This past Saturday and Sunday saw the 51st ANZAC weekend tournament held at Alexandra Bowling Club and RSA, where 44 teams vied for the gong in men's fours.

Covid-19 impacted the event this year, the number of entries were slightly down on previous years, possibly due to people being hesitant to travel or increase their risk of exposure to covid-19.

Entries were received from across the South Island with 176 bowlers participating. Fourteen teams played at the RSA's greens each day and 30 at the Alexandra Bowling Club.

All enjoyed delicious catering for lunches and a barbecue on Saturday night.

Plans for 2023 include expanding the prize pool to be $10k. This will make it the biggest purse in New Zealand for men's fours, and and event likely to attract the best bowlers in the country and potentially from Australia too.

Alexandra Bowling Club Manager Paul Jerrom said it was great to see so many familiar faces back to play in Alexandra again.

The winning team was The Gore Rams. Team is Tony Cockerill (Lead), Thomas Cockerill (2nd), Oliver Mason (3rd), Sheldon Bagrie-Howley (Skip)