Phil Skoglund Snr

Phil Skoglund was one of the great bowlers in New Zealand history, and part of a dynasty of bowls champions.

Phil, son of a Cabinet Minister, was a nephew of an early bowls champion, Pete Skoglund.

And he was the father of Philip jnr and Ray. Philip jnr represented New Zealand at Commonwealth Games and world championship level, and teamed with Ray to win a national pairs title. The pair also combined with Phil snr and Brett O’Riley to finish runners-up in the national fours in 1991.

Nevertheless, the bowls gem in the Skoglund crown was Phil snr.

He was born in Palmerston North in 1937 and attended Palmerston North Boys’ High School, where he was a member of the first XI cricket team.

In 1958, he really set tongues wagging when he became the youngest winner of the national singles title. He eventually won further singles crowns in 1966, 1970, 71 and 72, the pairs in 1972 (with Vic Sellars) and 1976 (with Mariano Basile) and the fours, also in 1976 (with Basile, Wally Hobbs and George McKenzie). His eight titles, won representing the Northern club, easily earned him a New Zealand Bowls gold star, for those with five or more national titles.

He competed in five world championships - 1966, 72, 80, 84 and 88), the highlight being the triples gold medal with Morgan Moffat and Ian Dickison in Auckland in 1988. He also won the silver medal in fours in 1984 (with Rowan Brassey, Moffat and Jim Scott, after they won their pool then lost to England in the final 18-17) and 1988 (with Brassey, Dickison and Moffat). And there were world champs bronze medals in the pairs in 1980 (with Kevin Darling) and the fours in 1980 (with John Malcolm, Moffat and Darling, after being edged out of the silver by Scotland on a countback).

He was also runner-up to Englishman Tony Allcock in the world indoor singles champs in Scotland in 1986.

Skoglund, who used an exaggerated backswing, but nevertheless had the smoothest of deliveries, was almost always the skip in teams he played for, and excelled in that role.

He competed in five Commonwealth Games - 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982 and 1990 (not 1986 because of a sport-wide dispute over amateurism).

He played indifferently in the singles in 1970, finishing 12th, but in 1974, he and Bob McDonald won the bronze in the pairs. They had losses to Fiji and Northern Ireland and drew with gold medallists Scotland. On the final day, with their bronze medal not secure, they played very well in the crucial stages to beat England 23-21.

In 1998, Baldwin, John Malcolm, Moffat and Skoglund took the silver medal in the fours at Edmonton. They suffered early losses to Northern Ireland and Guernsey, but came back well with seven wins and a draw in their last eight matches to finish second. Ironically, they’d beaten eventual gold medallists Hong Kong 23-16.

In Brisbane in 1982, Ian Dickison and Skoglund did not strike their best form and finished 6th in the pairs.

Skoglund completed his long Games career in Auckland in 1990 when Peter Shaw, Stewart McConnell, Darling and Skoglund won the bronze medal in the fours. They finished 2nd in their pool, then beat Australia 21-13 in the bronze medal match.

Skoglund was awarded an OBE in 1988, was an inaugural inductee into the New Zealand Sport Hall of Fame in 1990 and was an inaugural inductee into the New Zealand Bowls Hall of Fame in 2013.

He died in 2015, aged 77. Skoglund was always immensely popular and his funeral, held in the hall of Palmerston North Boys’ High, was massive. He’d been a teacher at the school before changing careers and eventually becoming a transport company manager.