The tournament in association with The Station Bar & Bistro, Napier, has been held during a very typical Hawke's Bay weekend of very fine weather. Some of the contestants felt as though they were in and oven and being cooked slowly. Thank goodness for the marquees which came from the local law firm Langley Twigg.
This is a great event which was enjoyed by all the teams which came from mainly lower North Island clubs. Eighteen teams gathered for the contest.
Last years winners failed to regain the title and were knocked out during the semi-finals. Pool play from the first day established the top 8 to vi for the championship title for 2020.
Here are the results of the weekends play.
The Bowl section: -
Winners: Lee Taffard (Bay View), Heather Lowen and Max Farquhar (Mary Doyle Lifecare)
Runners-up: Richard Turfrey(Wanganui), Ngaire Erickson (Horowhenua), Vaughan Husband ( Manawatu).
Plate section:
Winners: Andrea Thompson (HBLTS), John Maxwell (HBLTS), Janet (fill in for Jonathon Kerr)
Runners-up: Flo Madgwick (Wanganui), Christine Daykin (Manawatu), Allan Frost (Manawatu)
Trophy Section:
Winners: Colin Gooch, Peter Gooch, Michael Gooch (Lower Hutt)
Runners-up: John Galbraith, Patricia Galbraith (Turangi), Robert Wilson (HBLTS)
Championship section.
Winners: Geoff Greer (Bay Veiw) Denise Bavidge (Bay View) Anne Hog (Otaki)
Runners-up: Barry Hunt (HBLTS), Bethne Gardner (HBLTS), Murray Porter (Bay View)
Another very successful tournament with the next one falling back into its normal time of the year - Autumn, May 8/9 2021.
..........Petanque Captain, Robin Johnson
​

​The winners Geoff, Denise and Anne with President Mike Willis and Robin.

                                           Winner                        Runner-Up
Open Champion         Marcus Moss            Sam MacDonald
                                           Mel Goodchild        Tania Willis
C Grade                           Wayne Hudson      Jason Strong
                                           Tania Willis
D Grade                           Craig Sampson      Nick Robinson
                                           Kay Lorimer             Ursula Alexander
E Grade                           Logan Leith              Elliot Cave
                                           Kirsty Basher           Cathy White
F Grade                           Dennis Basire          Te Aro Hunt
                                           Jen Osmerchuk       Michelle Kelly

Masters
D1 and Above              Paul Sewell                Mike Moss
                                          Mel Goodchild         Ursula Alexander
D2 And Below              Shaun Basher           Mark Thompson
                                           Kirsty Basher            Cathy White 

Junior Boys                 Logan Leith         Louie Thompson-Gray
Junior Girls                  Tahlia Kemp             Hannah Hudson

Sometimes you need to see the end result to know how badly change was needed and I think that is certainly going to be the case with the upstairs squash viewing gallery. The old wooden balustrade, which I assume was built at the same time as our squash courts, makes way for it's beautiful, modern, chrome and glass replacement. It will offer much better viewing of the courts and also brightens up what was a fairly dark and dingy space.  A few finishing touches still to be made. I hear we might even get new carpeting put down (I bet the old one has a few stories to tell). 

It is the latest upgrade in a series of ongoing club improvements and it's very much courtesy of Mike Moss and Ramage Sheetmetals team, Ross and Dan Frechtling.  Fantatastic work gents. Big thanks also to Phil Brady for all his efforts refreshing the front wall of squash court 2. We can be proud of the condition of our squash courts and the rest of our facilities as we head into the Superchamps, late September.

​  Petanque Triples Championships 2020
What a great day last Saturday (22nd Aug) weather wise, when the last of petanque championship event was held.
24 members of our petanque fraternity assembled for the triples event. 80% of the membership. A great turnout. Margaret Harkness had a family emergency in the morning and was unable to participate. President Mike Willis took her place which kept the draw intact. There were some very good games played in full competition rules of the game.
At the end of five rounds of play the plate and championship sections had been decided.
This year’s triples winners were Robin Johnson, Eddie King and Rex Dick who defeated Peter Horgan, Sharon Canon and Donna Horgan. The plate section winners Julie Chambers. Robert Wilson and Vicky  Cox.
This year’s honours board will read: -
Singles - Jonathon Kerr
Doubles – Eddie King and Robin Johnson
Triples – Robin Johnson, Eddie King and Rex Dick.
​                                                                                                                                 Petanque Captain, Robin Johnson

​On the 12th July we held the Bastile Day Melee on our terrains. A total of 24 entrants participated in the afternoons event, good numbers for a mid-winter event. The totals were boosted by a group of residents from the Mary Doyle complex who were at various skill levels of game. By all accounts, everyone enjoyed the afternoon of competition.
The prises were given to:
1st           Lee Taffard – Bay View
2nd         Margaret Harkness – HBLTS
3rd          Graham Edmondson – HBLTS
Last place      Ingrid Edmondson – HBLTS, a pot of honey
Player of the Day – Mary Doyle, Max Farquhar
Here is the full list of people and where they finished at the end of play.
1. Lee, Taffard Bay View                       52:5
2. Margaret, Harkness HBLTS              48:23
3. Graham, Edmondson HBLTS           47:22
4. Robert Wilson HBLTS                      46:21
5. Kenzie, Turnbull HBLTS                   42:19
6. Max, Farquhar Mary Doyle                43:24
7. Sharon, Canon Bay View                  42:24
8. Val, Nicholson Napier City                33:24
9. Andrea, Thompson HBLTS              35:28
10. Bethne, Gardner Bay View              34:24
11. Margaret, Farquhar Mary Doyle      30:27
12. Lizzie, Elder Mary Doyle                 32:32
13. Pamela, Nicholson HBLTS             31:34
14. Liz, Kilmister Mary Doyle                28:31
15. Margaret, Taylor Mary Doyle           29:33
16. Bryan, Kilmister Mary Doyle           27:36
17. Jim, Taylor Mary Doyle                   30:43
18. Marie, Young Mary Doyle                28:39
19. Heather, Lowen Mary Doyle            24:42
20. Andy, Duncan Mary Doyle              21:44
21. John Maxwell HBLTS                     20:43
22. Karen, Urquart Mary Doyle             15:41
23. Sue, Wilson HBLTS                        14:52
24. Ingrid, Edmondson HBLTS            11:51

..........................Robin Johnson, Petanque Club Captain.

A huge turnout for this one, building on the success of last year's event. It was great to see so many players from other clubs, across the bay, in the mix as well as a number of our own members, especially the ladies, taking part for the first time. As a result, we had a balanced competition across all the grades and a fantastic contest in general but I believe its the spirit of this tournament that makes it great and the photos do all the talking here  Congratulations to all the winners on the day:

Mens A Grade 
Championship Winners;   Paul Sewell & Wayne Hudson 
Runners Up;   Jack Wardrope & Heath Hooper 
Special Plate Winners:    Ron Garick & Andrew Reynolds 
Plate Winners;    Ra McFarland & Nadal Eltayeb 
Consolation Plate Winners;   Stu Dawson & Greg Margerison 
Womens A Grade 
Championship Winners;    Olivia Addiss & Alex Cave 
Runners Up;    Victioria Kerrison & Bronwyn Garcia 
Plate Winners;    Beata Troup & Sue Williams 
Mens B Grade 
Championship Winners;   Bruce Taylor & Gary Brennan 
Runners Up;   Gavin Cooper & Brent Simonsen 
Special Plate Winners;   Tom Carey & Tony Luderman 
Plate Winners;   Bary Hiscox & Kevin Tohill 
Consolation Plate Winners;    Phil Bradey & Paul McAuley 
Womens B Grade 
Championship Winners;   Jane Davison & Kristen Nash 
Runners Up;    Mandy White & Ali Allen 
Special Plate Winners;    Dianne Gregg & Sue Agnew 
Plate Winners;    Julie Shaw & Kayoko Mikawa
Consolation Plate Winners;    Holly Lomas & Sam Stevens 

It really was the biggest and most successful HB Lawn Junior Open I have run to date.  With entries coming in from Wellington and Auckland we had record numbers of virtually 100 players and completed 210 matches. The success of the event was contributed to by the support of the key sponsors Regal Furniture, NOW & Napier City Pak n Save.
 
For the first time a Green Dot draw was incorporated. This draw allowed the new younger players to get some exposure to competition for the first time.
 
Freddy Hoggard, one of our HB Lawn  junior members, won the 14's and picked up the $100 first place prize. Oscar Zhao one of our 8 year old club juniors came second in his under 10's division to also pick up a little cash.
 
I wish to also thank the club and the Saturday Club Day players for making all the courts available for this event. It is a genuine two day tournament which seems to get more popular every year. Therefore, I do appreciate your support.
 
                   ............ Head Coach and Tournament Organiser, Simon Winter

​Te Wero Trophy challenge was held last Saturday 9th November 2019. The weather was measuring 28 degrees in the shade and we had none on the piste, so the temperature into the mid 30's.
The Napier City Petanque arrived looking resplendent in their club uniform of red and dark grey tops.
The Hawke’s Bay Lawn Tennis team were Margaret Harkness, Pam Nicholson, Rex Dick, John Maxwell, Julie Chambers, Robert Wilson, Ingrid Edmonson, Graham Bowker, Andrea Thompson, Jonathon Kerr  and Robin Johnson. Our top performer, winning all her games,  was Andrea and the bulk of the team won three games each.
​We played two rounds of triples and doubles in the hot sun.  A lot of the games were close and in only 2 games were the opposition' dickied'.
The trophy came out of the cabinet, got dusted off, realised that it had not been engraved for last year’s event and then put back after winning 12 games to Napier’s 8 games.
We gave everyone a barbequed sausage or two with onions and sauce and they all went home with some food and drink in their belly after a great afternoon of competition and camaraderie.
                     
         .........Petanque Captain, Robin Johnson

It has been a very big year for squash here at the 'Lawn and ​that was reflected in the number of honours that the club collected at this year's Squash Eastern Annual Awards Ceremony, including the award for Club of the Year which is something we can all be proud of.  Our winners were:
 
Club of The Year:    HBLTS
Team of The Year:  HBLTS E Grade Mens Superchamps winners (along with HBSRC Ladies E Grade                                           Superchamps Team) 
Volunteer of The Year:  Mike Moss & Dymphi Van Der Linden
Club Coach of the Year: Colin Hayvice
Most Improved Master Male:  Shaun Thompson-Gray
Most Improved Junior Boy: Josh Cornforth
Masters Sportsman of the year: Shaun Thompson-Gray
Players Series:   2nd Josh Cornforth 3rd Jack Cornforth 6th Shaun Thompson-Gray 9th Louie                                           Thompson Gray
Interclub Winners: Division 3 - LT3 Division 6 - LT7

​The 2019 E Grade teams event champions are HBLTS' Allen Hokai, Jack Cornforth, Chade Bolingford, Sabian Bolingford, Rob Leith, Mark Thompson, Ben Reriti and coach John Cornforth. Our lads travelled to Tawa, North Wellington to compete with 9 other teams from across the country. The large number of entries saw the teams split into 2 pools with the winner of each pool going on the final. As no. 2 seed the boys would head up pool B facing Lugton Park, Ohakune, Mana and Takaka. With the group stage playing out according to plan Wednesday - Friday, the lads would go into battle on the Saturday afternoon against top seeds Tokoroa. It was very close with the first two matches going each way and it was going to go down to which team could hold their nerve in front of a raucous crowd on the balcony. The boys had to work hard and dig deep but with very narrow 3-2 wins in both matches, 3 and 4, it was time to get the party started.

Mother Nature decided one day was enough to Love Tennis here in 'the Bay' and who is to argue with her. We managed to pack a lot of action into Saturday's line up and you can see that everyone in attendance made the most of it. 

The club continues to make significant improvements to its facilities and this week you will notice that we now have newly laid concrete pads by the fence outside tennis court 3 & 4 and by tennis court 1. These pads have been put down in preparation for the new outdoor table and bench sets that Mike Moss has been quietly working away on and which have been purchased, for the club, by its members. The area outside  tennis court 3 will have two new table and bench sets and be covered with shade sails for optimum viewing of the action on the tennis courts and the Petanque terrains.  Another table set will be situated on the grass verge by court 1.

A further four table sets that will also shortly appear on the recently replaced decking in front of the clubhouse and this will coincide with the fitting of the new railings that will safeguard the decking area.

I took three of our HB Lawn Junior Members & Napier Boys High pupils to the NZ Secondary School Champs to compete in the new formatted 3 player NZ Tennis Cup in Christchurch last week.
 
Dan Rowe, Luke Winter & Max Clifford made up the team. Napier Boys High were seeded 3rd. We were in a pool with Burnside High, St Pauls, Lynfield College & Timaru Boys High. We managed to beat the first three schools comfortably. It was then a big match up against the No 2 seeds Timaru who had two S3 players in their line up. Dan Rowe our S2 ranked player had a really good win at No 1. Luke Winter S5 had a very narrow loss against the other Timaru S3 player only losing 10/7 in the third set Super Tie Breaker. So it came down to the doubles where Max Clifford teamed up extremely well with Dan to win the crunch doubles match and allowed us to finish top of our pool.
 
We therefore had a  semi final against Fielding who had two pretty strong year 12 players. Dan gave the team another really good start by winning at No 1 in straight sets. Luke at No 2 then had a tough but competitive loss against a stronger older opponent. Hence we were required to win the doubles to make the final. Sadly it was a nail biting loss in some tricky windy conditions for Max and Dan.
 
We therefore drew St Pauls for the 3rd play off spot in New Zealand. Max played singles for this tie but suffered a straight sets loss. Dan then had a tense three set win to level the tie. Luke teamed up with Dan in the deciding doubles. Our Napier Boys won the first, but lost the second. However, they focused well in the decider to win the match and secure 3rd place for the team.
 
It was a very successful week of Tennis at the newly completed Nga Puna Wai Sports Park. They did well to beat the No 2 seeds and pick up a Tennis New Zealand National Medal.
                                   .....report by team coach, Simon Winter.

This year's Langley Twigg Open Doubles Tournament was well organised, well attended, much enjoyed and a credit to this club.  Thanks to all that took part and congratulations to all the winners listed below.  Huge thanks as usual  to tournament sponsors Langley Twigg and partner of the firm, Brett Conn for taking the time to come and hand out the prizes as per photos below.
Mens A Grade 
Championship Winners Allen Hokai & Mike Hunia 
Runners Up Mike Winkley & Jacob Verhoeven 
Special Plate Winners Nadal Ehayeb & Jack Wardrope 
Plate Winners Rueben Cooper & Gavin Cooper 
Consolation Plate Winners Warren McFarland & Ian Meredith 
Womens A Grade 
Championship Winners Stacey Margerison & Norma Ching 
Runners Up Carole Rowsell & Victoria Kerrison 
Special Plate Winners Sophia Nash & Rileigh Knapp 
Plate Winners Judith Merwood & Marcia Mabey
Consolation Plate Winners Ngaire Hunt & Liz Reid 
Mens B Grade 
Championship Winners Phil Bradey & Rob Cockshot 
Runners Up Jeff Farnsworth & Bruce Taylor 
Special Plate Winners Gary Patton & Mark Hunter 
Plate Winners Mike Roberts & Gary Taylor 
Consolation Plate Winners Andrew Hooper & Nick Robinson 
Womens B Grade 
Championship Winners Diane Gregg & Sue Agnew 
Runners Up Kristen Nash & Michele Gilbertson 

​

 On 10th November, this team of hardy petanque players made the long and perilous trip to Nelson Park to take up the Te Whero challenge. The challenge involves a series of games between the two clubs to help promote the game and keep an eye on what the other club is up to.  It was  a successful afternoon of competition with the final score being  HBLTS 23 – 13. They packed up the trophy and brought it home.
The team:- back row Barry Hunt, Bethne Gardiner, Graham Edmonson, Ingrid Edmonson, Rex Dick, Robin Johnson, and Robert Wilson. Front: - Eddie King, Margaret Harkness, Julie Chambers, Vicky Cox, and Andrea Thompson.

​John Cornforth is the Men's Open Champion for the second successive year. Eldest son Josh (left) is this year's F Grade Champion whilst Jack gets the Robin Johnson trohpy for his outstanding performance at the recent F Grade nationals in Dunedin.

Our own Colin Hayvice took his third Master's title this year having now moved into the over 75's grade. He has previously held the title for the 70-74 age group twice. One in 2013 and again in 2015. 

Colin now  spends most of his time on court coaching our junior players and generally passing on the benefit of his wisdom and experience to our club but he has proven, once again, that he has still got 'what it takes'. Long may he continue. 

The Season Open Day is the day that we open our club to potential new tennis members, Junior or Senior.  We openly invite anyone that may be interested in joining us to come down, get a bit of basic instruction from our Resident Tennis Professional, Simon Winter and get involved in our regular Saturday club day play.  It just so happens that it's also a great fun 'day out'.

Fantastic achievement for this Napier Girls High School squash team.  Jess Dean, Libby Dean, Sam Harding and Ally Harding, all very much spawn of 'the Lawn' (plus Sara Dooney from the Niven Street club) took on the top schools/juniors from around the country. Seeded 2nd they came up against 15th seeds first Tauranga Girls College and won 5-0, next up it was 7th seeds Havelock North high and again won 4-1. That put them through to the semi final against 3rd seed Hamilton Girls and a tough match fought by all 5 girls with us coming out on top 3-2 decided by the final match. Finals on Sunday was against 4th seeds Palmerston North Girls (these girls had taken the title previous 4 years in a row but lost their top 3 players for 2018 team) and again it was a 3-2 victory coming down to the final match deciding the winner/loser. Jess Dean was also selected to represent NZ in the secondary schools team vs Australia in a fortnight over in Sydney and we wish her well for this!!

Bastille Day Petanque Triples results:
Well what a great day, and everyone who entered came along to enjoy themselves in the theme of the day. Every team had a new player in their combination so the teams could not be stacked so to speak.
The competition was close with seven of teams ending up on three wins. This is how every team was placed at the end of five rounds of play.
1st            Champagne          3 wins – 16 points
2nd          Crème Brulee’s    3 wins – 16 points
3rd           Croissant’s             3 wins – 15 points
4th           Pinot noir’s            3 wins – 13 points
5th           Merlot’s                    3 wins – 9 points
6th           Beauleaux’s           3 wins – 0 points
7th           Sav Blanc’s             3 wins - -4 points
8h            Mulled wines          2 wins – 4 points
9th          Soufflé’s                    2 wins - -19 points
10th        Cognac’s                   0 wins - -38 points          
 
Thank you to Rex for letting everyone have a taste of the mulled wine he made for the day, Ingrid for her olive cake, Margaret for croissants’ plus those that I have forgotten for their contributions to nibbles etc at the end of round 4.
The Raffle was won by Eddie King and Ian Hay.
We may have to look at it again next year. 

​by Robin Johnson