52nd Adelaide Masters lawn bowls on this weekend

REIGNING Adelaide Masters bowls champion Craig Mills has a simple approach to the tournament he won for the first time last Easter.

Craig Mills (Ascot Park). Lawn Bowls. Premier League Grand Final. Ascot Park v Holdfast Bay, at Hawthorn Bowling Club. 29/03/15. Picture: Stephen Laffer

REIGNING Adelaide Masters bowls champion Craig Mills has a simple approach to the tournament he won for the first time last Easter.

“I enter it every year with no expectations, so I’ll be going into it the same way this year,” Mills, a three-time Masters finalist, said.

“I think I just got lucky last year.”

The Ascot Park skip will return to defend his singles crown at the 52nd edition of the Masters this long weekend.

Hosted by Adelaide Bowling Club, the $15,000 event will feature 64 leading players from SA and interstate.

Adelaide Endurance APL star Scott Thulborn will lead the Croweaters charge, along with the likes of Modbury’s Simon Dorr, Holdfast Bay’s Ashley Klose and Adelaide’s Matty Northcott.

Australian international Shaun Garvey headlines the New South Wales contingent, while seven Victorians feature in the draw.

“There’s a lot of quality players in there, so just to be out on the same green as them is what it’s all about,” Mills, 35, said.

“I’ve made the quarter-finals all but one year that I’ve entered (the Masters), so I seem to usually find some form at that time of the year.”

Sectional play this Friday and Saturday will whittle the field down to 32, before knockout matches on Sunday, and the semi-finals and final on Monday.

Former Masters winners include Australian bowls greats Rob Parella and Ian Schuback.