There were three bowling clubs in the Queensland mining town but the once flourishing Eastern Suburbs club has now gone into recess.
"The green and the clubrooms are there but there are no players and supporters," Morris said on his arrival in Dunedin yesterday.
"The club is like a ghost town."
Morris won the prestigious Speight's North East Valley Invitation singles in 1992 and this is the 14th time he has played in the tournament.
Morris (52), who owns a Mount Isa building company, was one of Australia's most successful international bowlers from 1988 to 1996.
He won a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games pairs in 1990 and represented his country at World Bowls in 1988 and 1992.
He retired from international bowls in 1996 but still enjoys returning to Dunedin for the North East Valley event.
He explained why his club went into recess.
"Mount Isa is a mining town and the mines operate on shift work over 24hr," Morris said.
"When guys retire they leave town."
The Eastern Suburbs club once had 40 playing members and 700 social members.
"It was just bad management," Morris said.
The club was financed through poker machines but the club was not able to sustain the staff necessary to make the club financially viable.
Morris said that clubs that operate poker machines can sustain themselves in big cities like Sydney and Melbourne but not in smaller towns.
He said some bowling clubs in Australia were struggling to retain members and several were going into recess.
The problem of dwindling numbers is also a problem in New Zealand, with Bowls New Zealand encouraging smaller clubs to amalgamate.
"But that won't happen to North East Valley, because it is a family-oriented club with most of the work done by volunteers," Morris said.
Manager and greenkeeper Terry Scott is the only paid employer at the North East Valley club. Robert Gibson has recently taken up a similar position at the Taieri club.
Morris was catching up on lost time when he practised on the North East Valley green after his arrival in Dunedin yesterday afternoon.
The invitation singles attracts the top bowlers and is best annual singles event in New Zealand. It has prize money of $14,000. The winner's purse is $4,500 and the runner-up receives $2200.
The New Zealand TAB has opened a book on the event, with double World Bowls champion Gary Lawson paying $5, international Ali Forsyth $6.50, and Canadian Ryan Bester and New Zealand representative Shannon McIlroy $8.
The long shots are Dunedin bowlers Alan Black, Bruce Dunn and Nigel Wright on $125 and rookie Craig Ellis on $100.
The players will be keen to impress national coach and selector Dave Edwards, who will be watching with special interest.
Shortly after the tournament, Edwards and co-selectors Terry Scott and Colleen Ferrick will name a national squad of 10 men and 10 women.
Three or four men's positions are wide open.
Section play starts at the North East Valley green at 1.30pm today. Post-section play starts on Sunday afternoon and the final will start at about 1.15pm on Monday.
