Masterton Petanque Club held their annual Open Triples tournament on Saturday 28th February on a sunny warm day, though a cool start. 8 teams were entered from various clubs, including from outside the Wellington region, drawn in part by the sponsorship of the event by Arvida Landsdowne Estate, a popular retirement community in Masterton. Arvida Lansdowne provided a hamper and the prize money for the tournament.

Initially 4 random draw games were played in order to provide the ranking of the 8 teams, at which point they were split into 2 divisions of 4 teams each. Each division then played a semi-final and then a final to determine the winner and runner-up for each division.

The 2nd division winners were Graham and Ingrid Edmondson (Hawkes Bay) and Mike Robinson (Upper Hutt), and the runners-up were Steve Loftus, Dave Roper and Sue Walker, all from Masterton. The overall 1st division winners in a very close final (13-11) were Dave and Adrienne Gwerder, and Derek Worsley, all from Upper Hutt. Their very worthy opponents and the runners-up were Michelle Maxwell and Debby Butler (Kapiti) and Michael Rocks (Naenae).

The sponsorship of such events is key to drawing in entries from farther afield than the local region, and helps considerably to get clubs to communicate socially and obtain a greater mix of players and capabilities, whilst retaining the friendliness of the game of petanque. Arvida Lansdowne have expressed an interest to continue to sponsor this event in the future.
Thanks to Masterton Petanque Club and Arvida Lansdowne Estate for a great day.

Source: Upper Hutt Petanque Club

02/03/26