Wanaka Bowling Club
Newsletter 1st September 2025
Opening Day Sunday 7th September
Please bring your family, friends and neighbours to our opening day sun 7th 1-4pm. BBQ and winter prize giving 4-5pm.
Faulks Performance Pathway
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Training begins this Thursday 4th September 5pm
The new Faulks Performance Pathway (FPP) was first introduced to members by way of an email from our President, Mark Daniels, on 28 July. Since then, Mark has consulted with members of the club and a general discussion with all members was held at a well attended meeting on Sunday afternoon, 31 August.
Mark outlined the goal of the programme to introduce coaching and a structured player development pathway with the aim of "producing a player or team capable of competing for a national title within five years".
As short-term targets, Mark wants to see our club become the top-performing club in the Central Otago Sevens competition, as well as achieving strong results in all Centre and Champion of Champion tournaments for both men and women.
To achieve these ambitious goals, Mark wants to see our local club championships become prestigious events with the finals of each competition being played on the same day.
Winning team combinations will be fostered through the Premier and Division 1 competitions, noting that women are eligible to play in the Saturday competitions.
Regular coaching and player development sessions will be held each Thursday night from 5.00pm, starting from this coming Thursday (4 September) with an emphasis on winning, teamwork, and support. The new framework is clearly aimed at those players who wish to improve their skill levels. As Mark said, the framework is "about raising our game together, building a stronger club culture, and creating real opportunities for those who wish to excel".
Mark emphasised that opportunities to play will continue for all members, through the weekly club days for both men and women and the popular Friday progressive sessions, as well as the Tuesday competitions for women and the Wednesday competitions for men.
A lively question and answer session followed Mark's presentation. It was agreed that “some of the devil will be in the detail” but there was strong support for the intent of the new pathway and Mark was thanked for the initiative and for his excellent presentation.
In closing, Mark thanked all who had helped to craft the new pathway and emphasised that this is a Club initiative, supported by the Board, and aimed at all members of the Club. Mark welcomes any further questions or comments, as the pathway is initiated and evolves over the coming summer season.
Central Otago Novice Coaching
The first session of the Central Otago Bowls (COB) novice bowlers coaching programme attracted 50 players to the Wanaka Bowling Club on Sunday afternoon, 31 August.
The first presentation was from COB Vice President, Peter Dunne, who spoke about the structure of our Centre and the various competitions that are run at both local and national level, noting that all players can enter competitions including the National Championships.
Peter shared some of his own experience, notably as Manager of the COB development squad. He drew on the involvement of Terry Scott with the squad to emphasise the importance of the mental side of bowls.
Pauline Seaton, the COB Centre Administrator and a vastly experienced umpire, spoke in detail about the rules of bowls and the playing conditions of our local tournaments, and answered questions about many aspects of the game. All of the material mentioned by Pauline is available on the COB website.
Pauline went through the functionality of the BowlsHub website and stressed the importance of all players being registered through BowlsHub. Help is available from Pauline for anyone who needs advice or assistance.
The session moved outside to the lovely Wanaka sunshine where Peter demonstrated some simple practice routines and emphasised the importance of regular practice. Pauline showed some basics of mat placement etc, answered more questions, and finished by showing her flash new laser measuring device.
The Wanaka club was thanked for their hospitality and the next session will be held at the Alexandra club on Sunday afternoon, 14 September.
Defibrillator
President Mark Daniels is shown with the new defibrillator which is now situated on the outside wall of the Clubrooms adjacent to the green. Mark is pointing to the code which is needed to open the cabinet. Once opened, the instructions for use are clear, although it’s to be hoped that the need for use will be infrequent!
It was purchased by our club but is available for community use.
August Corporate Report
It has been a quiet month as most enquiries I've received were wanting to book when our Stadium schedule was preventing their access or I've been unable to confirm availability due to waiting for the 2025/26 Handbook to be finalized.
However, since the weather and temperatures are slowly improving, I've been able to promote them using the outside rinks, especially if the bar has been open for any scheduled indoor games.
This has been lucrative for the club, without having to request anything of our volunteers.
Enquiries are now coming in for the Xmas events, so hopefully the WBC is still as popular as it's been in the past seasons.
Kathryn Mitchell
Booking Liaison Officer
Mixed Fours 30 August
The final tournament of the Winter season was played on Saturday, 30 August, with 8 teams completing for the Bernie Redway Memorial Challenge Cup (first played for in 2007).
With a clubhouse draw the teams were evenly matched with many close results.
With three wins, the winners on the day were the team of Helen Allison, Heather Malcolm, Val Ransom, and Simon Nyhof (skip). The trophy was presented by President Mark Daniels.
Simon thanked Kate Norman for the afternoon tea, and Val thanked Simon for stepping in as Controller.
The Carnival is Over (until next year)
The annual Neil Studholme Trophy came to a fitting end on Saturday, 23 August, with a large crowd singing “The carnival is over”.
A closely contested final saw the Beacon Point team of Kathryn Liggins, Alice Turnbull and Bill Turnbull (skip) defeat the Albert Town team of Jim Cowie, Todd Swain and Amy Swain (skip) 19-15 after 20 ends. The final was a high-quality game with the scores tied at 15-15 after 18 ends.The other final matches saw Aubrey beat Cardrona 17-5 to finish third, Hawea beat West Wanaka 17-14, Village beat Pembroke 19-6.
An enthusiastic crowd enjoyed the final and the Prizegiving ceremony, with the always excellent catering.
President Mark Daniels thanked all of those involved in the organisation and running of the competition, and introduced Chris Wright from Harcourts Wanaka, the valued sponsors of the tournament.
Chris presented the winning prizes with the Neil Studholme Trophy being presented to Bill Turnbull by Karen Studholme and Tama Chaney, a great grandson of Neil Studholme. Stu Hurley spoke on behalf of the Beacon Point team and mentioned the great pleasure that Neil Studholme would take in the friendly and competitive spirit of the tournament.
Mark presented flowers to Jill Hill in thanking her for the superb organisation of the tournament and expressed gratitude also to Rhonda Hurley for the wonderful catering.
Photo of Beacon Point team who were present on the final day, from left
Chris Wright (Harcourts Rep sponsor)
Beacon Point Team: Alice Turnbull; Suzanne Ewing (rear hidden); Rhonda Hurley, Kathryn Liggins, Margaret Marshall, Margaret Young, Bill Turnbull, Lynette Wells, Stuart Hurley,
Studholme Reps: Karen Studholme, Tama Chaney.
Great TV to Watch
Women's NZ Ch of Ch final 17 August 2025 - Click here
Womens NZ Ch of Ch semi final 17 August 2025 - Click here
Men's Pairs NZ Champ of Champs final 10 August 2025 - Click here
Women's Fours NZ Champ of Champs final 3 August 2025 - Click here
Edgewater Trophy
Thankyou Simon Nyhof for organising this years Edgewater Triples competition.
After the final night on 18th August the standings were.
1st. Simon Nyhof 240
2nd Ken Wills 222
3rd Deb Hurt 214
4th Arthur Sutherland 213
5th Bob McLeary 211
6th Ross Niles 210.
Hebbard Trophy
On Thursday 14 August a field of ten teams contested close games for the annual Mixed Fours Hebbard Trophy in the stadium.
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1st: Simon Nyhof, Greg Hurt, Ken Wills, Deb Hurt.
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2nd: Mark Daniels, Gordon Hall, Jenny Sawers, Raewyn Hall.
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3rd: Richie Muir, Ken Allison, Amy Swain, Helen Allison.
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4th place: Jim Cowie, Arthur Sutherland, Ian Hall, Glennis McMillan.
As Controller, Simon Nyhof thanked Alison Hebbard for the generous sponsorship of the Tournament and complimented all teams on the high standard of the games. Simon said that, “The Club is in a really good space at the moment” with a number of new players being involved with teams. President Mark Daniels presented the Hebbard Trophy to the winning team.
On such a lovely late winter’s day, many players enjoyed lunch in the outside sunshine, and the catering was of the usual high standard.
Comments from the bowlers:
Mandy Hardy Thoroughly enjoyed the day. Thanks to all in involved in making a successful tournament.
Mark Daniels Really well run tournament with very good bowls played and lots of great food. Thank you to everyone behind the scenes for a great day.
Kathryn Mitchell Well deserved! Congrats to you all
Glennis McMillan A great tournament, thoroughly enjoyed, thank you
Faulks Trophy
A busy month for Winter Stadium bowls continued with the Men’s Fours competition for the Faulks Trophy (sponsored by G J Gardner Homes) held on Tuesday, 5 August. A full field of 10 teams played 4 games of 10 ends, with many close scores and a high standard of play. Players came throughout Central Otago to compete for a sought-after trophy. The prizes were presented by Paddy Kilbride, the local G J Gardner Homes General Manager.
The prizewinners were:
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1st: Tom Malcolm, Simon Nyhof, John Leith, Alan Coupe.
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2nd: Richie Muir, Ray Harvey, Ken McConnell, Phil Studholme
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3rd: Mark Daniels, Trevor Tattersfield, Garry Popham, Dave Ferguson
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4th: Donald Urquhart, Kyle McGowan, Paul Spooner, Ken Allison
In accepting the Faulks Trophy, Tom Malcolm thanked the sponsors, Val Ransom the Tournament controller, and the catering team, as well as his own team, the only unbeaten team on the day.
Barbs Blurb
Whether to take the jack on winning the Toss?
This is quite a strategy. It is the skip that chooses. Sometimes they want to give the jack away to the opposition. After playing a few singles games and playing as lead for our club for about seven years, this is my take on the subject.
First: Don't expect to be good at bowling a jack unless you have practised. It is essential.
Second: If you know what your skip / team prefers try to throw to that length. Some skips like it kept about the 3/4 length. Others like it constantly changed so check in with your skip, don't assume that the last skip you played with is the same as the current one.
Third: Why give it away? Because the skip likes to have the last bowl and if needed are good enough to be able to attack if necessary or have a terrific draw.
So why wouldn't you give it away? Because you want the jack thrown to your or your teams preferred length. I have had games where I cannot get the jack back until halfway through a game. Constantly the opposition may throw a super long jack or super short jack and its difficult to get the jack. Once you get it you can turn the game around.
So whatever the opposition are winning with: if you get the jack back DONT bowl the jack to their length.
Press release for Wanaka Sun 24 August
Enthusiastic Finish for Neighbourhood Competition
On Saturday 23 August the Wanaka Bowling club finals of the Studholme Trophy were played in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Each year, the club holds a competition for the Neil Studholme Trophy which pits teams from eight local districts against each other in a 12 round contest. Rules apply to ensure all the members in the suburb have turns . This year, the Beacon Point team of Kathryn Liggins, Alice Turnbull and Bill Turnbull (skip) won the trophy beating the Albert Town team of Jim Cowie, Todd Swain and Amy Swain (skip) 19-15 in a closely fought battle. The team from Aubrey finished third and Cardrona were placed fourth.
The Studholme Trophy has been competed for each winter since 2007 and this year the trophy was presented by Karen Studholme and a great grandson of Neil Studholme, Tama Chaney. Speaking for the family, Mrs Studholme congratulated all of the teams and expressed pleasure that the trophy has become such a sought-after trophy. The tournament was sponsored by Harcourts Wanaka and the prizes for the winning teams were presented by Chris Wright from Harcourts.
Busy and Successful
Meantime, the club has completed another successful season of winter bowls in the club’s indoor stadium where competitions are run every day and three evenings weekly for Trade Bowls Teams.
Two members of the club, Kim Tilly and Jo-Anne Stock, recently represented Central Otago in the national Champion of Champions pairs tournament held in Auckland on 15 & 16 August. Pip Kiddey earlier played in the Champion of Champion singles tournament, also held in Auckland.
The Wānaka Bowling Club is getting ready for its centennial next year, and planning is already under way for suitable celebrations.
The club’s summer season will open on Sunday, 7 September. An open day will be held from 1.00 4.00pm that day for interested members of the public to try their hand at the sport and to see the club’s facilities. At 4.00pm, there will be a prize giving to conclude the winter season.
The club’s membership continues to grow strongly and the club is now the largest bowls club in Otago. The club’s President, Mark Daniels, commented that, “We’re proud of our strong and active membership but we’re keen to attract more new members”. Mark emphasised that bowls is nowadays a sport for people of all ages, and that the local club caters for those who want to compete to a high level as well as others who simply want to enjoy the social side of the sport. The club provides coaching and mentoring to new players, and there is a programme of weekly competitive and social bowls.