More than 200 athletes from 28 countries will compete at the Bendigo Bowls Club at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
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The club and its four international standard greens was confirmed as the host for the Games' lawn bowls competitions on Thursday when acting premier Jacinta Allan visited the club.
Bendigo Bowls Club president Geoff Briggs said the hosting duties were a highlight for the 150-year-old club.
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"This will be the absolute cream on the cake for our club," he said. "I know our members will be really excited as will the whole bowling community here in Bendigo, which is considered to be one of the best bowls communities anywhere in the state.
"We have a record of having great events and I'm sure that everybody here in the club and in the city itself will do their very best to make this a wonderful thing."
Briggs said the club had been recognised on an interstate and a national level now for some time.
"To be chosen to hold this international event - probably the biggest bowls event on in the world's calendar - the Commonwealth Games, it's an absolute honor," he said. "We're just over the moon for this.
"We sort of anticipated that we were in the running because of the size and the extent of our facilities, their location compared to the other Bendigo clubs.
"The clubs here are all fantastic but I guess it came down to our location the fact that we have four international quality greens here along with the surrounding infrastructure."
Allan said she was pleased to see one of the state's historic bowls clubs hosting the Commonwealth Games lawn bowls events.
"This is a great feather in the cap for the Bendigo lawn bowls club it's about to celebrate its 150th anniversary," she said.
"It's an institution in our city and it has produced many fantastic athletes over the years as well as supporting the recreation and the regular pennant activity that's held year round."
Preparations for the 2026 event will include ensuring greens at in peak condition as well as seating for large crowds of bowls fans.
"We will do a lot of preparations on the greens. Bowlers want the best greens and we've got a wonderful greenkeeper here in Andrew Brown," Briggs said.
"He's a very high performing bowler himself and will make sure that these greens are some of the best that these players have ever seen.
"This morning I've been looking along the eastern end of our facility where there's an opportunity for grandstands to be erected. I think you'll see a fantastic stadium atmosphere develop around our club."
Allan said further conversations would be held with venues hosting sports about what work is needed to be done in preparation for the 2026 event.
"This is a venue that can host these elite international competitions but will now have conversations with the club about what other work needs to be done," she said. "One of the things we've got to think about is how we make sure that the broadcasting capacity is right at each venue."
Bendigo is also set to host netball, squash and T20 cricket as part of the 2026 Regional Victoria Commonwealth Games.
"We will be making further announcements for those other sports that will be held in Bendigo as those venues are finalised," she said.
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