Mason (27), a purchasing officer at Dunedin Public Hospital, survived a semifinal scare against Andy McLean (Taieri) when, after trailing by five shots in the closing stages, he managed to dig into his bag of tricks to win 21-19.
It was also a game that mirrored that of his opponent in the final, Dave Archer (Taieri), who edged Paul Nicholls (St Kilda) also by 21-19.
The semifinal matches were an appetiser for the high-pressure bowls that followed in the final between Mason and Archer.
With no big-scoring numbers, the match came down to each scoring from the mistakes of the other.
A series of low-scoring ends had the game locked up at 12-12 after 18 ends but, as the pressure went on, it was Mason who was able to absorb it best to jump out to a 19-12 lead at the end of the 22nd end.
But Archer hit back to come back within three shots of Mason over the next two ends, only for Mason to score the two he needed to win the race to score 21 on the 25th end, to win 25-16.
"I battled away all day. My opponents played well, but I think the green was pretty hard to play as well.
‘‘You just had to be patient and accept the good bowl from the opposition here and there," Mason said after the final adding that the green seemed to speed up a little as the day went on.
As for his finals battle with Archer, Mason said he just did his best to try to get himself out of trouble.
"Dave just fought away and hung in there. I just had to bide my time and take each scoring shot as it came.
‘‘To his credit, he [Archer] played very well."
The title was Mason’s third Dunedin Centre title for the season following titles in the open pairs and triples.
He is up for a fourth, and the full set of open titles when, with club-mates Glen Murtagh, Nigel Thompson and Duane White, he will play Fairfield in the final of the open fours next Sunday at the North East Valley greens.
Archer was full of praise for Mason afterwards, saying he was probably a bit more steady than he was.
"It was tough,’’ he said adding that the game was there for the taking if you were persistent.
"That’s bowls," he said.
