Meanwhile, Wanganui women's coach Chris Waterson was more than happy with his "quality squad".
"We will will need to be on our game to feature in a quality section," Waterson said yesterday.
"We have drawn West Coast, Gisborne/East Coast, Northland and the Far North, but I'll be disappointed if we don't make the quarter-finals with the team we have. We have been working hard on mental toughness and form on the greens and all of these women can play. It's just a matter of things going our way. Karen Coombe is our leading player and she has been training down at Burnside in Christchurch and is in very good form. We just need to peak at the right time and hopefully that's in post-section play on Sunday," Waterson said.
Qualifying rounds begin tomorrow and continue through to Saturday, while Sunday has been reserved for post-section play. The teams will compete in singles, pairs and fours, with the men playing at Hillsboro Bowling Club and Howick, while the women will roll up at Howick and Birkenhead.
Peter Head is the non-travelling men's reserve, while Rona O'Shea is the women's back-up.