He was beaten in the quarter-finals at the Speight's North East Valley Invitation singles yesterday by local boy Shaun Scott (North East Valley) 25-13.
Lawson is one of New Zealand's most successful bowlers on the national and international scene but a win in the prestige North East Valley event has always eluded him.
He was runner-up to internationals Ian Dickison in 1996, to Jim Scott in 2001 and Paul Girdler in 2002.
"The green didn't allow you to play the forehand both ways," Lawson said. "But Shaun played well and I'm pleased for him."
Scott (43), who grew up in Bannockburn, had been the bridesmaid in major events until earlier this year, when he won the New Zealand champion of champions club singles title.
He has started the new season in style by out-drawing Lawson who struggled in the tricky conditions.
It was the first time he has beaten Lawson in singles.
"It wasn't easy out there and the breeze was whipping around a bit in the corners," Scott said.
"Gary is a talented player and I just concentrated on the draw and hoped that sooner or later he would miss one," Scott said.
If Scott can maintain his form for two more games today and win the final, it would help his chances of being named in the 10-man New Zealand squad that will be announced in two weeks.
The game was evenly poised after 13 ends, when Lawson led 10-9.
But Scott then took charge and scored 13 shots on the next eight ends to lead 22-10 after 21 ends.
Scott kept putting his bowl close to the jack and this forced Lawson to play too many drives and upshots and he lost his weight.
Lawson showed his frustration on the 19th end, when he let fly with drives with his first two bowls and Scott added two more shots to his tally.
The game was over and it was just a matter of by how many shots Scott would win.
Scott will play Sydney-based Ali Forsyth in this morning's semifinal.
Forsyth (28) revealed his superb temperament when he beat former international Andrew Curtain 25-24 in a cliff- hanger.
Forsyth, the singles player in the New Zealand men's team that won the Leonard Trophy at World Bowls Last January, has also won the world champion of champions title.
But he had to work hard to beat Curtain. His accurate driving gave him the advantage when Curtain had shots on the head.
Forsyth's audacity frustrated Curtain and he sneaked away to a 23-18 lead after 31 ends.
Curtain scored six shots on the next three ends to lead 24-23.
Forsyth kept himself in the game by drawing second shot on the penultimate end when Curtain held three shots.
On the final end he was two down on the head when he drew the shot with his third bowl and added the bonus shot to win the game with his last bowl.
In the other cliff-hanger, the experienced Steve Posa (Canterbury) drew the winning shot with his fourth bowl when he was three down on the head to beat Sydney-based World Bowls fours gold-medallist Richard Girvan 25-23.
Posa (39), who has honed his skills on the Professional Bowls Association indoor rinks and has competed in seven PBA finals in the United Kingdom, displayed an ice-cool temperament to beat Girvan.
Posa will meet the promising Shannon McIlroy (Nelson) in the other semifinal.
McIlroy (21), who won the event two years ago, beat former international Paul Girdler (Dunedin) 25-20 through skilful use of upshots and drives.
He was able to play the rescue shots when down on the head and this gave him the advantage.
The semifinals will start at 9.30am at the North East Valley green this morning. The final is expected to start at 1.15pm.
