"Kevin got me into bowls eight years ago and encouraged me in the game," Marr told the Otago Daily Times.
"He would have been so proud of me. I played the game for him today."
Trish Marr and Ross Brown (St Clair) were unbeaten and won the New Zealand Community Trust regional mixed pairs in Dunedin yesterday to qualify for the national final at Rotorua in April.
The round-robin competition was transferred indoors to the Westpac Bowls Stadium because of the wintry weather.
The Dunedin pair beat South Canterbury 18-11, North Otago 19-16, Southland 16-15 and Central Otago 20-16.
Dunedin won the zone six competition with 8 points from North Otago 4 (differential plus 3), South Otago 4, Central Otago 4 (minus 2), South Canterbury 4 (minus 16) and Southland 2.
The hardest game was against the Southland team of Glenice Paisley and Dave Burgess, when they got a four on the last end to win 16-15.
Brown trailed the jack for two, added an extra shot, and Marr drew the winning shot with her last bowl.
The St Clair combination were down 15-10 with just five ends to play against the Central Otago combination of Linley O'Callaghan and Bill Clements.
But they came back strongly to score 10 shots and restrict Central Otago to one.
Marr, who reached the semifinals of the New Zealand championship pairs at Christchurch in 2004 with her mentor Carolyn Crawford, has the ability to go to further at Rotorua.
"I'm excited to get there," Marr said. "I still can't believe it. It's the highlight of my career."
The pair relied on draw bowls to win the competition.
Brown was able to play an accurate upshot when needed.
