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MEN’S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP SINGLES 2023-2024
A large field emerged for this season’s Men’s Open Singles Championship held over Waitangi Day weekend which saw what might well be a record 36 entriesin more recent times. The blue ribbon occasion was extremely saddened by the illness that befell club member Ian Chan during play on day one requiring his admittance to hospital, and withdrawal of two other players with covid.
The weather gods were also unkind with heavy overnight rain on the Friday night causing a delayed start to proceedings on day one, compounded by very strong winds that persisted all day causing havoc on the greens. Day two began with a vast improvement in playing conditions allowing the 4th qualifying round to be completed and resulting in 16 players making it to the post section stage.
After some excellent games and keen competition the quarterfinalists were found namely Mark Andrews, Rod Sadgrove, Graeme Thomson, Steve Campbell, Bob Louden, Bruce Hickman, Richard Ludbrook and Neil Fisher.
Coming into the sharp end of the tournament saw Mark winning out against Rod 21-17, Steve knocking over Graeme 21-15, Richard taking out the more fancied Neil Fisher 21-9, and Bruce beating Bob 23-5. The semifinals were then played on Waitangi Day, 2 great games in beautiful summer conditions which befitted the occasion with Steve outgunning Mark 21-7 and Richard doing likewise to Bruce 21-16.
The final was eventually won by Steve 21-17 against Richard in a great display of draw bowls by both players showcasing their talents in front of an appreciative audience.
Congratulations to new champion Steve Campbell, only recently joining the club and who will now represent Howick at the upcoming Champ of Champ Singles late April, and Runner Up Richard Ludbrook.
Special mention must go to Claire Orr for her outstanding assistance in helping to run the tournament as a non player with the Convenor over the full 3 days, and to the markers without whom the event could not happen, in particular those who willingly marked more than one game.
Well done to everyone who participated and helped out in what has been a great event this year.
Convenor: Bruce Hickman
A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO HELPED IN THE WORKING BEE ON 22 JANUARY
A big Thank you to all those who volunteered for the very successful working bee this morning. And to Christine for the pikelets and to Irene for her continued gardening efforts to keep our surrounding grounds looking immaculate.
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRS
This season 21 teams entered in the pairs qualifying event played under very hot and humid conditions on Saturday 13 January. At the end of the day’s play 11 teams gained the required 2 or 3 wins to qualify. Those gaining a third-round win to qualify included Simon Gao and Chris Hand (15-14) over Bob Louden and Greg Dowdell, Mike Savage and Bill De Graff, Eddie Jones and Allan Danbrook, Dave Cowley and Graeme Lewis.
Post section play on Sunday saw 5 teams with byes to the quarter finals with the other 6 teams needing to win to gain that status. This saw Lex Calder and Paul Blitvic stage a remarkable comeback win 19-17 again Kevin Beasley and Clinton Smithy after been behind 6-17 with 6 ends to play. Other wins were Kevin Hurren and Wade Brealey 15-12 over Richard Ludbrook and Paul Hickey, Simon and Chris 16-13 over Mike and Bill.
In the quarter finals Bruce Hickman and Bruce Fenton won 18-7 over first year players Dave and Graeme, Doug Suurmond and Rio Bond 15-11 over Hans and Pax Vermeulen, Lex and Paul 21 – 18 over Eddie Jones and Allan Danbrook, Lex and Paul 21-18 over Eddie and Allan, Simon Chris 17-8 over Kevin and Wade.
Now to the semi finals. One match saw Bruce and Bruce overcome Doug and Rio 20-13 with Bruce Hickman playing some telling bowls, none more so when down 5 shots on the 16 end only to draw the shot with his last bowl! In the other semi-final junior bowlers Simon and Chris outlasted the veteran duo of Lex and Paul 17-13.
We now have the final to look forward too with Bruce and Bruce to play the junior combination of Simon and Chris. The plan is to play this on either late on a Friday afternoon or there is possibility that it will be played on Waitangi Day the 6 February dependant on championship singles results.
Thank you to all the players who co-operated and adhered with the playing conditions.
Warwick Alexander, Convenor
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP TRIPLES
The draws for both the Men’s and Women’s Championships for Day 1, Saturday 16 December, are published below. They are also on the Photo Gallery page, which is accessed through the Members’ Menu.
Ladies Open Triples Draw
Men’s Open Triples Draw
INTERCLUB 2023 RESULTS
We had 42 club members out playing each week and a total of 51 members played over the 3 weeks.
MEN’S PREMIER
Our team, which had 5 player changes from last year, had a great first 2 weeks and were leading after 6 of the 9 rounds but, unfortunately, things didn’t go so well in week 3. Overall, they finished 5th out of the 10 teams, winning 5 of their 9 matches and winning 14 individual games of the 27 games played.
MEN’S DIVISION 1
Our team suffered, as 4 players who had played in 1st Division last year had been promoted to Premier Division this year. Overall, they finished 8th out of the 10 teams, winning 2 of their 9 matches and winning 12 individual games of the 27 played. They did well in the individual games, but not in the combinations, to win the match points.
MEN’S DIVISION 2
Our team finished 4th out of the 9 teams, winning 6 of their 8 matches and winning 12 ½ individual games of the 24 played. A very pleasing result!
WOMEN’S PENNANT TEAM
Our team came 7th out of the 10 teams, winning 5 of their 9 matches (including beating Carlton Cornwall Gold) and winning 12 ½ individual games of the 27 played. We had the same number of match points as the teams who came 4th, 5th and 6th, so there were only 3 teams who had more match points than our team.
Five members of the Women’s Pennant team were 1-5 year players, including 1st, 2nd and 3rd year players. A wonderful effort!
AC HALF DAY SIXES
Our team came 3rd out of the 7 teams, winning 8 of their 12 matches. There were a number of player changes each week, so the result was very pleasing!
It was great that so many of our club members played in this year’s Interclub, so thank you to everyone who participated!
And, very importantly, a big “Thank you” to the team managers (Bruce Hickman, Clive Cockle, Danny Belsham, Rosemary Ackerley and Gary Finnemore), who ensured that all team members were informed of the playing details and transport arrangements.
Warwick Alexander
Richard Ludbrook
MEN’S VETERAN SINGLES
The Men’s Veteran Singles were played on 7 and 14 November using the 2 win format to advance to Post Section format. 18 entries were played in 3 sections of 6 players. The first three rounds were played on Day 1 with players playing two matches and marking one round. There were five qualifiers at the end of Day 1: Paul Tindill, Kevin Dumper, Clive Cockle, Bruce Hickman and Iain Thomas.
Day 2 saw the the final round of qualifying round with Tony Mitchinson, Terry Nash, Bob Louden and Brian Jago also added to the qualifiers list.
With nine qualifiers, the first round of Post Section play saw Bob Louden beat Iain Thomas and the eight quarter finalists decided. In the final round of the day Tony Mitchinson beat Paul Tindill, Bruce Hickman beat Terry Nash, Kevin Dumper beat Brian Jago, and Bob Louden beat Clive Cockle to reach the semifinals.
The semi-finals and the Final will be played on Tuesday 21 November starting at 1.30 pm
WOMEN’S VETERAN SINGLES
This event was played on November 7 but with only two entries.Linda Mirabelli beat Val Lott 20-3 and thus won the trophy.
Congratulations toLinda Mirabelli.
MIXED 2-4-2 PAIRS
The mixed pairs 2-4-2 champs were held over the weekend of 4th & 5th November. We had a lucky break in the weather after a real down pour on the day before this event. With hard work from Paul, our greenkeeper, we were still able to start on the grass greens on the Saturday morning. Twenty-five teams turned up for the qualifying rounds and with fifteen end games taking about two and a half hours, it was a full on day to find the fourteen teams that made it through to the post section rounds played on the Sunday. There were several very close matches played in near perfect conditions on the best grass greens in Auckland. None were closer than the match between Neil Fisher & Barbara Schlumf playing Brian Jago & Glennis Davey. There were great shots played by both teams and with the result one different on the 15th end, the end was killed. This happened a couple more times before Brian and Glennis finished victorious. The wind got up a bit as the day’s play progressed and we eventually got to our two finalists. These are the teams of Kevin Beasley & Dana Taylor and Bob Louden & Annie Hsu. This final has yet to be played. From the feedback from players, this mixed format is very popular, and the games were all played in a good friendly spirit.
Click this link for Post Section results: mixed pairs 2 4 2 post section
Bob Louden, Convenor.
HOSPICE BOX DONATION
A big thank you from Hospice for the $403.70 from our Hospice Box donations. Thank you to all our members who donated to join the Summer League, and to the smaller number of you who paid their dues for a wrong bias delivery.
MEN’S HANDICAP SINGLES
A field of 26 players entered this year’s Men’s 2023 Handicap Singles championship over the weekend of 28/29 October, on our superb grass greens, sunny and dry on day 1 for qualifying but extremely blustery north easterlies on day two for post section with major storm conditions threatening by nightfall.
The playing group included a pleasing 12 Juniors with some very tight games throughout the qualifying rounds and resulting in 13 making it to post section knock out on Sunday. After bye rounds were completed, the following players reached the quarter final draw: Kevin Beasley v Eddie Jones, Mark Andrews (J) v Kevin Hurren, Wade Brealey (J) v Graeme Thomson, Chris Hand (J) v Bruce Hickman
As the wind grew stronger and the rink lines got wider, these guys battled it out with Kevin B taking out Eddie by 1, Wade doing the same to Graeme, Kevin H just a tad better against Mark, and Bruce just making it against Chris by 2 after an extra end was needed in a nail biter.
The semis proved just as challenging with Kevin B outgunning his namesake Kevin H 13-8 while Bruce held off Wade by a similar margin.
Congratulations go to Kevin Beasley and Bruce Hickman in reaching the final to be played on a date yet to be firmed up.
A big thank you goes especially to all the markers who willingly made themselves available to help out, in some cases more than 1 game, and those who assisted with setting up the greens in trying conditions for both them and the players.
Bruce Hickman – Convenor
WOMEN’S HANDICAP SINGLES
With a field of 8 enthusiastic players, this competition which has not been held for many years, took to the green on a fine but rather windy Saturday. After the first two rounds three players had secured their places in Post Section play, with the number of qualifiers increasing to four after the final round of the day.
In strong and gusty wind conditions, the first round of Post Section saw Dana Taylor playing Hannah Dawson. Hannah quickly gained an early lead to be 15-11 at the half way point.However Dana fought back in the latter half of the match, with the final score being 21-19 to Hannah.In the other semifinal match, the scoring was very even, with Ting Ting Ip and Lea tied 7-7 half way through the match, 14-14 after 15 ends, before Lea edged ahead to win the match 16-15.
The final match between Lea and Hannah was tied at 8-8 after 7 ends. In the 8th end Lea increased her score to 11-8. With more close ends, many of which required measuring to sort out the score, Lea slowly edged away to win the final 19-12.
Congratulations to Women’s Handicap Singles winner, Lea Hooper, and to the runner-up, Hannah Dawson.
MEN’S HANDICAP PAIRS
On Saturday 21 October 2023, 13 teams contested the qualifying round of the Handicaps Pairs. Fortunately, while the weather threatened, play was able to be completed on our natural greens. After the three rounds there were 7 qualifiers. On Sunday in the post section Clive Cockle and Kevin Hooper had the bye. Graeme Thomson with first year partner Wade Brealey won against Lex Calder and Hamish Nicholls, Gary Finnemore and Simeon Gao won against Iain Thomas and Brian Jago, Rio Bond and Rod Sadgrove won against Danny Belsham and Doug Suurmond. On to the semi finals with Graeme’s team beating Clive’s team and Rio’s team beating Gary’s team.
Into the final with Graeme/Wade getting off to an early lead of 10-0 but Rio/Rod fought back securing 5 shots at one point with Graeme’s last bowl slipping through the head. From there they were able to hold on for a close win on the 15 and last end.
Congratulations to Rio Bond and Rod Sadgrove, and to runners up Graeme Thomson and Wade Brealey.
To Convenor Clive Cockle (who stepped in at late notice) with assistance from Kevin Hurren and Kevin Dumper, a big thank you.
NEWS FROM AUCKLAND BOWLS
Auckland Bowls has been gearing up for the new season and its Roll Up campaign. This includes a recently held Media Day, an investment in Radio ads in the fortnight 26 September to 8 October, and digital ads targeting the 30-50 age group (26 September-15 October).
To coincide with the campaign, they have a new web address rollup.co.nz.
LION FOUNDATION GRANT
The club wishes to thank The Lion Foundation for the grant of $7,000 towards the cost of employing our greenkeeper. This will help us to maintain our grass greens to a very high standard and we are the envy of most other clubs in Auckland and New Zealand.
GRANT FROM BLUE WATERS COMMUNITY TRUST
The club is delighted to advise that the BlueWaters Community Trust has made a grant of $18,000 towards the cost of purchasing eight bowls shelters for “E” green. The assembling of the shelters will be undertaken by our club members on a voluntary basis under the supervision of Rod Sadgrove. These new shelters will protect our bowlers from the elements, and provide a comfortable playing environment.
COGS MANUKAU GRANT
The club is delighted to receive a grant of $2,848 from Community Organisation Grants Scheme Manukau (COGS) towards the cost of our operational expenditure for the next year. This grant will help us to meet our overheads in what will be a challenging financial environment.
HOWICK BOWLING CLUB IS LOOKING FOR A CLUB MANAGER
This is a newly created, exciting role aimed at assisting the Club to achieve its vision of being the ‘heart of the community’.
It’s a full-time role with flexible hours, which will include a level of weekend commitment due to the nature of bowling club activities.
If your skills include…
– a real passion for getting people active and knowledge of the benefits of sport
– previous experience in a community sporting or small business setting
– outstanding organisation and time management skills & ability to relate well to people at all levels
… this may be the role for you.
APPLY HERE… https://www.seek.co.nz/job/68923873
FIRST YEAR SINGLES
The First Year Singles were played over 2 weekends in May & June. There was some outstanding bowling from all 13, which is a tribute to their enthusiasm and the coaching they have enjoyed.
Photos are on the website Gallery and our club Facebook page.
MIXED PAIRS CHAMPIONSHIPS
The final of the 2-4-2 Mixed Pairs Championship was played today between Annie Hsu & Bob Louden and Linda Fenton & Richard Ludbrook.
In a closely fought match Linda & Richard came out the winners 13-10 and were presented with the Pro Masters Trophy.
This is the first year that this event has been played and it proved popular with members with 20 teams entering.
See the Gallery for photos.
RESTHAVEN FUNERALS $4700 CLASSIC FOURS TOURNAMENT AT HOWICK
Howick Bowling Club again ran their annual classic fours this week, sponsored by Howick’s RESTHAVE FUNERALS, where sixteen teams of fours from various Auckland clubs enjoyed two great sunny days of great bowls played on superb grass greens, with all enjoying catch-ups with bowling friends and the clubs catering.
Day One’s 8 best qualifiers played off on Day Two in the first division, whilst the balance played off in the plate.
FIRST DIVISION
Ist place: Neil Fisher, Ian Fisher, Bryan Chapman, Gary Cotton – 15 points & 32 ends
2nd place: Brett Proffitt, Donny Faifua, Mark Hall, Frankie Lim – 12 points & 32 ends
3rd place: Warwick Alexander, Richard Ludbrook, Tere Brenton, M Hadrup – 12 points & 28 ends
CONSULATION PLATE
Ist place: Iain Thomas, Clive Cockle, Peter Roylance, Carol Barr – 18 points & 38 ends
2nd place: Eddie Jones, Lana Dowdell, Noeline Sadgrove, Rod Sadgrove – 12 points and 29 ends
3rd place: Bob Louden, Greg Dowdell, Linda Mirabelli, Annie Hsu – 10points and 29 ends.
Thanks to all who organised and contributed to this enjoyable and successful event.
Library
Please take books to read and when returned please add the date and leave in the basket….do not put them back on the shelves. We like to know whether books have been read as we need to cull those not used in our twice yearly sort out.
The jigsaws are now located in the back room behind the bar.
Check Back Here For Upcoming Social Events
No events currently pending. As the season progresses and events become imminent we will give you the option of registering for these events by completing a registration form that will appear when you click on the Registration Button below.