Bowls: Swiss cream NZers in bowls 'test'

The New Zealand and Swiss curling teams in action at the North East Valley bowling green in...
The New Zealand and Swiss curling teams in action at the North East Valley bowling green in Dunedin yesterday. Pictured (from left) are Heinz Kneubuehler, Peter Becker, Pierre Zuercher, John Sanders, Richard Morgan, David Greer and Nelson Ede. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
Swiss curler Fritz Pulfer is a natural. He had never played bowls before yesterday but he took to it like a duck to water.

Pulfer (53), a restaurant manager from Berne, skipped the Swiss triples combination that thrashed the Zealand curling team 11-1 in an unofficial bowls test at the North East Valley green in Dunedin yesterday. None of the Swiss team had played bowls before.

Pulfer impressed former international and zone six regional bowls officer Jim Scott, who gave the Swiss and New Zealand teams a brief lesson in the game before they started.

"Its unbelievable. He's just latched on to the game," Scott said.

"It's amazing how he picked up the weight so quickly. That is the hardest part to learn when starting to play bowls."

The Swiss team had heard about bowls, but only one of them had seen it played, on television.

They were keen to try it out and a game was arranged against the New Zealand team.

Pulfer has been curling since 1984 but he had never seen bowls played before.

"I found it easy," he said.

"I would like to play bowls in Switzerland and take the green back home with me."

There are no bowling greens or bowling clubs in Switzerland. The sport is rarely played outside Commonwealth countries.

The Swiss team also impressed Scott's brother, Terry, a Bowls New Zealand selector and greenkeeper at North East Valley.

"None of them have played before and I'm amazed how they have adapted so quickly" Terry Scott said.

Curling has been called bowls on ice and there are similarities between the two games.

Peter Becker, the skip of the New Zealand curling team, also skipped the bowls triples combination in a team with John Sanders and David Greer.

But he failed to adapt his weight and sent several bowls into the ditch.

"When I put my hand on the bowl I thought it was a curling rock and put too much weight on it," he said.

He ended the game with the disapproval of his team-mates when his final drive took out a New Zealand bowl.

Daniel Gruenenfelder (60), a retired banker, started badly by sending his first bowl down on the wrong bias.

But he was a quick learner, adapted his game and was soon drawing the shot.

Andre Pauli (57), the skip of the Swiss curling team, proved an astute bowler by drawing several shots to the head to put pressure on the New Zealand team.

The New Zealand pairs combination of Nelson Ede and Richard Morgan performed better but still lost their game 4-2 to the Swiss team of Heinz Kneubuehler and Pierre Zuercher.

Morgan, a former Otago rugby representative, was a promising bowler in the 1990s when he won three Central Otago titles.

It was not a good day for the New Zealand men because they also lost the curling match to Switzerland 7-4.

It was an unofficial test yesterday but the New Zealand bowls team has played two official tests at the North East Valley green, against Australia and Ireland.

"We are always keen for people from other sports to use our facilities and try their hand at bowls," Terry Scott said.

"We had a visit from the Highlanders earlier this year."

 

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