Roger Stevens' journey has not been in vain. He demonstrated this at the North East Valley singles yesterday.
Stevens (51), a Winton sheep and beef farmer, joined the North East Valley Bowling Club this year to get a chance to play against New Zealand's best bowlers.
As a club member, he had the chance to qualify for the four vacant spots at the 23rd annual tournament with prize money of $16,000 at stake.
''It was the only chance I had to play against the top guys,'' Stevens said.
''It was worth the 2hr 30min trip to Dunedin from the farm.''
Stevens, a fifth-year bowler, proved he could be competitive with the best by beating former international Mike Kernaghan (Dunedin) 25-19 in his first-round game.
Kernaghan won back-to- back New Zealand singles titles in 2001 and 2002 and won a bronze medal in the event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games at Manchester.
The game was tight, with Stevens leading 14-13 after 16 ends and 18-15 after 21 ends.
Stevens then took a decisive advantage by scoring four shots on the next three ends to lead 22-14. It was a lead Kernaghan was unable to peg back.
Stevens narrowly lost his second-round game to Black Jack Ali Forsyth (Taren Point, Australia) 25-21. Forsyth won the New Zealand singles title in 2003 and 2004.
Kernaghan beat Colin Wheeler (North East Valley) 25-20 in the second round.
The best game of the first day of the tournament was when Shannon McIlroy (Nelson), who has won the tournament three times, beat fellow Black Jack Andrew Kelly (Canterbury) 25-22 in a thriller.
They were both members of the seven-man New Zealand team that competed in Wales and Scotland last winter and both are strong contenders to make the five-man Commonwealth Games team.
Kelly was strong at the start and led 15-7 after 11 ends and was still in front 19-14 after 18 ends.
McIlroy, the likely singles player for the Commonwealth Games, fought back to level at 19-19 before playing the decisive shot of the game on the 23rd end.
He was one down on the head when his perfectly weighted shot took the jack back to his own bowls and he had four shots.
Kelly lost his second-round game to Shaun Scott (North East Valley) 25-19.
Bill Clements, the holder of a record 60 Central Otago titles, had a 25-12 win over Craig Merrilees (Southland).
Justin Goodwin (Auckland), the winner in 2010, scored five shots on the last three ends to beat former international Andrew Curtain (Canterbury) 25-21.
