The North East Valley Invitation singles has been a catalyst for significant changes in New Zealand bowls.
It was the first event in the country organised by a club to have a major cash prize.
It also introduced coloured clothing to New Zealand bowls.
Murray Nash, the owner of Branson's Hotel, persuaded the North East Valley Club to extend its horizons and put big money on the table for the first event in 1990.
Prize money for the first 12 years was $10,000 and the event was dubbed the North East Valley 10,000.
Coloured clothing
In the 1990s, Bowls New Zealand had a strict dress code and whites had to be worn at all events.
The North East Valley club added colour to the sport by giving each player a coloured T-shirt for the 1991 event.
It was not until 1995 that coloured clothing was accepted by Bowls New Zealand when the Asia and Pacific Games was held in Dunedin.
Elite bowlers
The North East Valley Bowling Club has always attracted the best bowlers in New Zealand. Nine overseas internationals have also played.
This includes eight Australians and 2014 Commonwealth Games singles silver medallist Ryan Bester (Canada).
The event has also become a stepping stone to the Black Jacks.
Mike Nagy, the runner-up last year, was an example of this.
He was selected for the Black Jacks for the first time shortly after the tournament.
The importance of the tournament is indicated because New Zealand's national coach Dave Edwards has been a regular at the event and his counterpart in Australia Steve Glasson attended this year.
Gallery of winners
An important aspect of the history of the tournament is the gallery of winners in the North East Valley clubrooms.
It is a Who's Who of New Zealand bowls.
The caricatures have been painted by Canadian bowler John Parson.
First Eleven
Organising committee convener Neill Williams, Jim and Terry Scott have named the top 11 players in order from the first 25 years of the tournament.
The ranking is based on performances at the event.
Heading the list is former world champion and three times winner Rowan Brassey (Auckland). Runner-up was Shannon McIlroy (Nelson), who also had three wins.
They are followed by two time winners Russell Meyer (Manawatu), Mike Kernaghan (Dunedin), Andrew Curtain (Canterbury) and Jim Scott (North East Valley). The final spots were filled by Trevor Morris (Australia), Ali Forsyth (Nelson), Gary Lawson (Canterbury) and by Ian Dickinson (Dunedin) and Shaun Scott (North East Valley), who share tenth spot.
Taieri Fours
Summer arrived for the 17th annual Taieri Fours at Labour Weekend.
But that has not always been the case for the 32 teams from all over the South Island that enter the event.
The Taieri Bowling Club's manager and green keeper Robbie Gibson recalls a day when wintry conditions with snow and sleet were experienced.
''We couldn't feel our hands and dropped a six on the first end,'' Gibson said.
''But we warmed up and managed to beat Forbury Park 9-7.
''But in the 17 years of the event we have only lost half-a-day of playing time.''
The event was the brain-child of Taieri club stalwarts Kevin Archer and Alistair Waugh, who organised the first event in 1998.
The first winning team was skipped by 1988 New Zealand singles champion and World Bowls representative Kevin Darling.
The other members of his composite team were Nigel Wright, Trevor Gould and Andrew McCallum.
This year's event was won by Ken Walker's Composite team of Oliver and Elliott Mason and Marty Kreft.
It beat the Christchurch team of Warren Parkes, Ross Bell, Robin Moffat and Kevin Gore 12-4 in the final.
In the semifinal, Walker beat Peter Wilson (Forbury Park) 13-10 and Gore beat Kevin Archer (Taieri) 11-10.
NZ Disabled bowls
St Clair club members were inspired by the courage of bowlers at the New Zealand Disabled Bowls championships in Dunedin.
''We won't complain about our small aches and pains anymore after seeing the disabled bowlers in action,'' St Clair club president Trish Marr said.
The St Clair club hosted the championships.
Top NZ coach
Evan Roberts (North East Valley) was named the Bowls New Zealand Coach of the Year for the 2014-15 season.
He coached the New Zealand Development team at the Transtasman contest for the last two years and the New Zealand team at the multi-sport Youth Commonwealth Games at Samoa in September.
It was a successful tournament for New Zealand with Ashleigh Jeffcoat (Hamilton) winning the gold medal in the girls under-18 singles and Seamus Curtin (Wellington) a silver medal in the boys under-18 singles.
Mixed pairs
The Dunedin mixed pairs was won by the Composite team of Joko Susilo and Barbara Walker, which beat Robbie Gibson and Judy Robertson (Taieri) 16-11 in the final.
