For the 27 year-old Scotsman, now based with the Broadbeach Club on the Gold Coast, his first visit to the Edinburgh of the South proved one to remember as he went deep into the competition at the the weekend, finishing top of section 1 and becoming an automatic qualifier for the quarterfinal stage.
Two of the scalps Anderson took in section play were those of the rising star of bowls in New Zealand, Seamus Curtin (Wellington) and Blackjack Gary Lawson (Canterbury), a winner of many New Zealand titles and five world championship medals.
"Yeah, they’re two of the best in New Zealand. It’s always good to play the good players," he said of his progress towards the knockout stage.
He got as far as the semifinals in which he was beaten by finalist Canadian Ryan Bester, 25-9, yesterday.
But Anderson was quick to play down his good start, putting it down to "managing to get over the line".
"You’ve just got to keep ticking along, and take it one game at a time."
A product of the Dumbarton Club, near Loch Lomond, in the west of Scotland, Anderson first took to playing bowls as a 9-year-old, winning his first major title in 2011 when he won the Scottish and British under-25 singles in 2011.
He has represented Scotland on countless occasions since, mainly in under-25 competition, before moving to the Gold Coast three years ago.
His move to Australia was somewhat out of the blue and came while he was representing Scotland in the World Under 25s at Broadbeach in 2014. After losing the semifinal to Malaysia he took in the final, and while doing so was approached by the manager of Broadbeach Bowling Club to see if he was interested in moving to Australia and becoming a member at Broadbeach.
"It’s been a pretty good move. I’ve seen most of Australia and been to New Zealand a couple of times. It’s been awesome playing out of the Broadbeach Club.
"It’s a wee bit warmer than Glasgow."
As for beach life on the Gold Coast he was quick to draw parallels.
"You don’t get sharks in Scotland."
Fulfilling the role as a "utility man" for Broadbeach Bowls Club, he had the role of greenkeeper for the club at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year.
"I never made the team for Scotland. They’re too good. With players such as [Alex] Marshall and [Paul] Forster, they can beat Australia without me," he said of missing Commonwealth Games selection.
Although playing in the world cup for Scotland last year and falling somewhat off the Scottish selectors’ radar, since his move to the Gold Coast Anderson has no regrets.
"I’d rather live in Australia, to be honest.
"But Scotland has a really good side. So it’s hard to break into. They keep beating Australia and winning everything," adding that it needed to stop beating Australia to give him another chance.
The NEV 10,000 has impressed him with its quality field and mixture of current and future internationals. He brought form into the tournament with a win in the Tasmanian Mad Dog Singles two weeks ago.
Scottish bowler
Kevin Anderson
Age: 27
Scottish club: Dumbarton.
Australian club: Broadbeach
Bowls: Size 4 Taylor or Redline SR
Major titles: Scottish and British under-25 singles champion 2011; Scottish national singles champion 2014; Australian triples champion in international composite team that included Ryan Bester (Canada) and Sean Ingham (Australia) 2017.
Other sporting interest: Passionate Celtic Football fan
