The Bay Teams Shield was contested on Sunday 31 July between Rotorua, Tauranga, Whakatane, Taupo, Te Puke and Mount Maunganui clubs with Open, Intermediate and Junior teams competing. Every team payed matches of 12 boards against each other team within their grade and the scores for each match are aggregated to determine the winning club. After an excellent start, unfortunately Rotorua flagged in the middle rounds and finished third overall and the shield has gone to Tauranga, who won with a massive total of 196 VP’s. Whakatane was second on 170 and Rotorua third on 163.
In addition the teams that were first and second in each grade are to play off for top club in the Waikato/Bay of Plenty on the 28th of August in Cambridge. The Rotorua Open Team of Neil Dravitzki and Paul Cosgrove, Ian Moore and Alan Dick made this event. An interesting fact about this team that was pointed out on the day – to considerable laughter – is that this team has three people who have had heart bypasses and the other team member is a doctor! In fact this team was the only team on the day that won every match – but it wasn’t enough to win the Open Team title as the winning margins were not great enough.
The Rotorua teams played their best, but it wasn’t good enough on the day – but well done everyone!
