St Heliers Bowling Club

04/10/2026

🏆CLUB CHAMPS🏆

It was a full green and a full weekend of bowls this weekend in what were certainly unseasonal temperatures!

In the Women's Pairs, combinations making it through to Day 2 were Jane & Julie (with two lives still intact), Amy & Ngaire and Sue and Paula. In the penultimate round, Sue & Paula took the first life from Jane and Julie thus requiring a rematch to identify the trophy winners. It was neck and neck for much of the game but a couple of multiples late in the piece helped J&J avenge their loss and secure the title for 2026.

In the Men's 4s, the final round saw the Dean Edge skipped team (Richard, Dean K, & Graeme) face off against John Brown's team (Grant, Nick & Gavin B). As always the competition and the sledging was fierce 🤪😈💪😱👊 with Dean's team deservedly coming away with the win. This was especially significant for Graeme (his first 4's championship title) and for cool-hand Dean, his 10th!! Top job guys 👏.

01/10/2026

27/09/2026

YR 1-5 MENS PAIRS CHAMPS 2026-27

Despite a doubtful start on Saturday with heavy rain and strong winds, it was great to have 4 junior teams entered in this season’s championship. Playing their way through to the final were Colin Dunning & Gavin Pearce and Jamal Buckland & Steve Dennison.

The final was played on Sunday in very tough, windy conditions. Colin and Gavin took an early lead but the score quickly moved to 7-all and then, with multiples scored on the the next 2 ends, Jamal and Steve moved ahead 12-7. Colin and Gavin then had to chip away at their opponents' lead and after 18 ends it was 15-all necessitating an extra end.

On the final end, the leads each delivered a bowl within 50mm of the jack with Steve holding the shot. Pressure now moved to the skips. Colin’s second bowl hit Gavin’s closest bowl which serendipitously came to a stop 20mm of the jack. The game was over! 😅😅 Thanks to all who entered, and well played.

23/09/2026

HARRY HEINE PROGRESSIVE TRIPLES - 19 September 2026 - Sponsored by DAVIS FUNERALS

This progressive triples event was re-scheduled from opening day due to bad weather. Yet again, strong winds and intermittent showers were a feature of the day but SHBC bowlers confirmed we are a tough breed with 48 members taking to the green.

Placings were fiercely contested with at least 2 wins and a draw needed to go home with glory.
LEADS: 1st Warren Stephens, 2nd Trevor Brown, 3rd Andrew Bernau
TWOs: 1st Anita Facer, 2nd Jill Donovan, 3rd Arthur Atkins
SKIPS: 1st Rudi Barreto, 2nd Nick Donovan, 3rd Cliff Wrightson

13/09/2026

A big shout out to David Nightingale for sponsoring a great fun addition to our event calendar – a random progressive draw, 2-bowls, a fancy hat and a gourmet BBQ!

Reaching the podium with 4 games played in different positions, with different team members each round, with only 2 bowls, and with a very strong south-westerly, was indeed a tricky proposition. Showing great focus and consistency were Richard (skip), Allan (two) and Warren (lead). Very well done guys! Close behind them in second place were Graeme L (skip), Bill C (two) and Jamal (lead).

Whilst not quite the sartorial elegance of Ascot, there was great creativity on display and in some cases, an uncanny aptness in the matching of personalities and hats, particularly the 'boss hat' brigade ! 😂😂

Best dressed awards went to Irene (a wonderful seasonal floral display), Gavin P (🎼YMCA 🎤), Don (standing out from the crowd), Sue (smiley face), John R (the 'greaser'), Grant (red devil) and Bill S (enough said!! 🫣).

After a cold and very blustery day on the green, the meaning of the word BBQ was lifted to a whole new level thanks to the magnificent salads, breads, sauces and accompaniments prepared by Debbie and her team and succulent patties perfectly grilled by Cliff. T'was indeed a repast fit for kings. 🥗🥘🍇🥑🥔🫅

Thanks again to David for making the event possible and hopefully one that will have a slot on our calendar for many years to come.

08/09/2026

How lovely it was to welcome 7 of our past presidents who joined us for our recent Past Presidents' Day progressive competition.
David Botting 2003-4, Colin Davis 2004-5, Chris Day 2007-10 & 2013-14, Pauline Campbell 2014-15, John Ross 2017-19, Richard Kempthorne 2019-21 and Sue Curran 2022-25. (With us in spirit but not able to attend were Ken Batkin 2011-12, Con Cambie 2012-13 and our most recent past president Roger Seaton 2015-17 & 2025-26).

42 members took to the green in great playing conditions and those hitting their strides early in the season were:
Leads: 1. Ngaire, 2. Debbie G, 3. Graeme B/Colin D combo
Twos: 1. Spencer, 2. Jamal, 3. Chris S
Skips: 1. Dean K, 2. Angela, 3. Jane F

A big thank you to Judy McGaffin from Summerset St John's, sponsor for the event, to our past presidents for their hospitality, and to Paula and Richard for another great event. And, if you’re curious about retirement village living, Judy invited everyone to Summerset's open day this Sunday 13 September, 10am – 2pm. Our gals Bronwyn, Norma and Jo could be your ambassadors for the day! 🧚‍♀️🧚🧚‍♂️

08/09/2026

What a stunning day today for our first open triples event of the season. 28 teams across 2 greens, and yes, our grass was open for play! John Brown and his helpers have done an amazing job through the winter months producing a firm and consistent green so early in the season.

Whilst our sponsors today, Aaron Foss and Ross Girven from Barfoot & Thompson were unable to join us, their Girl Friday, Donna, did a great job deputising and summoning up her best corporate smile for the pics. 😁😁.

With new season enthusiasm to the fore, you needed 4 wins to be in the money today. Congratulations go to:
🥇: Visitors from Remuera, John Siefert, Paul and Kristina Calogaras, 4 wins 25 ends.
🥈: Steve Hodder, Jo Crooks & Spencer Tapper 4 wins, 23 ends.
🥉: Amy Cheung, Colin Dunning & Andrew Bernau, 4 wins, 21 ends.

We also acknowledged the tremendous results achieved by SHBC juniors at the conclusion of this year's winter coaching programme. Sam, John, Warren, Ngaire, (winners of the ABCA Cup) Donna (Campi 2nd) and Jane (ABCA 3rd) were all in the prize money. John thanked all the senior SHBC members who gave up their time to help make the coaching programme such a success.

And thanks to Chris, Michael and Steve behind the bar, Debbie H for the after-match nibbles, and organiser Richard who has set a very high bar for the rest of the season. 👏👏

30/08/2026

Thank you Kohimarama Bowling Club for a great day of friendly rivalry at your Eastern Junior Classic yesterday. Reaching top of the leaderboard was a tight contest and our congratulations go winners Kohimarama and runners-up Glendowie.

Whilst not in the money this year, our upcoming St Heliers juniors really enjoyed the day, the variety offered by the event and the opportunity to test themselves in some VERY challenging conditions. We'll be back next year for sure 😅😅.

30/08/2026

Well, despite the weather on Saturday the new season is officially open at St Heliers Bowling Club!

With umbrellas to the fore, the first jack and first bowl were delivered in style by Paula and Graeme followed by a speedy retreat upstairs for a delicious shared lunch and a short presentation from our sponsor for the day Michael Powell from Davis Funerals.

Not to be deterred, a few hardy souls had some fun in the rain but failed to generate any general enthusiasm for others to join them. Instead, the scheduled season opener, the Harry Heine memorial event, will now be played on Saturday 19 September @ 1pm. All those available to play on this new date will need to re-enter.