Veteran defies odds
Ken Walker has done it again. The veteran Dunedin bowler has defied the odds and won the Trans Tasman PBA singles title.
Walker once again proved he can beat the best young bowlers in Australia and New Zealand.
''It shouldn't happen but it is happening and is good for my soul,'' a proud Walker admitted on his return to Dunedin.
''At my age I don't win everything and it can tend to dent my confidence a bit. But my confidence rises dramatically when I get a result like this. I'm on a roll.''
Walker played a key role when New Zealand beat Australia 2-1 in a hard-fought team final. The annual event started six years ago and New Zealand and Australia each have three wins.
Craig Merrilees (Southland) was the other New Zealand winner in the three-game team final when he beat David Holt 11-6, 7-8, 2-1. Ray Pearce (Australia) beat Duane White (Dunedin) 6-9, 7-2, 2-1.
Walker also won the Trans Tasman Challenge individual final in 2012 and was runner-up in 2010.
New Zealand bowlers have won the individual title five times. The other winners are Murray Glassey (Hawkes Bay) in 2013 and 2014 and Raika Gregory (Hamilton).
''It was such a thrill and I'm chuffed with myself to walk away with the gold medal.''
Twist, the world junior singles champion in 2011, is vying for a spot in the Australian team for next year's World Bowls in Christchurch.
Walker and Twist are the only bowlers to have played in the Trans Tasman PBA Challenge six times.
The other members of the Australian PBA team have also played for Australia in the outdoor game. They were Des Cann, Ray Pearse, David Holt and Aron Wilson.
Holt (48), a former English international who shifted to Australia 12 years ago, was the oldest member of the Australian team.
The remainder are aged in their 20s or early 30s.
Merrilees' performance in Sydney has gained him the fifth spot in the New Zealand team for next year's PBA Challenge. The other team members are Walker, Glassey, Rob Ashton (Auckland) and Andy McLean (Dunedin).
Ka-ching, ka-ching
Cabramatta has three greens and is one of the richest bowling clubs in Australia. Australian team member Ray Pearse is the bowls co-ordinator at the club.
The Cabramatta Bowls and Recreation Club has 145 gaming machines and in one day made a record $A89,000 ($NZ97,000) net profit.
It has an elite bowls team that includes former New Zealand world champion Rowan Brassey.
Other New Zealand representatives who have played for the club include Dunedin's Paul Girdler (now bowls co-ordinator at Tweed Heads), Russell Meyer, Peter Belliss and Matt Gallop.
Last season the club paid out $900,000 in bonuses to its elite premier league team.
Only half of the green was sheltered from the weather during the PBA Challenge.
Warm-up events
Before travelling to Australia, the New Zealand team played in the Victoria Bowling Club's invitation pairs at Wellington. Merrilees and Glassey finished fifth-equal in the main event and Walker and White were first-equal in the plate.
While in Australia they played in the Cabramatta club's $20,000 City Masters Singles in a 96-strong field that included internationals Brassey, Ryan Bester (Canada) and the Australian test side for the Asia and Pacific Championships that will be held in Christchurch in November.
White and manager Richard Corry reached the final 16 and Merrilees beat Ben Glasson (Australia) 21-20 to reach the quarterfinals and earn $750. He lost to Twist in the next round.
French polish
Daniel French (Green Island) won a record fifth Bowler of the Year title at the Otago Indoor Bowls Association awards dinner on Saturday night.
French, who started playing with the small bowls at the age of 14, won his first award in 2009. He also won in 2010 and from 2013 to 2015.
The Kevin and Ainslie Brosnan Otago Indoor Bowler of the Year Trophy is awarded annually to the bowler who accumulates the most points over 10 events.
Ray Webster won the first award in 1985 and also won the trophy in 1991.
Three bowlers have won the trophy four times: Grant l'Ami, Garry Flewitt and Ross Garner.
French (30), a Dunedin painter, won the Otago singles and the men's champion of champions singles and has now won 17 centre titles.
He beat Kristin Gould (Brockville) 12-7 in the champion of champions singles.
French won the trophy with 53 points and was followed by Green Island team-mate Lyn Rance with 48 points.
Rance won the champion of champions pairs with Max Grey and the women's champion of champions singles when she beat Stephanie Darrett (Kew) 10-7.
Rance started indoor bowls in 1989 and has now won 18 Otago titles and is ranked fourth-equal on the Otago table for most wins behind Garry Flewitt on 32, Bob Cowan on 22 and Kevin Darling on 20.
She is the top female and is followed by Carolyn Crawford with 15 titles. Rance has also won 19 Bowls Dunedin outdoor titles and is fourth on the all-time list.
A fifth Otago centre title and gold stars were gained by Wakari bowlers David Webb, Brandon Williams and Bill van der Hoek in the champion of champions fours. John Williams was the other team member.
Wakari beat Ann Cottrell, Chris Moffit, Bev Paterson and Kevin Brosnan (Burnside) 10-6. Craig Cowan (Henley) won his eighth Otago title and his third for the season in the champion of champions triples with Raewyn Black and Allan Gillespie. They beat French, Rance and Daniel Sinclair (Green Island) 10-9.
Cowan's daughter, Tracey van Tuel, and Black both won their first Otago titles this winter and ended with two titles each.
For a good cause
The 20th annual Dunedin Kittyhawks charity outdoor bowls tournament will be held at the Taieri and Fairfield greens on November 1. Funds from the tournament will be donated to Camp Quality to help children with cancer. More than $100,000 has been raised in the last 20 years.
The event was started by Stan Seear, Ken Walker and Maurice Friend. Geoff Hanna has been president of the Dunedin Kittyhawks for the past nine years.
The event is open to unregistered bowlers and entries should be sent to Patsy Hanna, telephone 453-4565 or emailed to geoff.hanna@xtra.co.nz.
