Disappointed in the singles on Sunday, Gary Watson teamed up with Brendan Hodgson (Stoke) to win the men's pairs today at the national club bowls championships in Invercargill.
Following in the footsteps of the bowler who won the singles title, Pat Houlahan (Alexandra, Central Otago), the Nelson duo bounced back from a crushing defeat on the first day of the championship to win the rest of their matches and take the national title.
"I came away from the singles pretty disappointed. I was pretty close and if I won my last game I would have won it. But I had another chance,'' Watson said.
"We didn't play that well in the first game - we got beaten by 16 points - and Brendan struggled with the artificial green a little bit. We decided on a catch call after the first game. We said we were going to 'do a Pat Houlahan' because he got thrashed in the first round of the singles and then he bounced back and won.''
True to Houlahan's example, the pair won their first match today against defending champions Murray Glassey (skip) and Paul Selby (Heretaunga, Hawkes Bay), 26-10 at the Waverley Bowling Club.
Sitting just behind Trevor Reader (skip) and John Jamieson (Whangarei, Northland), with a final crucial game between them and the title, Watson and Hodgson then dashed past Manurewa Cosmopolitan's Chris Warren (skip) and Bill Jones, 22-8, and onto the podium.
A bitter 27-8 defeat for the Whangarei side in their match against Bill Clements (skip) and Trevor Ludlow (Alexandra, Central Otago) helped ensure a win for the bowlers from Stoke, and a second-place berth for Alexandra.
A first for Hodgson, the victory pushes Watson's tally to four national titles (two mixed pairs and a national club championship triples), one national intercentre and more than 20 centre titles during an illustrious 18-year competitive bowling career.
The 45-year-old comes from good bowling stock, so perhaps it's no surprise that he has done so well.
Both national title-holders, Ken and Marie Watson are synonymous with success on New Zealand greens and Marie is a bonafide bowling legend.
She has won innumerable trophies, including a gold star for winning five national titles, and teamed up with Gary to win the national mixed pairs title in 2007 and 2008.
Fortune also played a part in Watson entering the championships, as he was a substitute for former New Zealand representative Shannon McIlroy in the singles and the pairs.
McIlroy recently broke his wrist, allowing a well-prepared Watson to get his green and continue a family legacy of bowling success.
The first day of triples play at the national club championships begins tomorrow on the Waverley Bowling Club's indoor green
