The Woolsthorpe farmer won eight of his nine games in the round-robin competition at Illawarra in New South Wales to claim the crown, far eclipsing the two games he won last time around.

“I played singles three or four years ago … it was just a pretty good learning curve,” Draffen said.

“(This year) I had a couple of good wins early.

“On the second day, I played Arthur Finch, a terrific bowler from Timboon who has won it before, and Ian Ogilvie from New South Wales.

“I thought if I could win one, I’d be in with a chance, but I managed to win both of those games and I came from behind to win both times.

“I lost one game for the week – and it was to a bloke who only won one other game.”

Draffen knew heading into his final game for the championships that he could only finish first or second, but it took until the second last end for him to all but secure top spot, allowing him to relax and enjoy the final passage of play.

“The last end, I was just sitting there feeling ‘wow, I just won the Australian singles’ – I was getting a bit teary,” he said.

The win was the latest for Draffen in what has been a phenomenal season.

He took out the Victorian singles’ title – claiming back-to-back honours – and was also crowned the Victorian men’s singles champion of champions.

But his national win meant he was able to “square it up” with daughter Anne, now based in Ballarat, who has previously won the ladies’ singles national title.

Draffen and Finch – who finished second after winning seven of his nine games – also earned spots in the initial 12-man Australian squad to compete in a test series against New Zealand next May.

It is Draffen’s first time in the squad, which will be trimmed to seven after trials in Sydney in January.

The pair were among a large contingent of south-west bowlers to secure medals at the national championships.

Heytesbury’s Jan Ovens and Maria Van Someren were part of the gold medal-winning Victorian ladies triples, while Warrnambool’s Nicole Collins was in the winning ladies fours.

Brian ‘Blackie’ Lenehan, Ian Lake (both Warrnambool) and Sandi Johnstone (Heytesbury) also secured gold as part of the state’s mixed fours team.

Debbie Keane (Warrnambool) and Jenny Meade (Heytesbury) won silver in the mixed fours, while Gillian Phillips and Jacinta Marney (both Warrnambool) won bronze in the ladies triples.