Major milestone
Lyn Rance (Green Island) achieved a significant milestone when she won her 20th Bowls Dunedin outdoor title this month.
She is only the fourth female bowler to win 20 centre titles. The list is headed by Carolyn Crawford 25, Gaynor Reid 24, Doreen Bell 21 and Rance 20.
Rance was skip when the Green Island team of Dianne Jackson, Karen Lobb and Gaynor Todd won the champion of champions fours.
It took Rance two years to add the 20th title after winning the same event in 2014.
‘‘I'm over the moon,'' she said.
‘‘I'm very excited about it.''
She started playing outdoor bowls in 1992 and was only a third-year bowler when she won her first centre title in the pairs with Faye Cosgrove in 1995.
Rance won her fifth centre title and gold star in the pairs with Cosgrove in 2001.
The fifth title was special because she joined her mother, Phyl Reynolds, as the only mother and daughter to win gold stars in Dunedin bowls.
‘‘Mum was at the green watching us when we got it. It was a very emotional time,'' Rance said.
It was the second Bowls Dunedin title for Todd and Jackson and the third for Lobb.
Rance also retained her veteran champion of champions singles title.
Rance is also talented at indoor bowls. She started using the small 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 32, Bob Cowan 22 and Kevin Darling 20.
She is the top female and is followed by Carolyn Crawford with 15 titles.
And another
The other significant milestone of the month came in South Otago when Eileen Grant (Clutha Valley) won the champion of champions singles and triples to add a sixth bar to her gold star.
Grant now heads the women's table in South Otago with 35 titles and is followed by Wynette McLachlan (33) and Christine King (31).
The other members of the triples team were Avis Rishworth, who won her 12th title, and Margaret Halder her 10th and a bar for her gold star.
Grant is also talented with small bowls and has represented New Zealand in transtasman clashes in indoor bowls.
Family affair
It has been a successful month for the Sanders family, as Bob Sanders and Jamie Nicol (Stirling) won the open pairs title. It was the second centre title for Nicol.
But this performance was eclipsed by Bob's wife, Janet Sanders, who won her first title in the open singles.
Bruce Campbell (South Otago Town and Country) won his fourth South Otago title in the champion of champion's singles.
Sandy McNoe (Milton) won his second title of the season and his third overall in the open triples. The other members of the team were Brian Cowley and Alan Philip.
Wanaka to foreWanaka, the largest club in Otago with a membership of 160, made its mark on the competitive stage in Central Otago over the past month by winning two centre titles.
The team of Tom Malcolm, Colin Nyenhuis and Simon Nyhof won the champion of champions triples and added Lowel Croft to the team to win the champion of champions fours.
Malcolm won his 10th centre title and a bar to his gold star and Nyhof his eighth. The big upset came in the champion of champions men's singles in which Ewan Kirk (Ranfurly) beat Bill Clements (Alexandra) to win his first centre title.
Betty Corcoran won her fifth title and gold star when Cromwell won the women's champion of champions triples. The other team members were Margaret Bishop and Ngaire Jones, who both won their first centre titles.
Queenstown continued its domination of women's events in Central Otago when Christine Buchanan beat Linley O'Callaghan (Alexandra) 21-15 in the champion of champions singles.
She also played a key role when Queenstown won the champion of champions fours. It was the 29th title for Margaret O'Connor, the eighth for Jane Anderson, the 13th for Debra Lloyd and 19th for Buchanan.
Great Scott
It has been a good month for Sarah Scott (North East Valley), who won her first centre title in the champion of champions triples with Dale Bourke and Shona Mann and her second in the champion of champions pairs with Rachael McDowell.
It was the first Dunedin title for Bourke and McDowell. Bourke, the New Zealand fours champion in 2010, had won nine Nelson titles before shifting south. It was the second title for Mann.
Scott, the daughter of former international Terry Scott, had her first taste of international bowls with the New Zealand development team in the transtasman series.
Walker still a force
Ken Walker (Taieri) is back on the scoreboard. The transtasman PBA champion won his 32nd Bowls Dunedin title in the champion of champions triples. He won his previous title five years ago.
It was the first title for Gerry Butler and the second for Allan Swallow, whose wife Janet has won 14 Bowls Dunedin women's titles.
Walker, who lost the champion of champions singles final to former international Shaun Scott (North East Valley) 21-17, has been runner-up four times in the last five years. It was the 10th title for Scott.
Drought broken
It was the end of a long wait for Pam McLennan (Fairfield) when she beat Heather Turner (Mosgiel RSA) 21-14 to claim her second Bowls Dunedin title. Her first was in the open singles 15 years ago in 2001.
Peter Wilson (Forbury Park) won his fifth centre title and gold star when Fairfield won the champion of champions fours. The Kaikorai pair of Craig McCaw and Geoff Wilson (Kaikorai) beat the star-studded team of Andy McLean and Mike Kernaghan (North East Valley) 19-9 in the final of the champion of champions pairs. It was the 14th title for Wilson and the seventh for McCaw.
Like father, like son
Bruce Kelly (Phoenix), inspired by the performances of his son, Andrew Kelly, in the transtasman and Six Nations international events in Christchurch, beat Bill Kingan (Awamoa) 21-19 in the North Otago champion of champions singles final. He also won the Jack Collins pairs with Merv Loper.
The Phoenix combination of Brenda Hope, Sue Jones, Ruth Bradfield and Marie Guthrie won the women's champion of champions fours and Awamoa's Annie McDonald beat Phoenix's Gail Douglas 21-14 in the champion of champions singles to win her eighth North Otago title.
Experienced official
Experienced umpire Joan Wilson (Middlemarch) officiated at the transtasman and Six Nations events in Christchurch.
She became an international umpire in 2007 and officiated, along with Michael Ayres, at the Asia Pacific Championships in 2007, World Bowls in 2008, World Championship Singles in 2013 and 2014, and Asia-Pacific in 2015.
The honours
Centre title milestones
35: Eileen Grant (South Otago) record.
32: Ken Walker (Dunedin).
29: Margaret O'Connor (Central Otago).
20: Lyn Rance (Dunedin).
10 (bar for gold star): Tom Malcolm (Central Otago), Shaun Scott (Dunedin), Margaret Halder (South Otago).
Five (gold star): Betty Corcoran (Central Otago), Peter Wilson (Dunedin).
One (first title): Janet Sanders (South Otago), Margaret Bishop (Central Otago), Ngaire Jones (Central Otago), Ewan Kirk (Central Otago), Dale Bourke (Dunedin), Sarah Scott (Dunedin), Gerry Butler (Dunedin), Rachael McDowall (Dunedin).
