The strong Christchurch team skipped by Alvin Gardiner is expected to win the annual fours tournament at the Taieri Bowling Club this weekend.
It will be useful practice for Gardiner, who will be defending his national championship fours title at the Taieri club in January. He skipped the winning team at Wellington last year.
The astute Christchurch skip will be challenged by another Christchurch four skipped by Kevin Gore, who is well-known in Dunedin rugby circles as the former coach of the Alhambra-Union premier team.
A field of 32 invited teams from Christchurch, Invercargill, Timaru, Central Otago and Dunedin will start in section play this morning.
The event was first held in 1998, with the inaugural winner a four skipped by former international Kevin Darling, who was one of the best natural bowlers to play for New Zealand.
The fours competition is played in sections, with all teams playing seven games to find main event and plate event places.
There is a purse of $2000 for the winning team.
Other notable entries are Graeme Hislop (South Otago), Wynston McLachlan (Clinton), Pat Houlihan (Alexandra), last year's winner, Brendon Hollander (Forbury Park), and Ken Archer (Taieri). The final will be played tomorrow.
