Tolaga Bay Bowling Club celebrates brand new turf

An army of volunteers turned out to help lay the new turf at the Tolaga Bay Bowling Club. Cyclone Gabrielle dealt a final blow to the already water-logged green and the decision was made to replace it. Picture supplied

Members of the Tolaga Bay Bowling Club welcomed the reopening of their club a year after Cyclone Gabrielle took out the bowling green.

President Sharon Olsen, a member since the early 1980s, said the green had had a lot of water damage from the wet summer of 2022-23 and Gabrielle was the final deciding factor.

“We couldn’t really play on the green anymore,” she said.

The club passed its centenary year in 2022. A high point was producing the New Zealand Men’s Four champions in 1950.

The small and friendly club is made up of social members, students, and full members — 14 men and six women.

Local minister Padre William Gray conducted the official opening on Thursday, which was followed by the raising of the club flag. Ms Olsen had the honour of delivering the first bowl. Cups of tea, drinks, sweetcorn and watermelon kept the crowd happy as the first game, a men’s treble competition, “the champ of champs”, took place.

Top greenkeeper Jamey Ferris travelled from Canterbury to supervise the laying of the new turf. All the equipment was supplied from Christchurch. Mr Ferris was helped by local greenkeepers, certified sports turf manager Andrew Boyle, Kahutia Bowling club member Frank McLaughlin, Gisborne Bowling Club vice president Hona Huriwai, and George Tamihana, a member of both Tolaga Bay and Gisborne bowling clubs.

A team of keen volunteers also participated in the project. “They worked really hard, and put in lots of hours,” said Miss Olsen.  “Lots of young guys showed up, pushing wheelbarrows, removing the remaining surface and relocating mounds of soil, while the women provided the meals.”

The job took longer than expected due to ongoing “challenging weather conditions”, Miss Olsen said. She thanked “all the amazing volunteers”, including locals Ben Elkington and Mike Nanama.

“It was stop and start. We had to resow the seeds and resurface. Everyone worked well together,” she said.

After a year of “doing nothing”, Miss Olsen said they were looking forward to stepping back into their roles and being able to plan ahead.

“Now that we’ve got our green up and running the community will be able to come back in again.”

That included people with  a disability, who were welcome to come in for a bowl.

Members of the club regularly travel to compete at the Gisborne Bowling Club, Kahutia Bowling Club, Poverty Bay Bowling Club, and Te Karaka.

“It can be very social;  it’s good for your health and wellbeing,” said Miss Olsen.

Tolaga Bay Bowling Club welcomes new members.

“It’s a really enjoyable sport. You can meet a whole lot of different people from all walks of life. You can start out at any level, from a social beginner to going through to the more challenging stuff, which takes you up to the nationals,” she said.

Bowling has come a long way since its origins in ancient Roman times where objects such as coins and stone balls were tossed to get as close to the target as possible.  The oldest bowling green is in the UK at Southampton, where it is believed to date back to the year 1294.

The first open competition held at Tolaga Bay will be on March 16 and 17.  The optional triples two-day tournament is open for entries, and club officials are hoping to get a full green of 16 teams. Anyone interested should contact George Tamihana on 021 209 2254.