Two North Otago bowlers got to mix it with the best in the country last month.
Mike Howard and Vic Randall attended the New Zealand Indoor Bowls National Championships in Palmerston North.
Both men, who competed in the masters section, loved being at the tournament.
"It was so good to be footed against those top players and others around the country," Howard said.
"It was a damn good week," Randall said.
"It was that enjoyable, we’re going to go back again next year."
It was Randall’s first time at the event and Howard had attended once "years ago".
They each played in the singles competition before teaming up in the pairs, triples and fours.
There were no restrictions on players from different regions playing together, so in the triples, they played alongside Dot Marshall, of Golden Bay, and in the fours they played with Auckland duo Caroll Smyth and Jennifer Southee.
"We just put our feelers out and that’s how we got these other players," Howard said.
In the singles, Howard made it through to post section.
Post section was the playoffs and was single elimination, where Howard lost his first-round match in the last 64.
As a pair, the two men qualified for post section play but again lost in the first round.
It was a tight contest that had to go to an extra end to find a winner.
Their triples team qualified for the last 32 and were beaten on the final bowl of their first-round game.
Howard and Randall saved their best for last as they qualified again in the fours.
They had a bye in the first round. This put them through to the final 16 teams before they were beaten, again in an extra end.
"We were just unlucky, really," Randall said.
"By one bowl we missed out on going any further."
"At times you just need a little luck or a bird on your shoulder or whatever but it just wasn't to be for us," Howard said.
Both men were also selected for a southern zone masters team to play against the northern zone.
Howard skipped the pairs team, winning two of their three teams against their northern counterparts, and Randall played in the triples team which won of their three matches.
Overall the northern zone beat southern zone 23 games to 18.