Milestone for Crawford
Crawford (55), a compliance officer with Inland Revenue in Dunedin, won her second title of the season in the open pairs with St Clair club-mate Sharon McCaw.
They beat Nancy McGregor and Lyn Rance (Green Island) 21-20 in the final.
It was the second Bowls Dunedin title for McCaw.
"I'm excited about that,'' Crawford said.
"It was one of my goals this season to get to the top of the table.''
Former Andersons Bay bowler Gaynor Reid has held the top spot for nearly 20 years.
Crawford heads the Bowls Dunedin women's list with 25 titles and is followed by Reid with 24, Doreen Bell 21, Lyn Rance 19, Sue Hodges 18, Daphne Hynes and Dawn Richards 16.
Crawford won her first three titles in 1990 in the open triples, open fours and champion of champions fours.
She could add to her tally in the champion of champions events over the next two months.
"I'm running hot at the moment. My next challenge is to reach 30 titles.''
It has not been an easy ride for Crawford because her left arm was paralysed after a medical misadventure at the age of 4.
"The results haven't come easy for me. It's been hard work.''
Clements sits on 69
Alexandra's Bill Clements (67) has had a new lease of life since retiring from work last year and has added three Central Otago bowls titles to his tally this summer.
He now has 69 titles.
He won the pairs with Trevor Ludlow, the triples with Trevor Drake and Ludlow and the fours and has qualified for the national champion of champions finals at Hamilton in these three events.
Former Black Jack David File has won the most centre titles in New Zealand with 72 Gisborne-East Coast titles.
He added three this summer.
Clements did not have an easy run in the strong Central Otago centre in his early years, when he had to beat the three Scott internationals: Kevin, Bill and Shaun.
Clements started bowls in 1981 and won his first centre title a year later in the open singles.
But the title he treasures most came in 1983, when he beat South Island representative Tom Rutherford in the same event.
Clements tops the Central Otago honours board with 69 titles and is followed by Roxburgh stalwarts Bill Kitto 33 and his son Nigel 27, Bruce McKinnell and Trevor Ludlow 26.
Ludlow has won four titles this season.
He moved ahead of Tom Rutherford and former international Kevin Scott when he beat Clements in the singles final on Sunday.
Drake won his seventh title in the triples.
Four more makes 28
Margaret O'Connor (Queenstown) has won four titles - mixed pairs, women's pairs, triples and fours - this summer and has 28 Central Otago women's titles.
Linley O'Callaghan (Alexandra) tops the list with 33 titles. Club-mate Lyn Somerville won her 20th title in the singles last weekend.
Queenstown bowlers Christine Buchanan and Debra Lloyd have both added two titles this season.
Buchanan has 17 titles and Lloyd 12.
Jane Anderson (Queenstown), who won the pairs with O'Connor, has seven titles.
Central Otago men's team
The men's team to represent Central Otago in the inter-provincial sevens in Auckland is : Singles: Howard O'Donnell (Clyde); pairs: Alister Watson (Clyde), Richie Muir (Wanaka); fours: Marty Geary (Alexandra), Allan Brash (Arrowtown), Ken McConnell (Clyde), Ewan Kirk (Alexandra).
Wilson gains 25th title
Robert Wilson won his 25th South Otago title in the open fours.
The other team members were Graeme Hill, who won his 10th title, Alan Philip, who gained a gold star and his fifth title, and Gareth Thomson, who gained his third title.
Sandy McNoe won his second South Otago title in the open singles and also helped his Milton club qualify for division one of the men's national interclub finals.
Finnegan won division two.
Eileen Grant won her 33rd South Otago women's title when Clutha Valley won the champion of champions fours.
She shares top spot in the women's rankings with Wynette McLachlan.
The other members of the Clutha Valley team were Margaret Halder, who won her ninth title, Avis Rishworth, who won her seventh, and Rosemary Stephenson, who won her fifth and a gold star.
Christine King (Balclutha) won her 31st title and Mary Collett her 10th in the open pairs.
The pair were joined by Elaine Thomson and Anne Creighton, who won their first South Otago titles in the open fours.
Kelly on nine . . .
Bruce Kelly (Phoenix), the father of Black Jack Andrew Kelly, beat Graeme Sangster 21-19 in the men's open singles last month to win his eighth North Otago title and added his ninth in the champion of champions singles last Sunday when he beat Bill Kingan 21-1.
Daphne Campbell and Dorothy Breen both won their 10th title and a bar for their North Otago gold star when Meadowbank won the women's open fours.
It was the seventh title for Mary Watson and the third for Barbara Allan.
. . . and Brown on 10
Beth Brown won her 10th Bowls Dunedin title when Taieri beat North East Valley 19-12 in the open triples.
It was the sixth title for Judy Robertson and the fourth for Jean Young.
Former Otago football player Rodney Fleming won his first Bowls Dunedin title when Forbury Park beat the star-studded North East Valley combination of Colin Wheeler, Jim Scott and Terry Scott 18-10.
It was the third title for Mike Bracegirdle, whose second title was in 2004, and the fourth for Peter Wilson, who last won in 2007.
The Kaikorai combination of Russell Dawe and Joe Gordon defended their Dunedin open pairs title when they beat Robbie Gibson and Kevin Archer (Taieri) 21-14.
It was the second centre title for Gordon and the sixth for Dawe.
Dawe to umpire tests
Dawe will umpire the transtasman tests between the Black Jacks and Australia and the Six Nations event in Christchurch next month.
He was also on duty at the Asia and Pacific championships last December.
Dunedin's Michael Ayres will be chief umpire at the New Zealand under-18 and under-21 championships in Christchurch at Easter.
Classic Pairs next week
The best female bowlers in the country will contest the fourth annual Dunedin Casino Classic Pairs at the North East Valley Club on Thursday and Friday.
Coaches appointed
Janice Paap (Auckland) and Evan Roberts (Dunedin) have been appointed the New Zealand Development team coaches for next month's transtasman series in Christchurch.
Roberts has also been appointed the New Zealand coach for the World Junior Championships at the Broadbeach Bowling Club on the Queensland Gold Coast in April.
The New Zealand team is Katelyn Inch (Canterbury) and Sheldon Bagrie-Howley (Gore), who won a silver medal together in the mixed pairs last year.
