Peter Belliss, whose grandfather ‘Moke’ Belliss captained the All-Blacks at rugby, is a living lawn bowls legend. Peter has represented his country more than 500 times but has remained a committed member of the Aramoho Bowling Club throughout his career.
Peter transferred his own World Bowls gold medal successes into his role as assistant coach, head coach and a selector and convenor of selectors for the Blackjacks Bowls NZ national team. In 1988, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), for services to bowls, and, in 2013, he was an inaugural inductee into the Bowls New Zealand Hall of Fame.
His sensational 21-20 win over Willie Wood in the 1984 World Bowls final in Aberdeen, when, with the scores level at 20-20, the result was decided after a nail-biting measure, will live long in the memory. Peter was an author in 1987 of ‘Belliss on Bowls’ and ‘Think and Play Better Bowls’ which in turn now goes under the title of Perfect Bowls. Peter was one of the first Kiwis to secure a club professional role in Australia, which paved the way for many others.
Record:
- Commonwealth Games: ’82 (singles bronze), ’94 (fours bronze)
- World Bowls Championships: ’84 (singles gold), ’88 (pairs gold), ’96 (triples silver), ’96 (fours bronze), ’00 (triples gold), ’00 (fours bronze)
- Asia Pacific golds: ’95 (triples), ’95 (fours), ’97 (triples), ’97 (fours)
