It is time for the promising young bowlers to prove their ability on the green against their older and more experienced opponents.
Five teenage bowlers have entered this weekend's PBA events at Westpac Bowls Stadium in Dunedin and one or two of them could reach the finals.
The talented bowlers are Jonty and Callum Horwell (Kaikorai), Connor Muir (Clyde) and Elliot and Oliver Mason (Forbury Park).
The PBA has given the opportunity to young players to test themselves against the best bowlers in Otago.
Jonty Horwell (15) is the youngest bowler in the 48-strong field for the Henselite Shanghai singles to be be played today.
The oldest player in the field is 75-year-old Brian Malcolm (Fairfield), who will be a contender in the event.
The winner will qualify for the national final in Hastings in September.
This is the fifth year of the event invented by Dunedin international bowler Ken Walker (Taieri), who will be playing in the event himself.
The New Zealand champions in the past four years have been 2010 Jamie Hill (Auckland), 2011 Chris Laurie (Waikato), 2012 Lance Tasker (Auckland), 2013 Steve Hoeft (Auckland).
The Shanghai is a different type of bowls and involves three bowlers playing against each other in a game of singles up to 31 shots.
If a player calls Shanghai he will get double points if he wins the end.
A total of 48 bowlers have entered the event in Dunedin. It includes 32 members of the New Zealand PBA and 16 non members.
There is not any seeding and players will only find out their first-round opponent when the names are pulled out of a hat.
Five women have entered the events in Dunedin: Jacqui Peterson (Andersons Bay), Liz Hayton (Christchurch), Barbara Walker (Fairfield), Pam Walker (Taieri) and Dale Bourke (North East Valley).
There are three separate events being held at the weekend: Shanghai singles (today), Scottish qualifying singles (tomorrow) and ranking singles (Monday).
Eighteen new bowlers have joined the PBA in Dunedin this year.
''I'm excited about this,'' Walker said.
''There is a lot of interest in the PBA events that we hold.''
The three events are being held at five centres throughout New Zealand. The other venues are Invercargill, Pukekohe, Hastings and Hamilton.
