Begg notches 50th title, 10th star

Mat Begg has won his 50th Central Otago title. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Mat Begg has won his 50th Central Otago title. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
He has the perfect name for his sport and he has a whole bunch of trophies to prove it.

Mat Begg has won his 50th Central Otago title.

Most bowlers are happy to get one star — awarded for winning five titles — but Begg now has an astonishing 10 stars.

He won his 50th title at the Central Otago Indoor Bowls Association championship fours.

Begg’s indoor bowls career began in South Otago, where he showed enough talent to qualify for the national junior championships.

He then played in Dunedin for several years while pursuing his education.

Begg moved to Central Otago in the 1990s and began playing bowls for the Manuherikia club.

He won his first title in 1999, and he has added 49 more in the next 23 years.

He averages more than two per year, an extraordinary hit rate, in everything from singles to fours.

"It has been great fun playing with a range of people across the many bowls disciplines," Begg said.

He has also won over 20 local Henselite singles titles and represented Central Otago at the national finals, winning the singles in 2004.

Begg retired as Central Otago president at the annual meeting at the end of last year after 16 years in the chair.