Mount Maunganui’s Nathan Arlidge is amassing a fine record on the bowling green after being named the Bay of Plenty Player of the Year for the second successive time.

Arlidge, 28, an accounting technician at Port of Tauranga, has captured an impressive eight centre lawn bowls titles over the last two seasons – many players would be happy with that achievement in a long-playing career.

“Winning is always fun but I enjoy the social side of the game – being with friends every weekend and meeting new ones,” says Arlidge who started playing bowls at the age of 14 while attending Tauranga Boys’ High School.

“There is still a stigma that bowls is an old man’s sport, but a lot of young people are now playing, competitively and casually, and the mix and image is definitely getting better.”

Arlidge was encouraged by fellow school mate Taylor Duncan, a former national under 18 represetatives, to play bowls.

“He kept nagging me and finally got me down to the (now defunct) Gate Pa club. I loved it and have played ever since.”

This season Arlidge won the centre open and champion of champions fours and the open pairs with Cliff Webber.

He also reached the semi-finals of the national mixed pairs championship with Omokoroa’s Angela Stephen, who he just pipped for bowler of the year.

In total, Arlidge – the Bay of Plenty representative singles player - has won 12 centre titles but ironically not one of them has been in the singles. He won the national Bowls3 title in the 2022-23 season and was also a semi-finalist in the national champion of champions triples.

“I’ve come to the realisation that I won’t make a national side – maybe it’s the politics of it – but I want to continue representing Bay of Plenty and help them to a national inter-centre title,” he says.

Bowls Bay of Plenty Honours Day was held at the Tauranga South Club which has just opened its $1.7 million covered green – the first in the centre and 12th in the country.

Tauranga South is now a host for the New Zealand Professional Bowls series with qualifiers able to compete for a spot in big-money World Bowls Tour events in Britain.

The club sold its third green to fund the new roof and artificial surface which provides all-year play.

The covered green has electrically driven drop-down curtains, a four speaker PA system with Bluetooth and wireless microphone, and 800 lux lighting.

At the honours day, Huia Ratana and Charlene Becket (both Ngongotaha) were awarded Gold Stars for winning five centre titles; and Graham Skellern (Tauranga), Nick Tomsett (Mt Maunganui) and Arlidge a bar to their Gold Stars for winning 10 centre titles.

More bars went to Paul Anderson (Mt Maunganui) and Mere Eden (Ngongotaha) for their 15th and 20th centre titles respectively.