This weekend sees Taranaki take on Waikato for the Ron Buchan Plate. This new fixture celebrates the life of a man who gave his all to the sport of Lawn Bowls.
When Ron Buchan was pulled out of the billiards room by his father as a teenager and pushed towards the bowling green, neither of them would have comprehended that this was the commencement of one of the most remarkable careers bowls has ever known in New Zealand.
Ron completed 77 years as a bowler, earning distinctions galore both on and off the green. Among the highlights were:
- An MBE for services to the game
- Life Member of the NZBA
- Inaugural inductee to the BNZ Hall of Fame
- A New Zealand representative and playing No 2in the NZ four that won gold at the first World Championships in Sydney in 1966
- The NZ fours winner in 1957
- The NZ singles winner in 1964 and 1965
Ron was largely based in Te Aroha, originally playing for the club based at the Domain and then Tui Park. In those days, Te Aroha was part of the Waikato-Thames Valley Centre. Ron was a magnificent stalwart of the centre, which included being the Dominion Councillor on the NZBA. He had a superb mind and was an expert on all things bowls, especially laws. He was hugely successful within the centre as a player and in later years moved to Hamilton.
But the trophy for this clash between Waikato and Taranaki is fitting to be named in Ron’s honour as he also had a brilliant association with Taranaki as well.
He first competed in the Taranaki Open in 1933, finishing runner-up, and the following year became the first visitor to win the title. While other bowls commitments meant that Ron missed a few Opens over the years he competed in more than 50 editions. The last resulted in qualification in 1999 when he was aged in his 90s. A school master Ron, lived and worked in Hawera and Opunake in the 1930s-1940s and was the Taranaki champion-of-champions singles titleholder during this time.
No person has had the breadth and depth of association with both centres as Ron Buchan MBE has. This trophy, therefore, is an appropriate tribute to a brilliant bowls man.