The women’s qualifying rounds started in Te Puke. There was great feedback on the way the greens played and some strong performances. Notably by Sue Hodges of the Tauranga Domain, only conceding 19 shots over three games. 12players eventually qualifying for post section.
At the men’s it was an incredibly hard-fought competition with some giants falling and new up and coming bowlers coming through. Of note great performances by Luiz del Monte of Omokoroa and Regan Williams from Te Puke, both qualifying for post section.
Post section for men and women at Mount Maunganui started off with very trying conditions. While the greens were great as usual the wind and rain tested many of the players. There were two amazing match ups first up with Debbie White playing Sue Hodges that ended up an epic match with White pipping it 21-20. In the mens’ event it was a returning Kevin Maxfield with incredible accuracy of drives and game winning draws that overcome the masterful Mike Staite 21-18.
In the women’s event there was an amazing comeback by Jean Morris, from being 14-1 down against Mount local Raewyn Willis, to win 21-20. While it was newcomer Karen Hema of Te Puke making inroads into the local competition by first taking out up and coming CaitlinThomson 21-8, then Debbie White 21-20 and finally comeback queen Morris 21-4 to reach the final. On the other side of the draw, it was a quietly confident Angela Stephen of Omokoroa, that put away another local hopeful Lynne Bodger21-17 before toppling Vini Smith for a second time in the competition 21-14, to also reach the final .
In the men’s draw Scott Ivimey of Arawa carried on his last season’s Champ of Champ form to reach the semi finals, overcoming Sean Armstrong 21-0 and a fast-finishing Lance Hoete 21-18. Recent club singles champ, Eric Pattillo, will face Ivimey in one semi-final after beating John Gray in a game of two halves 21-15, and then an extremely accurate Grant Turner, who had 18 touchers in his quarter final performance. On the other side of the draw, it was young Anthony Ouellet from Tauranga South that showed great perseverance against both Robbie Geerlings 21-19 and the hard driving Paul Anderson 21-14. Then it was Nick Tomsett playing with great weight control pushing jacks and drawing with pinpoint accuracy that beat both Tauranga South hopefuls Frank Aldridge 21-15 and Dennis Duncan 21-20 in two real nail biters.
The shot of the tournament came from Paul Anderson pulling out an amazing drive against Cliff Webber to go from potentially losing the game to winning it. The crowd erupted into a roar with astonishment and amazement, with many asking for a replay.
Unfortunately, after such riveting action we will need to wait for future results as the weather caved in and eventually stopped play, leaving the women’s final and men’s semifinal & final matches to be completed at a later date.