A big weekend of indoor bowls is drawing closer.
The Otago Indoor Bowls Association is hosting the southern zone final of the Paterson Trophy.
The action gets under way tomorrow night and winds up on Sunday.
It is being staged upstairs at the Dunedin Ice Stadium.
The Paterson Trophy is a national tournament played across six zones.
The southern zone comprises a team from South Canterbury, North Otago, South Otago, Central Otago, Southland and the home team.
There are eight players plus a reserve in each side.
The teams play each other in fours, pairs and singles with the winner being the team with the most points at the end of the series of games.
The Welch Trophy, which zone winners go on to contest, will not be held this year. But the teams are playing for national grading points for the 2023 tournament, so there is still plenty to play for.
The Otago team includes New Zealand representative Daniel French (Otago), while Southland has two national representatives in its squad — Gary Low and Suzanne Mackie.
The Welch Trophy was first played for in 1952, with Wellington claiming the spoils. Otago last won the trophy in 2003.
The province had a purple patch, winning the trophy three times between 1999 and 2003.
