Pirongia Bowling Club wins first Waikato title after 81 years

Waikato Women's Triples Champions from Pirongia - Denise Te Momo (skip), Sheryl Olsen (lead), and Vicki Coll (two). Photo / Supplied

The Waikato Men's and Women's Championship Triples were held on Saturday at Te Kūiti, Hinuera and Hillcrest Bowling clubs (qualifying rounds) with the post-section finals being held at Morrinsville Bowling Club on Sunday.

Beautiful sunny weather on Saturday at all venues meant all teams started bang on 9am, and a brief delay on Sunday due to heavy overnight rain, with the natural green surface at Morrinsville quickly rolled and dried by award-winning greenkeeper Trevor Lingard and the post-section finals were under way.

The Women's Championship Triples had a record 12 teams entered (previous years – 2020 eight teams, 2019 zero teams) with the winners playing out of Pirongia.

Ably led by team skip Denise Te Momo, and joined by Vicki Coll (two) and Sheryl Olsen (lead), the trio from Pirongia were the victors, beating out Waikato stalwart and former NZ representative Bev Corbett, Jocelyn Holten and Keli Alefaio of Hinuera.

With the score at 18-9 after completing 13 ends, Te Momo, Coll and Olsen were too strong and Hinuera conceded the match.

The first Waikato title in Pirongia Bowling Club's 81-year history, this was a momentous achievement.

It was made even more special with Te Momo being a dual member of Pirongia and Te Awamutu, Coll joining Pirongia this season (dual member of Te Kūiti), and Olsen returning three years ago to Pirongia after a long absence.

Te Momo is also a Bowls New Zealand-accredited umpire, while Coll serves on the board of Bowls Waikato.

This is Te Momo's first Waikato title, Coll's second, and Olsen's sixth.

The Men's Championship Triples was won by the 2020-21 Club of the Year Central Cambridge Bowling Club's Taylor Horn, Grenville Mead and James Hunter, who defeated Putāruru's Liam Peeters, Peter Roscoe and Russell Ensor in a thrilling final.

Both teams were 16-all going into the 15th and final end, with Putāruru holding shot at the skips change of ends.

Horn played an excellent bowl to sit out Roscoe's shot bowl just centimetres from the jack.

The next Waikato events are the Year 1-5s (junior bowlers who have played fewer than five full seasons) on October 9-10, followed quickly by the Championship Fours the weekend after.