Ken Callon, who joined the Kia Toa club in Timaru 45 years ago, always enjoys playing with his son who is a member of the Kaikorai club.
"It is very special," Ken said.
"Dave gives the orders and I just follow his instructions."
Dave (55) was introduced to the sport when he was a pupil at Timaru Boys' High School.
"I used to go down to the green to watch Dad play club ties in the evening," he said. "If a team was short I would get a game."
Dave treasures the chance to play bowls with his father.
"I really enjoy playing with Dad and I tell the young guys to make a point of playing with their fathers in any sport," he said.
"I had a rugby mate who always intended to play bowls with his father but he died one Christmas Eve and he lost the chance.
"Bowls is a great sport to play with the old man because you can play the game to any age."
Dave and his father both played premier rugby for the Pirates club in Dunedin.
Ken, a retired company representative for Watties, played 12 years of premier rugby in the late 1940s and 1950s and also played junior rugby for Otago.
Dave, a lively flanker, played first-class rugby for South Canterbury before shifting to Dunedin in 1981 and playing 55 games for Otago until he retired in 1987.
He works as a financial adviser in Dunedin.
The other members of the team are all members of the Kia Toa club and are playing in the Festival Fours for the first time.
The most accomplished is Jim Vevers (70), who started playing bowls in 1976 and has 27 centre titles - 15 on the Kapiti Coast and 12 in South Canterbury.
The Scotsman, who emigrated to New Zealand in 1963, won the New Zealand pairs title with Dave Blanche in 1989 and was runner-up in 2006.
Skip Richie Kerr (45), a Timaru butcher, is the youngster in the team. He has been playing bowls since 1984 and has won 23 South Canterbury titles.
He is closing in on the centre record of 28 titles that were won by Robin Milne (Geraldine) who won the New Zealand singles title at Dunedin in 1984.
Kerr was runner-up in the New Zealand fours to Gary Lawson at Christchurch in 2004.
The Kia Toa team started the Festival Fours in style at the Wakari green yesterday when it beat Colin Foote's Wakari combination 17-6 in the first game and followed it up with wins against Neil McGregor (St Kilda) and Mitchell Will (North East Valley) to end the day with three wins.
The experienced North East Valley team of Neill Williams, Will, Paul McKinnell and Jim Scott started with a nail-biter when it beat the Otago Country team of Tom Malcolm (Wanaka), and the South Otago's Brian Doyle, Wynston McLachlan and Alan Matheson 12-11. Both teams ended the day with two wins from three games.
The Kaikorai team of Jarrod Collins, Warren Thompson, Andy Callander and 2002 Commonwealth Games singles bronze medallist Mike Kernaghan had two wins.
Defending champions Steve Wilson, Jim Mahuru, Brian Buchanan and Kerry Becks (Kaikorai) finished the day with two wins and a draw.
