Bowls: Bowlers balk at Bay rents

Exorbitant rents being demanded by Tauranga landlords have slashed entries to this year's national bowls championships being held in the city in the midst of millennium celebrations.

Between $1200 and $1500 a week is being asked for three or fourbedroom houses in Tauranga during the championships from December 27 to January 10.

Veteran Wellington bowler Rex Knox played his first national tournament in Wellington in 1972, and has not missed one since. But he says finance has put a stop to this one.

He will not be alone. Although 32 players from the Wellington area will attend, the only leading players are the fours combination of Rob Ashton, Mike Solomon, Cory Carroll and Adam Newman.

The total entry is close to a disaster. Just 993 individuals have entered, 31 per cent down from the 1445 in Christchurch in 1998-99. There are 156 fours, down from 286; 308 pairs, down from 501; and 384 singles players, down from 616.

Just 20 players have entered from the South Island and only 100 from Auckland.

Entries have not been closed, but Bowls New Zealand is not expecting any more.

Players have also been put off attending by the distances between greens. Play is scheduled from Whakatane in the east to Rotorua in the south and Katikati in the west.

The poor entry list comes at a time when Bowls New Zealand has been working hard to try to stop a severe drop in membership.

Newman questioned whether the organisation had a hidden agenda in taking the nationals to one of the country's most popular tourist spots when millennium celebrations will be in full swing.

"It makes me wonder if they are looking for a blameless way of finishing off the nationals," he said.

Bowls New Zealand spokesman David Parker, while concerned with the continued drop in entries, said the national body stood by its decision to grant the Bay of Plenty centre the tournament.

"I wouldn't endorse the comment that we made a bad business decision because the people of Tauranga may think it's the best thing since sliced bread," Parker said.

Bowls New Zealand was committed to the current format until after the 2001 nationals at Onehunga in Auckland. It will hold a series of regional forums in February and March to consider changes to the tournament's format.

Possible changes include reducing the length of the event and making it more exclusive or holding North and South Island qualifying tournaments and a two-day national playoff.

- NZPA