He regained some composure but was not able to get back into the game and lost his first game of the Speight's Invitation Singles 25-7 to Andre Smith (Marlborough).
"In the first game I was too nervous to play well, but I settled down in my second game," McCombie said.
He found it easier against clubmate Andy McLean and held a 16-15 lead midway through the game, but McLean was too steady in the later stages and won 25-21.
McLean, the marketing and events manager for Otago Cricket, was also playing in the event for the first time.
He remained unbeaten after the first two rounds. He had a 25-16 win against former World Bowls medallist Andrew Curtain (Canterbury).
He pulled away in the middle stages and scored two three-pointers on the last two ends to win the game.
McCombie (25), a civil engineering student at the Otago Polytechnic, was introduced to bowls at the North East Valley Club five years ago in the Mates in Bowls project.
He joined the club with four of his mates when Josh Vorpein broke his back and could not play more energetic sports.
"Josh needed our support so we came along with him," McCombie said. "Three of us are still with the club."
McCombie gained entry to the singles at the North East Valley qualifying tournament for club members.
"I'm pretty nervous about the prospect," he said, "but I will just take it game by game.
"You don't get too many chances to play against the best bowlers in New Zealand."
McCombie knew he would be up against it from the start with New Zealand representatives Terry Scott (North East Valley), Jamie Hill (Auckland) and Cantabrians Shayne Sincock and Curtain in his section.
"You've got to aim for the top. But it will be hard because I've only played two of the guys before.
"It's physically demanding game and mentally challenging," he said.
"I like to back myself on the draw but I'm never shy about driving."
McCombie was a talented sportsman at Kavanagh College and was a member of the first cricket XI and first rugby XV. He was an openside flanker and kept Southland representative Tim Boys out of Otago junior teams.
The three Commonwealth Games representatives had mixed days, with Dan Delany (Auckland) the only one to get two wins.
Delany beat fellow Aucklander Greg Ruaporo 25-13 in the first game and then dispatched Chris LeLievre (Auckland) 25-10 in the second.
Sydney-based Richard Girvan lost to Le Lievre 25-22 in the first game but adjusted better to the faster greens in the second to beat Ruaporo 25-20.
TAB favourite Shannon McIlroy failed to adjust to the faster greens after returning from Delhi and lost both his games.
The two-times winner of the Speight's Invitation singles was outclassed by Andrew Kelly (Canterbury) 25-11 in the first game and was downed by Dunedin's Ken Walker by the same score in the second.
Kelly beat Mark Watt (North East Valley), a member of the wider New Zealand squad, 25-21 for his second win.
Walker, a former New Zealand World Bowls representative, was on two wins after beating Watt in his first game.
