This will be the biggest field in living memory that Levin Bowling Club has had in a singles event said Life Member Ian Wenham. Ian joined the club in 1980 and followed in his father Herbert (Herbie) Wenham’s footsteps becoming a life member of the club in 2001. Two years ago we had 34 members in the handicap singles which we thought was pretty impressive but our club continues to keep growing. In the old days we used to only have a handicap range from 0 to 6 with first year bowls on 8 said Wenham. With these range of handicaps it wasn’t really a handicap event as the top players continued to win.
In 2014 Shoota Ballinger took over the handicapping and increased the range dramatically from 0 to 16. Grahame Law won that year with a handicap of 6 and the following year a talented 1st year bowler Stacey Thomas won on 9.
The handicapper is trying to orchestrate a level playing field by giving EVERYONE a chance to win said Ballinger. If you accept this point then half of the quarter finalists should be in the higher handicap bracket. Even though my handicap range has been huge compared to previous years, the better bowlers are still making up 75% of the final 8. This year I’ve stretched out the mid range handicaps so my hope is that we’ll get 50% of the higher handicappers in the final 8. Time will tell if I am successful. Ballinger said it is really important to remember the handicap is only a starting point and if you don’t play well you will not win regardless of what handicap you have been given.
A handicap singles event isn’t about finding our top player on the day, it’s about finding the person who has consistently played better than his/her normal performance. And here lies the problem said Ballinger, it’s difficult for top bowlers to be consistent but much much more difficult for the higher handicappers to be consistent all day. This is the reason why they need a decent leg up said Ballinger.
This year the Match Committee has made a brilliant call by postponing the draw until Saturday afternoon the day before the event starts. The reason being three of our men members are playing in Bowls Kapiti Coast Women’s and Men’s Champion of Champions Triples which is carded for both Saturday and Sunday. Only after the days play on Saturday will we know if our men can play in their club’s event. The club’s best wishes goes out to our two teams in these events, John Adams (skip), Paul Gardner and Stacey Thomas in the CofC Triples while the women team is Margaret Griffin (skip), Susan Boxall and Julie Stichbury.