16-05-2025
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.
