BOWLS, MEN'S OUTDOOR

Bowls in New Zealand were first introduced in Auckland about 1860. The Auckland Bowling Club, established in 1861, was the first club, its green being ready for play and opened in 1862. A Wellington merchant, George Turnbull, imported a set of bowls in 1862. Moving to Dunedin in course of business shortly afterwards, he introduced the game to many of his friends, and for several years games were played wherever a suitable playing surface could be found. In December 1871 the Dunedin Bowling and Quoiting club was formed. The Dunedin club's green was opened on 21 December 1872, thus becoming the second official club in New Zealand. In November 1875 the Christchurch Bowling Club was formed. In March 1876 a piece of land about half an acre in area in Worcester Street was purchased and “a competent gardener” placed in charge to prepare the grounds. In the meantime the members had the use of a private green in Latimer Square and played there until the club's green was ready. In 1879 annual matches against the Dunedin Bowling Club were begun, each club visiting the other in alternate years. In 1889 the club became a limited liability company in order to deal with its somewhat difficult financial problems, but in 1896 it reverted to an incorporated society. Milton club, Otago, the oldest country club in New Zealand, was next to appear. It was formed in 1878. From then on new bowling clubs were regularly formed, especially in the eighties. According to the Otago Daily Times, the first inter-club bowling match in New Zealand took place on 22 January 1876 between the Dunedin Bowling Club and the Fernhill Club. There were 12 players a side.

Bowling Association

In 1886 the first New Zealand Bowling Association was formed, comprising the 12 clubs then in existence, Dunedin, Roslyn (Dunedin), Invercargill, Caledonian (Dunedin), Balclutha, Auckland, Lawrence, Christchurch, Oamaru, Milton, Canterbury, and New Plymouth. The Governor of New Zealand, Sir William Jervois, consented to become the patron of the association and, in spite of the vast distances between the affiliated clubs, they competed for six medals. A constitution was drawn up by the committee and approved by the clubs and, for the first time, “rules of the game” were considered and agreed upon. In order to “further the influence of the association”, a national tournament was held in Dunedin in the same year, the entrance fees being devoted to the purchase of a prize for the winning club. This tournament was confined to teams of four or “rinks”, as they were then called, and entries were received from nine of the 12 clubs, a total of 28 fours. The Dunedin, Caledonian, and Roslyn greens were used, the whole tournament being completed in one day.

At an Easter tournament held in Wellington in 1890 under the auspices of the Wellington club, the question of the formation of a bowling association for the North Island bowlers was discussed. It was decided to form the Northern Bowling Association of New Zealand, with its headquarters in Wellington. The first meeting of the council of this association was held on 13 August 1891. Delegates from Wellington, Napier, Auckland, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Nelson, Wairau (now Blenheim), and Palmerston North clubs were present. The first annual report of the northern association for 1891 says: “the whole of the clubs in the North Island, as well as those in Nelson and Marlborough, have joined – nine in all – having a total membership of between five and six hundred”. The report of the northern association for the year ended 30 September 1906, 15 years later, states (inter alia), “during the year our numbers have been further augmented by the affiliation of the Waipawa, Maitai (Nelson), and Marton clubs, bringing the roll up to 43 clubs, with a membership of over 2,000 – the strongest association of its kind in the Australasian colonies”. By 1906 there were 40 clubs affiliated to the association. In the same year came the formation of the North Canterbury Centre, with the idea of more conveniently arranging matters directly affecting the North Canterbury district. The North Canterbury Centre then appeared to comprise the Christchurch, Canterbury, St. Albans, United, Ashburton, Dunsandel, Kaiapoi, Rangiora, Temuka, Timaru, and Waimate clubs.

A further split took place with the formation in 1895 of the Auckland Provincial Bowling Association, at a meeting of delegates from the then existing clubs, Auckland, Remuera, Newmarket (now known as Carlton), and Devonport. In 1906 there were 16 clubs affiliated to the Auckland provincial association, with a membership exceeding 1,000 players.

The original New Zealand Bowling Association had been steadily growing and its report of 31 July 1909 records that the association then consisted of six centres comprising 59 clubs, with a total membership of 3,119. The North Canterbury Centre had now become the Christchurch Centre, comprising 16 clubs and 895 players. The South Canterbury Centre had been formed and included five clubs, with a membership of 283. The North Otago had four clubs with 203 playing members; South Otago, seven clubs with 257 members; and Dunedin Centre, 17 clubs with 1,056 members; while Southland was still in its infancy with 10 clubs and 425 members. The report also records that in the first tournament held in 1887 (referred to above) the Canterbury club won with Southland second and Dunedin third. After three successive tournaments in Dunedin the venue alternated between Christchurch and Dunedin annually.

Dominion Association

In 1911 negotiations were begun to amalgamate the Auckland Provincial Association, the Northern Bowling Association, and the original New Zealand Bowling Association into one national organisation. After prolonged negotiations, the “Dominion of New Zealand Bowling Association” was successfully launched in Dunedin on 10 September 1913, when the first council met and the constitution was adopted. The association comprised 17 centres, eight in the North Island and nine in the South, embracing 198 clubs and 10,912 members.

Present Constitution

At the annual meeting of the council of the association in 1931, it was decided to delete the word “Dominion” and to alter the name of the association to “New Zealand Bowling Association”. Since the original constitution was adopted there have been, of course, radical changes. The council at first comprised a president, a vice-president, a treasurer, and 12 councillors elected (six from the North Island and six from the South Island) by a comprehensive poll of the bowlers in both Islands. This number was subsequently increased to seven from each Island and remained at that figure for many years. The growth of bowls in the North Island and the pressure of demands for representation caused the first constitutional change in 1946 when a system of joint representation of adjacent centres was introduced, resulting in an increase in the council to 10 members representing North Island centres and nine representing the South Island centres. In 1951, at a special meeting of the council held in February, the principle of direct and individual representation of all centres was accepted by the council and the separate office of treasurer was abolished. The council comprises four executive officers (the immediate past-president, the president, the junior and senior vice-presidents), and 30 council members, three from each tournament centre and one from each other centre. There are now 22 centres, 11 in the North Island and 11 in the South.

The present constitution provides for a Tournament Committee which shall each year consist of the officer of the association for the time being resident in the tournament centre and the three councillors for the time being representing that centre, together with such other persons as the council members of the Tournament Committee shall appoint. The Tournament Committee has power to appoint a resident Tournament secretary-treasurer, so that the functions of the administration of the general affairs of the association, by its Administration Committee and permanent secretary, are entirely divorced from the control of the annual Championship tournament, which is completely under the jurisdiction of the Tournament Committee with its executive officers and the tournament secretary-treasurer. There is no larger sporting fixture, from the point of view of competitors taking part, than a New Zealand Bowling Association tournament. The efficient organisation of this event in itself requires weeks of detailed preparation.

The growth of the game after the Second World War has been remarkable, the 416 clubs, comprising 23,242 players in 1945, having grown in 16 years to over 600 clubs with about 45,000 players. It is not too much to say that the New Zealand Bowling Association today is the largest active sporting body in New Zealand and its growth still continues. Most clubs have had to provide their own playing surfaces and premises at their own expense, and if one cared to place the low average value of £5,000 on the assets of the bowling clubs throughout New Zealand, it appears that the players have invested something over £3,000,000 in providing suitable facilities for their games.

For the season 1963–64, the Dominion membership stood as follows:

The following table compares the club and membership figures at the date of formation (1913) with those at 31 December 1961.

Tournament Winners

Winners of Five (or More) New Zealand Championships

New Zealand has won the Pairs Gold Medal four times in the last five series of games.

by Robert Sproull Menzies Sinclair, B.A., M.COM., DIP.SOC.SCI., Secretary-Treasurer, New Zealand Bowling Association, Dunedin.