He was mine host at several hotels in Dunedin and when he shifted house his patrons joined him.
O'Driscoll (89) was the popular publican at the Bayview Hotel when he retired in 1984 and he is still well known by the Dunedin public.
The hotel trade backed him when he started the annual South Island Hospitality Association bowls tournament in 1978.
He was recently honoured by being elected as the first life member by the South Island Hospitality Association bowls committee that runs an annual tournament for the trade.
"It knocked me over a bit," O'Driscoll said. "I never anticipated it."
It was a fitting honour because O'Driscoll persuaded his fellow publicans to hold a South Island tournament for the trade.
"I was at a hotel conference in Wellington in 1977 and heard about the North Island tournament that attracted 60 teams," O'Driscoll said.
O'Driscoll's fellow publicans were impressed when the New Zealand Hotel Association tournament was held in Dunedin in 1977.
Forty teams competed in the first South Island tournament in Dunedin in 1978 and it has remained popular with more than 40 teams competing every year.
It has been held in most of the towns and cities around the South Island for the past 34 years with a record entry of 60 teams when it was held in Invercargill.
"The tournament has remained popular and we always fill three greens," O'Driscoll said, When the event was first held the rules stated that one member of the trade had to be in each team and the other spots were filled by customers.
"Some teams were stacked so we altered the rules and two members of the trade had to be in each team," O'Driscoll said. "It has stayed that way since."
O'Driscoll joined the Tainui Bowling Club in 1973 and always played in the tournament. His best placing was to reach the top four.
He still plays in the two hotel association tournaments in Dunedin each year and his team won the Bruce Anderson Trophy last March.
O'Driscoll was elected the first life member of the Dunedin Hotel Association in the early 1980s.
