Island Park's hopes extinguished
While the big guns continued to flex their muscle in the Metro Senior A pennant series, the story of round 7 was the result between the bottom teams, the Otago B52s moving back into 4th place — condemning Island Park to a 7th straight defeat in Waldronville.
In other results, Chisholm Links were no match for St Clair at Corstorphine while the Otago Bombers accounted for Taieri Lakes 4.5-1.5 despite 3 halved games.
At Balmacewen, the Bombers flew out of the blocks with wins to Luke Murdoch, Ben Patston and Duncan Croudis.
Both matches at 5 and 6 were halved — Callum Judkins (Bombers) and Josh Boath, Ryan Rosevear (Bombers) and Hayden Robertson — which secured a Bombers win.
Blair Bennett (Taieri Lakes) halved with Brandon Hodgson to give the visitors a half-point which may prove a key difference come finals time.
At St Clair, the presence of youth continues to be a revelation for the defending champions in 2025. After years of playing a Dad's Army squad, the young St Clair sextet continue to grow and are still yet to taste defeat.
Logan Clarke, Connor Howes, Parker Aluesi, Harvey O'Neill and Albie Reed all secured wins for the Saints while Will Summers was held to a half against Jason Pegler to complete the 5.5-.5 near whitewash.
At Island Park, the home side's hopes of a semifinal resurgence are now all but extinguished, going down to a young Otago B52s side 4-2.
The tail games were split each way with Otago Volts cricketer Jamal Todd (B52s) winning on debut while Brent Butler squared things up for Park over Lewis Harper.
Brian Helton and George Prendergast won their respective games at the top order to give the visitors 3 games while halves from Riki Bush and Jonty Smith were enough to claim an important away victory.
By Michael Minty
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Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
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Club semifinal time
Michael Minty previews today's Dunedin golf Senior A Metropolitan semifinals. Last year's finalists are on a collision course to meet again in the 2025 edition of the Senior Metropolitan pennant series final. St Clair Saints and Otago Bombers will host Otago B52s and Chisholm Links today respectively, finishing 1st and 2nd on the ladder with clear air back to the chasing pack. At St Clair Golf Club St Clair Saints v Otago B52s 1. Parker Aluesi v Brian Helton 2. Logan Clarke v Lachlan Coutts 3. Jake Bleach v Lewis Harper 4. Connor Howes v George Prendergast 5. Albie Reed v Andrew Hobbs 6. Tony Giles v Isaac Hobbs This year has been a coming of age for the St Clair Saints, with the introduction of new young faces which resulted in a remarkable season with 10 wins from 10 games — a statistic that is a rare feat in Senior A pennants. The Otago B52s comfortably finished 4th in the end despite a mixed-bag season with different line ups week to week. Despite this they have had some positive individual performances, and veterans like Brian Helton and Andrew Hobbs will spearhead their chances against a red-hot Saints side. However, they will have to be at their absolute best in their matches against Parker Aluesi and Albie Reed respectively, with St Clair looking particularly strong from 1-6, while Connor Howes (Saints) jumps into a provincial rep match with Southland's George Prendergast. With the target being 3.5 games, it is hard to see the B52s upsetting the form side of the competition. A good result for them might be scraping a couple of games — we expect to see the Saints comfortably through to the big dance. Prediction: 5-1 Saints. At Otago Golf Club Otago Bombers v Chisholm Links 1. Callum Judkins v John McIntee 2. Luke Murdoch v Kai Koni 3. Ryan Rosevear v Mike Weastell 4. Ben Patston v Mackenzie Gibson 5. Duncan Croudis v Luke Worthington 6. Brandon Hodgson v Jason Pegler This match looks an absolute ripper on paper. The visiting Chisholm Links have been building nicely, and playing at Balmacewen holds no fears, particularly if the weather cuts up rough. The Bombers have had one of their better round robins — only to be overshadowed by an outstandingly rare season from the Saints, who inflicted both their two losses. On paper, you could make a case for every match going either way, with maybe a couple of matches equally favouring both sides. If the match goes down to the wire, the Links have former Balmacewen member John McIntee up against Callum Judkins at No 1. McIntee has been in fine fettle and will be hard to beat, while Duncan Croudis and Luke Murdoch perhaps look the Bombers' best chances. The battles at 3, 4 and 6 could be anyone's and are likely to go at least 17 holes, so expect a half or 2. With that being said, we see this heading to extra holes, and as usual the home side finishing the better. Prediction: 3-3 (Bombers in play-off)
Otago Daily Times
18-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Island Park's hopes extinguished
While the big guns continued to flex their muscle in the Metro Senior A pennant series, the story of round 7 was the result between the bottom teams, the Otago B52s moving back into 4th place — condemning Island Park to a 7th straight defeat in Waldronville. In other results, Chisholm Links were no match for St Clair at Corstorphine while the Otago Bombers accounted for Taieri Lakes 4.5-1.5 despite 3 halved games. At Balmacewen, the Bombers flew out of the blocks with wins to Luke Murdoch, Ben Patston and Duncan Croudis. Both matches at 5 and 6 were halved — Callum Judkins (Bombers) and Josh Boath, Ryan Rosevear (Bombers) and Hayden Robertson — which secured a Bombers win. Blair Bennett (Taieri Lakes) halved with Brandon Hodgson to give the visitors a half-point which may prove a key difference come finals time. At St Clair, the presence of youth continues to be a revelation for the defending champions in 2025. After years of playing a Dad's Army squad, the young St Clair sextet continue to grow and are still yet to taste defeat. Logan Clarke, Connor Howes, Parker Aluesi, Harvey O'Neill and Albie Reed all secured wins for the Saints while Will Summers was held to a half against Jason Pegler to complete the 5.5-.5 near whitewash. At Island Park, the home side's hopes of a semifinal resurgence are now all but extinguished, going down to a young Otago B52s side 4-2. The tail games were split each way with Otago Volts cricketer Jamal Todd (B52s) winning on debut while Brent Butler squared things up for Park over Lewis Harper. Brian Helton and George Prendergast won their respective games at the top order to give the visitors 3 games while halves from Riki Bush and Jonty Smith were enough to claim an important away victory. By Michael Minty
Otago Daily Times
16-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
St Clair dominant force at awards night
St Clair scooped three awards for a standout year at the Bowls Dunedin awards last night. They were named club of the year after what was described as their best season in decades. St Clair won multiple centre titles, are home to countless Dunedin players and won the men's interclub sevens title, which gained them a berth in the national finals. Off the green, they worked hard hosting events for their community and ran a successful twilight bowls programme that attracted new players. It was being part of that work that led to Lyndon Broadley being acknowledged as greenkeeper of the year. Broadley started greenkeeping in 2010 with Caversham before joining St Clair and still helps in a supervisory role at Caversham. He has arguably transformed St Clair into the best green in Dunedin. Jordan McEwan was recognised as men's development player of the year. The St Clair bowler won the centre junior singles, was part of the team that won the interclub sevens title and was a member of Dunedin teams at national championships. It was a tight race for men's and women's bowler of the year. Taieri bowler Beth Brown was named the best women's bowler. She won the open pairs and open triples and was third equal in the open singles and champion of champions singles. Kaikorai bowler Nigel Birkbeck was named men's bowler of the year. He won the open triples and champion of champion pairs and was third equal in the champion of champions singles. Kerrin Wheeler — helped by father and director Colin — was named open disability player of the year. The North East Valley bowler was part of the Parajacks side who beat Australia at the transtasman series this year and he won bronze at the national open disability singles and pairs. He is a member of the New Zealand high performance squad. Cyril Gilfedder (North East Valley) was recognised as umpire of the year, after clocking up more than 107 hours. Gilfedder umpired 14 events at the centre throughout the 2024-25 season and made contributions to the centre and clubs. He supported fellow umpires and players and has been president of the local association for the past two years. Kelsey Bennett (Brighton/St Kilda) was named female development player of the year. She won the champion of champions mixed pairs for St Kilda and champion of champion triples for Brighton. She was also a key in the Dunedin women's development side.
