? Celebrating Petone?s sporting legacy
Home-grown bowls champions
Over the holiday break the National Bowls Championship brought some scorching hot contests to the Lower Hutt, even if the weather refused to play its part. A home-grown 4?s final between two composite teams, made up of players from Eastbourne, Stokes Valley and Johnsonville, made the competition a complete local success. ?It?s really good for the clubs, you have thousands of people coming to the city, and our greens were well received. ?It?s not too bad for Eastbourne, the Stokes Valley boys that won the 4?s played here last year ? that gave a bit of an edge to the match,? says Eastbourne Bowls Club president Paul Everitt. Eastbourne Bowls member Gary Lawson also won the pairs title. At Woburn Bowls Club five days of top-class play was well attended and secretary Mark Reid says the event was an unqualified success. ?For our club it was awesome, we really turned it on catering for food and having bar staff working away. ?Financially we did well across the bar, which is the main source of income for most clubs,? says Mr Reid. A memorable moment was when many of the county?s best players gathered at the club, such as former singles champion Tony Gramthem and former world champion Gary Lawson. ?The highlight for me was sitting at a table with all these top players, it was great, and they are just really genuine, nice blokes. ?It?s great for the game and for Hutt City that the winners came from here,? Mr Reid says. Petone Central Bowls Club selector Paddy Breslin says the tournament was ?tremendous? for the club. ?It was good not just for the bowlers, but all the supporters, we had to feed 112 bowlers a day here. ?The standard of bowls was very good, they are not here for a holiday, and for the younger one is was a great experience,? says Mr Breslin.
