Ngongotaha continued its recent domination of the Bay fours championships when PK Tamehana, Lillie McGregor, Sue Crackett and Kath Nepe (pictured right) captured the champion of champions title on the indoor green at the Tauranga South club.

After beating Omokoroa’s Ruth Lynch, Sue Hodges, Rachelle Morrison and Doris Agnew 15-11 in the final, Ngongotaha has now won five of the last six fours championships – spreading them amongst 13 players.

Charlene Beckett, Janet Barnard, Janine Potroz and Mere Eden won the open fours earlier this season. Beckett and Eden also combined with Mina Paul and Huia Ratana to win the open fours in the 2023/24 season, and Wendy Green, Lynette McIntosh, Paul and Ratana took out the champion of champions fours.

Tamehana, Leoni Renata, Crackett and Ratana collected the open fours in the 2022/23 season.

“Sure, we have strong women’s players,” said McGregor, the former club president. “We are knitted together, always encouraging and building each other up even when it’s club champs.

“We support each other and win or lose we go out and enjoy it and have some fun,” she said.

Fun they had when the Tamehana-skipped side led 10-0 after five ends of the final against Omokoroa. But the Ngongotaha team had to knuckle down as Omokoroa staged a comeback from 3-13 after eight ends.

The Lynch-skipped side picked up a three, two and three singles to trail 11-13 after 13 ends. But Ngongotaha held on, winning the crucial 14^th end to lead 14-11 and Tamehana broke Omokoroa hearts on the final end with a fine draw shot to snuff out the chance for a number.

Tamehana collected her 17^th centre title, McGregor her second, Crackett also her second though she has eight from the Waikato centre, and Nepe, a seventh-year bowler, her first.

Both teams had competitive semi-finals. Ngongotaha beat Whakatane’s Kath Dempster-Rivett, Mary Carpenter, Anne Looney and Aroha Crichton after winning the last three ends with a two and two singles to win 13-8. Whakatane led 7-5 after nine ends and Ngongotaha went in front 9-7 after 11 ends.

Omokoroa led 11-4 after picking up five shots on the ninth end but the Tauranga South side of June Mabbett, Gloria Duffin, Rosslyn Mackie and Maureen Bailey weren’t done. Tauranga South picked up a single, two and three shots to close Omokoroa’s winning gap to 14-10.

Eight experienced bowlers from Mount Maunganui and Tauranga Domain produced a quality final of tight heads on the indoor carpet in the men’s champion of champions event.

The Tauranga side of Dan Dickison, Alvin Gardiner, Graham Skellern and Ben Thurston came out of the battle with a 16-9 victory over the defending champions Nic Tomsett, Paul Anderson, Steve Beel and Nathan Arlidge – though Don Rowling played instead of Beel last season.

The score was tied 5-all after six ends and 8-all after nine after Tauranga picked up three shots. They edged ahead 10-8 after 11 ends and the turning point came on the fateful 12^th end.

The Mount had built another strong head and then with a slightly-weighted draw shot bounced the kitty clear. Gardiner pounced and struck the shot bowl, only to slice kitty further right to Tauranga’s waiting four bowls.

Tomsett, playing in his last final in the Bay before moving to Nelson, just missed with a backhand run shot and Tauranga jumped out to a 14-8 lead. They held on with two further singles to win 16-9 in front of an engrossed gallery of spectators.

In the semi-finals, the Mount four withstood another spirited Omokoroa comeback – this time from Cliff Webber, Jeff Meekings, Glen Proctor and Bill Morrison. The Mount led 12-1 after seven ends, which included two fours, and 13-2 after nine ends.

But Omokoroa scored a three, two twos and a single over successive ends to close the gap to 10-13. The Mount stretched the lead to 14-10 on the 14^th end and wrapped up the match with a 14-12 victory.

Tauranga always held a handy lead over Te Puke’s Ray Sayed, Greg Meredith, Ron Parton and Ross Wilkson, ahead 6-1 after six ends, 8-4 after 10 and then finishing with two twos and a three to win 15-4.

Dickison continued an outstanding season winning his 21st Bay title after earlier collecting the open mixed pairs with Tamehana and the open singles, as well as the Taranaki Open fours with Gardiner, and the national mixed pairs with Hodges.

Gardiner, who spent his first season in Tauranga from Australia, picked up his first Bay title, to add to the five centre championships he won in Southland and eight in Canterbury. He has also win two national titles, the pairs and fours, and was runner-up in the national singles, and collected four national inter-centre titles with Canterbury.

Skellern captured his 11^th Bay title and earlier in the season won the North Harbour Open fours; while Thurston is just one shy of his bar after winning his ninth Bay title.

The Tauranga men and Ngongotaha women play the national champ of champs fours finals in Dunedin at the end of July and early August respectively. 

Article added: Monday 12 May 2025