Welcome to the website of Pétanque Wellington. On these pages you will find information regarding the game of Pétanque, also known as Boules or French Bowls, within the lower North Island of New Zealand.
Please take some time to browse through the site and we welcome your feedback (webmaster@petanque.org.nz).
Upper Hutt team - Jacques Cochonnet Trophy winners
Otaki hosted the first challenge of the year for the JC Trophy from holders Upper Hutt, on Wednesday 25th January 2026, in warm and dry but humid conditions. The teams gathered at 09:00 and play began at 09:30.
Upper Hutt took two of the three games in the first round, and then all three in both the second and third rounds, making it 8-1 at the end when they all adjourned for a wonderful lasagna feast hosted by Otaki.
This was the 22nd consecutive win for Upper Hutt, who have been able to field a virtually unchanged team throughout the current winning streak.
The next challenge is from Silverstream to be held at Silverstream.
The 2026 annual Open Swiss Doubles tournament took place on Sunday 22nd March at Maidstone Park on a beautiful autumn day.
Twenty two teams were entered from around the Wellington region, although one team was unable to make it so a Bye was used in each round.
Five rounds of Swiss at 60min with no extra end were played over 12 pistes, three before lunch and two after.
Swiss format is a great way to rank players or teams within just a few games, as winners are automatiocally paired against winners, while non-winners are paired against non-winners after each round.
The ranking used after each round of games was based on number of games won first, then by Buchholz 1, then by Buchholz 2 (also known as fine Buchholz), and finally by differential.
Most players are familiar with games won and differential, but tournaments such as Swiss are deemed 'fairer' using Buchholz because it takes into account the strengths (based on results at the time) of the opposing teams, scaled by the number of games played, thereby more accurately determining the true ranking.
Third place was Colin Gooch and Bob Horton, "The Young Ones" from Upper Hutt, with 4 wins. Second place was Paul Bonsey and Murray Feist "Old Duffers" from Upper Hutt, also with 4 wins. In first place was Theresa and Seymour Harawira "Untouchables" with 5 wins, from Silverstream.
Arvida Lansdowne Estate Masterton Open Triples 2026
11 March 2026
The Masterton Open Triples, which is one of the longest running tournaments in the Wellington Region was reduced to a one-day event for the first time due to a fewer number of entries.
This was due to a busy schedule for many of the regular players.
The 2026 event was sponsored for the first time by the lifestyle village Arvida Lansdowne Estate.
Eight teams participated. The format was four randomly drawn qualifying games.
Following qualification, the top four teams played semi-finals for the championship and the remaining four teams played for the plate.
Sixteen teams competed in the 2026 Regional Triples Tournament held at the Kapiti Pétanque Club.
The format commenced with four randomly drawn games. The top eight competed for the Trophy and the bottom eight for the Plate.
Trophy Winners were Michael Rocks, Annick Le Guen and Kevin McFadgen who beat Shirley MacDonald, Graeme Morris and Linley Wistrand.
Plate winners were Seymour, Theresa and Dan Harawira. They beat Claire Bradburn, Rachel Clarke and Peter Matthews.
Entries have closed for the annual Hospice Charity Pétanque Tournament with a record number of entries for any tournament ever held in the Wellington area.
There are 80 entries registered with two registrations sharing which will bring the total number of participants to 82.
This is a fantastic response to this cause. Thanks to the efforts of the Horowhenua club members there will be a great number of raffles and auctions plus items for sale.
All proceeds go to the Arohanui Hospice in Levin.
Thank you all who have entered and also the organising team at Horowhenua Pétanque Club. It should be a great day.
Even if you have not entered, come along and support this great tournament.
Upper Hutt team - Jacques Cochonnet Trophy winners
Masterton hosted the final challenge of the year for the JC Trophy from holders Upper Hutt, on Wednesday 28th January 2026, in warm and dry conditions.
The teams gathered at 09:00 and play began at 09:30.
Upper Hutt took only one of the three games in the first round, and another two in the second round, making it 3-3 at that point when a break for lunch took place.
The final round had everyone on tenterhooks until the end of the 2nd game at which point Upper Hutt had won both, and therefore the game. Upper Hutt then won the 3rd game to make the total six games to Masterton's three, the 21st consecutive win for Upper Hutt.
The Upper Hutt team consisted of Dave Gwerder, Brian Smith and Mary Khalil (Triples), Adrienne Gwerder and Linda Brown (Doubles) and Derek Worsley (Singles).
The Masterton team consisted of Graeme Morris, Sue Walker and Dave Roper (Triples), Graeme Pilcher and Vaughan Paul (Doubles), and John Pryer (Singles).
The next year's challenges will be drawn at a WPA meeting in due course.
Twenty nine teams from over the north island took part in the Parkwood Kapiti Open Doubles at the weekend. Each team played five randomly drawn games on Day One with two teams winning all five games.
On Day Two the top sixteen played in four pools for the Trophy and Trophy Consolation. The next eight played in two pools of four for the plate. The remaining five played round robin for the bowl.
The trophy was won by Andre Noel and Keelan Noel (Rotorua Academy). Runners up were Geoffrey Greer and Denise Bavidge (Bayview).
Thirteen teams took part in the 17th Khandallah Mixed Doubles at the weekend. The format was a four round Snake (Random) draw followed by a single playoff to determine the team's prize.
Each round the team that had the Bye played against tournament director Michael Rocks. To make things interesting the team tossed a coin to determine how many boules Michael played with (either 5 or 6).
The final saw the undefeated team of Marie Jones/Gavin Jones (Horowhenua) against Lee Matthewman/Simon Grant (Naenae). In a tight game, Lee and Simon won 12-11.
Eight clubs were represented at the WPA Champion of Champion Doubles held at Manawatu on Saturday 13 December.
The format was a Round Robin of seven 50 minute plus one end games. Results were determined by wins first, who beat who second and if required the teams differential.
The top three teams all had five wins. Silverstream (Theresa Harawira / Seymour Harawira) were first, followed by Upper Hutt (Geoff Brown / Linda Brown) in second place.
In third place Kapiti (Kevin McFadgen / Alan Taylor).
Thirty teams took part in the Pete Hamilton Triples at Wanganui East Pétanque Club on the 15th and 16th November 2025.
Trophy winners were Lee Tafford, Michael Rocks and Georgio Vakauta.
