The high-performing Bay four of Dan Dickison, Alvin Gardiner, Dave Jones and Terry Leadbetter were in cruise control over a long, tiring week in capturing the 120^th Taranaki Open Men’s championship in New Plymouth.

They were challenged but they were never flustered, and each player did their job to hold on to some commanding leads and victories.

It was the sixth time a Bay four has won the prestigious tournament that this time attracted 180 teams. For Dickison, it was his second triumph, having followed the same track with Tauranga clubmates Steve Hughes, Lance Tasker and John O’Shea in 2021.

Dickison, Gardiner (Tauranga), Jones (Taupo) and Leadbetter (Tauranga South) had one hiccup, losing their second qualifying match to Plimmerton’s David Wright 19-31. Apart from that, it was pretty much plain sailing.

They won their other 25-end qualifying games 42-6, 29-19, 31-8, 32-22, 25-8 and 30-6.  

In the post-section, Dickison’s side beat Joe Hunn (Kia Toa) 26-11 in the last 32, and two Auckland teams Brendon Walton. Kevin Beasley, Ian Dee, Dean Edge 26-21 in the last 16; and Gavin Brown, Steve Fisher, Daryl Mackie, Dave Weir 24-16 in the quarter-finals.

The Bay side had high-octane starts in the semi-final and final and never let up. Whenever there was a sniff of an opposition comeback, Gardiner or Dickison snuffed it out with telling bowls.

They led 12-2 after seven ends and 18-7 after 12 in the semi-final against local favourities Scott and John Roberts, Kelly Hill and Mark Kuklinski. The Bay four did drop threes on the 11th, 13^th and 18^th ends for Roberts to claw back to 21-15, but that was as close as it got. The Dickison crew powered on to win 28-19.

The final was transferred onto the trickier indoor surface at the Paritutu club because of rain, but that didn’t stop Dickison, Gardiner, Jones and Leadbetter from marching on.

Incredibly, they led 15-0 after six ends, picking up a four on the 5^th, against Nelson’s Dave Walker, Graham Growcott, Mike Dickie and Chris Alldred who were contesting their 14^th successive match – playing the eight qualifying matches unbeaten and having no respite with a bye in the first round of post-section.

Walker’s side fought hard to pick up a five on the 9^th end and draw closer at 9-15. But that was as close as they got. Dickison’s team collected five shots themselves on the 12^th end to lead 23-10.

The margin increased to 31-11 with a four on the 16^th end and then narrowed to 32-22 when Walker picked up four shots on the 21^st end. But the Bay four finished off a fine tournament with twos over the final two ends to win 36-22 and claim the JJ Goodwin Memorial Trophy.

The Bay winners at the Taranaki Open Men’s Fours are:

2025: Dickison, Gardiner, Jones, Leadbetter

2021: Dickison, Hughes, Tasker, O’Shea

2010: Iain Dalton, John Bush, Merv Gibbons, Tom Fisher (Tauranga South)

1991: T.A. Wilson, P.M. Black, I.M. MacDougall, J.A. Reid (Te Puke)

1973: M.G. (Mate) Borich, G. Grouch, E. Thorburn, A. Willis (Mount Maunganui)

1962: J. W. Rowe, W.H. Pitts, F.J. McLaughlin, G.A. Hansen (Tauranga).

Article added: Wednesday 29 January 2025