Alistair McMurran

The statistics have overturned the myth that bowls is a minor sport.

It was lead Joe Gordon's night. He played a key role in Kaikorai's upset win in the Bowls Dunedin open pairs on Monday night.

The gap is closing. Bill Clements reached a milestone at the weekend when he won his 70th Central Otago bowls title.

Former Dunedin bowler Paul Girdler cemented his spot in the Commonwealth Games team with a dominant display on the Gold Coast at the weekend.

The Black Jacks have embraced sports science and this approach has brought them success on the international stage in the past three years.

Queenstown's Margaret O'Connor played a key role in Central Otago's dominance of the women's event against Southland at Invercargill on Sunday.

Aaron Wilson survived the bombardment by the Master Blaster to become the fourth Australian to win the North East Valley Invitation singles yesterday.

Trevor Drake skipped an Alexandra Composite team to a narrow win in the Taieri Invitation fours at the weekend.

Tony Grantham (North Harbour) is back in favour with the New Zealand selectors and played with confidence yesterday to make the quarterfinals of the North East Valley Invitation Singles.

It was Aaron Wilson's biggest pay day. The $A50,000 ($NZ56,000) Everest of Bowls purse was the biggest won for a game of bowls in Australasia.

It was Lorraine Swanson's night. She was presented with a special award at the centennial dinner of the Andersons Bay Bowling Club at the weekend.

Experienced Australian international Nathan Rice made the first bowl count at the North East Valley Invitation Singles in Dunedin yesterday.

He has been close, but the North East Valley Invitation singles title has always eluded Gary Lawson.

Canadian Pat Bird will face the toughest test of his career in the North East Valley Invitation singles at the weekend.

It was close. The Queenstown pair of Christine Buchanan and Lindsay Thomas had a few hiccups before retaining their Central Otago mixed pairs title.

The experienced Shona Preddy was an accurate lead and played a key role in the combined team's win in the fours at the 57th annual Alexandra Blossom Festival tournament at the weekend.

Ross Garner proved he can still match the best younger players by winning his 17th Otago title at the weekend.

Andersons Bay bowler Paul King was just one spot short of making the New Zealand PBA team for next year’s Trans Tasman Challenge.

Veteran Barry Cadogan (Momona) achieved a significant milestone when he became the sixth player to win 20 Otago indoor bowls titles at the weekend.