Bowls: A splash of colour on the greens

The national men's lawn bowls championships which begin in the Bay of Plenty tomorrow will be lit up by bright green Taylor Vectas.

They are a set of coloured bowls which will be used for the first time at the 85th national tournament by the talented North Harbour player Kerry Chapman.

"They are definitely very colourful," Chapman said, "but they will add a bit of jazz and flair to the game.

"Many of my opponents seem to be more interested in the bowls than what they are doing themselves on the green. They start to laugh and joke about them and this may put them off their game - every little bit of advantage helps," said Chapman who won the New Zealand Superbowls title with them.

"Some players reckon they are easier to hit but I don't think anyone gets any more drives than if they were the black bowls."

The coloured bowls, imported from Britain, are now available in New Zealand in shades of red, yellow, orange, green, blue and maroon.