Beth Brown (Taieri) joined an elite group when she won four Bowls Dunedin titles last summer.
The only other female bowlers to have won four centre titles in a season are Doreen Bell and Gaynor Reid (both Andersons Bay) in 1999.
''I can hardly believe it myself. My goal next year is to win my 10th title and add a bar to my gold star,'' Brown said.
Brown (55) was presented with the Millie Khan women's bowler of the year trophy at the Bowls Dunedin annual awards night last Friday night.
She won the open triples and fours and the champion of champions triples and fours. Brown was third equal in the open pairs and has now won nine centre titles.
... of the ...
Brown, who has been playing bowls for 22 years, did not win her first centre title for 15 years because of work commitments.
But she made up for lost time by winning five titles in the next three years and gaining her gold star in 2011.
It was a significant family week when Brown won her gold star because her father, Sam Burton (West Harbour), won his only centre title in the champion of champions pairs with Mamanu Mamanu.
It took Burton 36 years to win that outdoor title. He also won eight Otago small bowl indoor titles.
Brown's mother, Tasma Burton, has won four Bowls Dunedin titles and watched her daughter win four titles last season.
Bowls was the family game when Brown was growing up. Her brother and three sisters also played.
She has represented Dunedin in the intercentre sevens nine times but withdrew from the team two years ago after her father died.
... Taieri club
Brown's best national championship performance came last year when her Taieri four lost the final narrowly to Mandy Boyd's young international team, 20-18.
Jean Young, a member of that team, was also a member of the Taieri team that won the champion of champions fours and gave Brown her fourth title of the season.
It was the third centre title for Young, who won all her titles last season, fourth for Jenny Dyhrberg and the first for Wendy Tisdall.
Plain dominance
It was a remarkable season for the Taieri women, who won six of the nine centre titles.
Young, Sue Hodges and Judy Robertson all won three centre titles. Hodges also finished runner-up in the national club championships women's singles.
Hodges, who has now shifted to Tauranga, has won 18 Bowls Dunedin titles. Robertson won her fifth title and gold star.
The Taieri women also won the three feature team events - Stuart Trophy, Saturday fives and the Ballard Brooch.
Top man
Terry Scott (North East Valley) won the Stan Seear Trophy for being the top male bowler in the Dunedin centre.
He won the open triples and open fours and won the trophy on countback from his brother, Jim, and Geoff Wilson (Kaikorai). Terry Scott has now won 37 Dunedin centre titles.
Aye, Robbie
Robbie Thomson (Fairfield) became only the 10th Dunedin bowler to gain a second bar to his gold star when he won his 15th title in the champion of champions pairs. Thomson won his first title in the presidents fours in 1992.
Happy Valley
Neill Williams (North East Valley) won his 10th title and a bar to his gold star when he won the champion of champions fours in the last event of the season.
Williams, a Dunedin bank manager, won his first title in the open pairs with Terry Scott in 1990 and his fifth in Scott's open fours team in 2001.
There was a long wait of seven years before he won his 10th title.
''I was beginning to think that it might not come,'' Williams said.
''I'm getting older and am not playing as well. It was a pleasant surprise.''
Williams has the remarkable record of winning 10 of his 11 centre finals.
It was also a significant day for North East Valley skip Colin Wheeler, who won his fifth title and gold star. His first was in the Easter pairs in 1996.
It was the 18th title for Greg Cash and the fourth for Alan Black.
Gold stars were also gained by Russell Dawe (Kaikorai) and Andy McLean (North East Valley) during the season.
Top performers
The top Dunedin performance during the year went to Mike Kernaghan (Kaikorai) for winning the national championship singles title to gain his New Zealand championship gold star. He also won the North East Valley Invitation singles title.
Carolyn Crawford (St Clair) won the women's B8 singles title at the world disabled championships in Wellington.
Jonty Horwell (Logan Park High School) won the New Zealand secondary schools singles title.
Robbie Gibson (Taieri) was named the New Zealand greenkeeper of the year and Sam Cooper (North East Valley) the top national administrator.
Farewell, our friend
Popular Dunedin bowler Mervyn Garthwaite (Leith) collapsed on the Mornington green in the quarterfinals of the champion of champions fours.
He was taken to Dunedin Hospital and put in an induced coma and died a few weeks later.
The previous bowler to collapse and die on a Dunedin green was former New Zealand champion Ernie Wilson (Balmacewen) in 1976, just a few weeks after winning the New Zealand singles title.
Jack O'Dea (St Kilda) collapsed and died during the New Zealand championships at Christchurch in the early 1980s.
PBA update
New Plymouth's Paritutu Bowling Club will become the sixth New Zealand Professional Bowls Association venue this winter when the season starts at Queen's Birthday Weekend.
The Pukekohe Cosmopolitan Club will host the PBA finals (September 11-13) for the first time since the inaugural finals weekend in 2002.
Events will be held in Pukekohe, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Hastings, Dunedin and Invercargill on the following weekends: May 30-June 1, July 25- 26, and August 8-9.
Little by little
Canterbury won the Speight's Challenge Trophy when it beat Otago 134-118 in the small bowl representative match in Dunedin earlier this month.
Otago won its first representative match 148-76 when it beat South Otago.
Mike Howard (Oamaru) won the North Otago Heer Trophy singles when he beat clubmate Andy Blakeley 13-4 in Oamaru.
Lynne Porter and Daphne Campbell (St Pats) won the pairs when they beat Betty Eckhardt and Brian Comer (Kurow) 4-2.
