NZ Open Wrap by Lindsay Knight

Led by victorious triples skip, David Eades from the Orewa club, North Harbour bowlers performed with distinction at the Trust New Zealand Open which ended on the weekend.
Eades and his all Harbour composite of Helensville’s Bart Robertson and Bruce McClintock, won the men’s triples final beating another largely Harbour composite of Neil Fisher, John Walker and Colin Rogan in a tense final 12-11.
It was an especially emotional experience for Eades, who lost his son in a road accident only a few months ago.
One of the centre’s most consistent bowlers, Eades is a gold star holder, as is Robertson. And it was a career highlight for McClintock, who in 2012 was in the Open triples final losing to a Takapuna combination. He thus joined his wife, Elaine, in having success in the Auckland-run Open. She has won three women’s title, including the singles last season.
For Fisher, Walker and Rogan it was a rare appearance in a major tournament this season. Last year, of course, they were suspended from those events which lead on to a national title because they failed to appear in the Pathways final in Dunedin.
This led to some ill-informed criticism of their presence in the Open. They were perfectly entitled to enter this event as their suspension was only for those club and centre championships which potentially could mean going onto the national pathways. While a prestigious event the Open is not strictly a national title as it is run, not by Bowls New Zealand, but by Bowls Auckland.
Other Harbour bowlers who performed well last week included veterans Hilary Ross, from Mairangi Bay, and Lin East, from Browns Bay, and Glenfield’s Lisa Helmling and Shelley Wilson who made the women’s pairs semi-finals and Brown’s Bay’s Anne Dorreen who was in a composite which made the women’s triples semi-finals.