The dedicated bowler is now into his 41st season with the club and his passion is not fading any time soon.

Bolte said he had played many sports throughout his time but none resonated with him quite like bowls.

The 80-year-old, who played his first pennant match back in December of 1976, said he loved the atmosphere that bowls provided.

“I’ve spent more time playing bowls than any other sport and I’ve had a crack at most of them,” Bolte said.

“It’s a true team game and I’m a team type of person.”

He currently plays in division four but has played 11 premier league matches as well as 266 division one games.

Narrowing down the highlights to just one proved a difficult task for the experienced campaigner, but he said being named a life member of the club was the ultimate honour for the one-club bowler.

Bolte said skipping a winning rink in a successful grand final, one of three pennant premierships, was also a memorable moment.

While from an individual point of view, triumphing as the club champion in 1991-92 was his best personal achievement.

“The biggest highlight of the lot was being made a life member.

“That was a real shock and surprise – I really do appreciate it.

“Another highlight was to skip a winning rink in a grand final and we won the pennant that year and that really thrilled me.”

When asked how long he planned to keep playing for, Bolte, who still plays two or three times a week, said there was no end-date in site but as far as milestone’s went he was not looking beyond game 700.

“I don’t know about 1000 but I’d like to get to 700 – that’s not far away.” 

Given Bolte’s longevity in the game it has allowed him to play alongside some of the best bowlers to come out of Ballarat and now with the increased interest in the game among younger people, he was enjoying passing on some of his knowledge to the promising players.

“We’ve got an upcoming group, we’ve got a good group of young bowlers coming through.

“They’ve got keen ideas, they make old peanuts like me shake up, they keep you moving.”