Taieri pairs skip
Dyhrberg will be babysitting at the Waiouru army camp when the championship starts at her home club at the end of the month.
Her son, Jason, is a major in the New Zealand Army and she will be babysitting her latest grandchild.
"I was entered to play in the championships when I got the call from Jason," she said.
"Family must come first."
Dyhrberg and her lead, Beth Brown, received an early Christmas present on the Balmacewen green yesterday when they beat club mates Judy Robertson and Janet Swallow 18-17 to win the Bowls Dunedin women's pairs title.
It was the third centre title for Dyhrberg who has been playing bowls for 16 years and the fourth for Brown after 18 years.
There was a cold side wind blowing across the Balmacewen green and this made it difficult to play accurate bowls.
"It was hit or miss," Dyhrberg said. "Conditions were difficult."
Pairs is a leads game and Brown outplayed Robertson with her lead bowls and this made the difference.
The turning point in the game came when Dyhrberg and Brown scored seven shots from the seventh to the 10th ends to lead 10-6.
Robertson and Swallow were playing catch-up bowls after that.
A three on the 11th end reduced the gap to one point 10-9, before Dyhrberg drew away again by scoring a two and three on the 12th and 13th ends to lead 15-9.
Swallow, the holder of nine centre titles, played some superb shots to close the gap to two shots, 15-13, after 15 ends.
But Dyhrberg and Brown responded to the challenge to score a two and one on the next two ends and extend the lead to five shots, 18-13, before the final end.
Swallow, who had brought about a Houdini act for Taieri in the interclub sevens last month, scored four shots on the final end and just failed to force the extra end.
In the semifinals, Robertson and Swallow beat the Andersons Bay pair of Carolyn West and Lyn Bevin 19-17 and Brown and Dyhrberg beat Ann Warrington-Blair and Sue Hodges (Outram) 17-15.
