be playing for the Herbert Plate with games to begin at 1:00pm. Club colours please. We plan to have the new club booklet available for you on Opening Day.

Te Raki Cup

This is to be held on Saturday September 26 at Takaro with a 10:00am start. Names on the board please or return email to me.

Men’s Pants and Shorts.

A reminder that samples of these are in the clubrooms for you to try. Please read the notes on the board carefully as they relate to the different sizing of the pants and shorts. A reminder also that the final product will be the same green as our shirts, with a back pocket on the pants as well as a permanent crease. Order form on the board.

Comment on Bowls   by Denis Duffy.

As a new season arrives with a menacing chill still in the air, the recipe for stemming the rapid leakage of players from our game remains as elusive as ever, but there’s no lack of positivity among the many keen bowlers looking forward to  what lies ahead in the coming months. There have been successful outcomes for locals from events played during the Winter at Hawkes Bay’s Heretaunga indoor facility and in pre-season tournaments held in the Kapiti region. Shane Rogers started last season with a run of top results, and going into the last round of the Keith Elliott VC Invitation Fours held annually at Raumati South he was right on track for something similar. Shane had a powerful line-up in front of him in the form of Scotty McGavin, Darryl Johnson and Adam Johnston, but a slip-up in the final round saw the main prize go to a side paying long odds with the bookies. This was the Terrace End combo of Scruff Anderson ,Wally Parker, Dave Gibb and Ted Hodgson – a great win for them, but then any astute Bowls watcher knows that a team with ‘Tip-Top’ at Lead will always be dangerous. In times past the Webber Shield Open Fours was a prestigious extended event not dissimilar to the Taranaki Open, and run annually by the Heretaunga Club in Hastings on its now vanished outdoor set-up. These days it’s a three day indoor event still run by Heretaunga on its new site, where Takaro’s Barry Wynks has featured in several recent finals with various combinations. This time Barry was denied by a fine performance from the Johnston Park combo of of Tony Jensen, Stephen Love, Bruce Mudgway and Bruce Harris. Later on, at the same Hastings venue, the Palmerston North Triple of Phil Austin, Dean Gilshnan and Brial Looker took out a Classic Triples event. Then, just last weekend, Dean combined with Terry Johnson to win the Plate event at the Paraparaumu Beach Club’s Invitation 2x4x2 three day Pairs tournament.

The Palmerston North club recently farewelled its long-term greenkeeper, Ken Murray, into a well-earned retirement. Having the benefit of Ken’s undoubted expertise, shrewdness and experience for so long has been a priceless asset for the Centre’s oldest club, and Ken’s replacement, Matt Van Rysewyk, will be well positioned to follow many of the guidelines left behind by Ken.

The Takaro Club is nothing if not innovative, and a current initiative there may well see a series of evening tournaments contested under floodlights during the Summer. The lighting involved will be at a level sufficient for Bowls, but not of enough brightness to create a nuisance for neighbours.

This season’s Centre programme reveals a discernible move to   hold important events later than previously, hopefully avoiding as much as possible of the wild Spring weather, but the first event of significance will again be the Pathways Mixed 2x4x2 Pairs held over Labour Weekend.

Thanks Denis.