Wanaka Bowling Club
Summer Newsletter no 4 1st March 2025
Congratulations. (Sorry photo unavailable... Should have been there...)
Greg Hurt and Ken Wills were unbeaten in winning this year’s Men’s Junior Pairs competition.
Greg and Ken beat Ross Hammond and Ross Niles in the semi final and then beat Phil Studholme and Jock Johnson in the final on Thursday morning.
The club is fortunate to have a strong group of Junior players this season.
Superb depth in Clyde teams
Saturday Pennants Finals Day 1st March
In Division 1: Wanaka 1 team finished 2nd on the ladder and had to play the Clyde 2 team which finished 3rd on the ladder in the semifinals. Wanaka went down. Clyde 2 went on to play Clyde 1 in the final and won. There were 16 teams in Div 1.
Wanaka did not have a team in Premier section but Clyde did. There were 8 teams in Premier. Clyde beat Arrowtown in the premier final also today.
In Div 2: (which hasn't logged on todays results) Clyde have 2 teams and so has Wanaka. Prior to today a Wanaka team has a slight edge with the next 2 teams belonging to Clyde. There are 24 teams in the Div 2 competition. There is one more round on the 15th March in the Div 2 competition.
Happy Birthday 100 years old this month
Congratulations to Henry Thayer who now lives in the village and is still listed as a social member of the Wanaka Bowling Club.
Great TV Watches
What a feast of bowls we have had on Sky and You Tube. Most remarkable player was Sue Hodges from Tauranga with her "Lime Fizz" bowls who made it all the way to the finals of both the Fours and Mixed pairs. She was no teenager either and anyone who has had hip problems would have felt for her as every step looked like pain. The commentator said she would have played over 30 matches in 8 days. (I haven't checked his calculations)
Mens NZ Fours Final played 23 February Click here
NZ Mixed Pairs Final played 27 February Click here
Quick Mixed Singles
There will be a short burst of singles in April. The board have approved this. It will be similar to a couple of years ago. I will be in touch by email with the format and requesting registration.
Coaching Tips
From my favourite Bowls book by Ian Schuback. These are photos. There is a lot of information in the book
Third Time Club Champs Triples Winners
From left Todd Swain (2nd), Murray Finn (skip), Mark Daniels (Lead) won on Sunday 23 February. Runners Up were Simon Nyhof, Brett Simpson and Ken Allison.
Men's Champ Pairs
Were played over two days with 10 teams entered in a tournament of 4 rounds on Saturday 15 February.
On Sunday 16th the top 4 teams played a semi final and then a final.
From left Runners up: Todd Swain & Mark Daniels
Winners: Tom Malcolm & Richie Muir
FRIDAY PROGRESSIVE BOWLS by Ian Hall
With a new start time of 1.00pm, the Friday afternoon progressive bowls competition remains a popular part of the weekly programme with at least 30 bowlers playing most days. It's also been great over the holidays to host visitors from other parts of the country, Australia, and England and one popular visitor has been Gary Vogt from South Africa.
Gary is a board member of the Port Shepstone Country Club (www.pssc.co.nz) which caters for both golf and lawn bowls. Port Shepstone is a city about the size of Timaru, on the south coast of KwaZulu Natal, about 90 minutes south of Durban.
Gary now has family in Wānaka and first visited our club two years ago. He has won the Old Mug on each of his visits and he comments that, "The club has been amazing. I've enjoyed every time I've played and meeting all of the members". Gary promises a warm welcome to anyone who might be visiting Port Shepstone and he hopes to visit here again soon.
Gary Vogt
AROUND THE REGION by Ian Hall
Alexandra has two lawn bowling clubs each with 60+ members. The Alexandra District Club (ADC) was formed as a chartered club in 1996 bringing together the Alexandra RSA, the RSA Bowling Club, and the Alexandra Town and Country Club.
The club has one manicured grass green plus a smaller half green and a wonderfully historic pavilion, adjacent to the terrific modern facilities of the District Club. The club generally have an annual charity tournament and can raise a good amount of money depending on the cause.
Our current Bowls Central Otago President, Trevor Cowan, is a member of ADC while Steve Archer and Paul Spooner have achieved success in Centre tournaments. The women won the Champ of Champ fours in 2024 and the men won the Champ of Champ pairs.
The green is typically "fast" to play on and remember to doff your cap when inside as a mark of respect to RSA members. past and present.
