Amy Brenton (Stoke) epitomises the younger woman bowler who has a new image and cool look on the green.
Brenton (19), an early childhood student at the University of Canterbury, is a bright-eyed teenager who wears shorts and coloured shirt and matches it with the best on the green.
She faces her toughest test yet tomorrow when she meets world champion Jo Edwards (Burnside) in the final of the women's singles on the Taieri headquarters green.
Can she beat Edwards, who has won the world indoor singles crown for the last two years?
''I've never played Jo before,'' Brenton said.
''I'm not sure. It will be a totally different day.''
Edwards (40) started her bowls in Nelson and played for the United Club for 15 years before shifting to Christchurch five years ago.
''Amy's unknown to me,'' she said.
''I'll just have to work on my own game and hope its good enough. She's been playing well and I'll have to have to knuckle down and draw some shots to beat her. But it's another day and the green will be different.''
Brenton earned the right to play in the final when she beat Sandra Keith (Allenton) in a tense semifinal, 21-18.
Keith was the giant-killer in the women's singles and beat Black Jacks Dale Lang (Tawa) 21-14 and Jan Khan (Beckenham) 21-15.
It was a neck-and-neck semifinal with Brenton leading 10-9 after 13 ends.
She then scored five shots on the next four ends to lead 15-12.
Keith (43), who has represented New Zealand at indoor bowls for the past 16 years and won 10 Australasian titles, was drawing accurately and putting pressure on her younger opponent.
With the scores locked 18-18 after 21 ends, Brenton held her nerve to score three singles to win the game.
She demonstrated her cool temperament on the last two ends when she was one down on the head and drew the shot with her last bowls.
''It was make or break,'' Brenton admitted. ''I just had to try and get it close.''
Brenton is a product of the annual New Zealand secondary schools championships that has brought more teenagers into the sport.
She was aged 12 when she rolled down her first bowl at the Stoke Bowling Club in Nelson.
She has made rapid progress and has already represented the New Zealand Under-25 team in the transtasman tests against Australia.
Younger sister Kelly (17) kept the family name on the record books when she also won the pairs title in 2009.
Amy Brenton is the girlfriend of Commonwealth Games representative Shannon McIlroy, who also plays for the Stoke club.`Shannon knows a lot more about bowls and helps me out a lot,'' Brenton said.
''We talk about bowls all the time.''
