Bowls: Master skip carries novice to title

Lyn Bevin is a master skip and she proved it by carrying a novice bowler to her first centre title.

The Andersons Bay combination of Carolyn West, Malia Tavite, Malia Ellison and Bevin beat Faye Cosgrove (Green Island) 23-6 in a one-sided final of the Bowls Dunedin open fours recently.

It was the 10th centre title for Bevin and added a bar to her gold star.

Bevin (59), who first played bowls in 1990, won her first title in the open fours two years later in a team skipped by wily veteran Lorraine Swanson, who has also won 10 centre titles.

That team included Gaynor Reid who holds the record of 24 Bowls Dunedin women's titles.

It took another 10 years for Bevin to reach the next milestone by winning her fifth title and a gold star.

That time, her team beat Dawn Bell (St Clair) who is second on the all-time Dunedin women's list with 21 titles.

Bevin won three more titles in 2004, was named Otago women's bowler of the year, and came closer to the next milestone of 10 titles.

But it took another six years to reach the target.

"I've spent more time looking after my grandchildren and have not played a lot of bowls over the last few years," Bevin said.

Bevin has always been good at sport and represented Marlborough at hockey when she was in the air force at Blenheim.

It gave Bevin a lot of satisfaction to have West, a first-year bowler, as lead.

"She only joined the club in October," Bevin said.

"She led superbly."

West is the daughter of Zenda West, a stalwart of the Milton club and a South Otago zone representative.

It is unusual for a first-year bowler to win an open centre title, but unheard of to achieve the feat with just two months' competitive experience.

"Carolyn is business manager and was a member of the fire services team that played in the Andersons Bay fun bowls nights in March," Bevin said.

Five members of the Dunedin Fire Brigade joined the Andersons Bay Bowling Club this season.

Tavite and Ellison, two bowlers born in Tonga, also won their first Bowls Dunedin titles.

Ellison (54), who has been playing bowls for 11 years, made her debut as a singles player in the Bowls Dunedin representative team this season.

The former schoolteacher emigrated to Dunedin in 1982.

Ellison proved there is a place for women in professional bowls when she reached the semifinals of the world championship qualifying singles in Dunedin three years ago.

It was the best performance in a New Zealand PBA event by a female bowler at that time.

Tavite (40), a caregiver, has been playing bowls for five years.

She emigrated to Dunedin 18 years ago.