"It sets off the bells when I go to the airport."
A runner-up in the national fours as well, the retired roofing contract manager knows too well that "reading the map" is imperative for those wanting to progress to the last 16 at Taradale Club, each day from Monday, when the dust starts settling on the singles, pairs, triples and fours.
The nationals finish on Thursday and an annual meeting will be held on Friday to determine the venue of the next event in two years.
The Bay last hosted the men's nationals in 1983 but the defunct Cosmopolitan club in Napier staged the women's equivalent in 2006.
Tomorrow, 39 clubs from throughout the country will descend on Napier with each club allowed a maximum of 10 players.
The singles have lured 112 competitors. Pairs have 105 combinations, triples 70 and fours 55.
Players to make Hamilton's singles quest difficult include father/son Graham and Gary Low, of Invercargill as well as last year's champion, Ash Diamond, of Christchurch, who is a New Zealand representative with Graham Low and played against the Australians in Tauranga a fortnight ago.
Hamilton, who relishes both indoor and outdoor lawn bowls, says the concept of playing is similar although the wind tends to hold up shots on greens, offering falls and flaws.
The slopes on the indoor floorboards can be equally tricky to master.
The father of former Black Caps and Central Districts Stags cricketer Lance Hamilton, Ross put his body through the rigours of cricket as an all-rounder in Counties-Manukau.
"It's [bowls] kinder to the body so as long as the body stands up I'll keep playing," he says, having to make allowances for a stiff hip when standing and delivering from the mat.
"I have to be careful not to lift my head too soon after following up because it creates that extra flick," says Hamilton of a discipline he has been familiar with from his cricketing days.
But three generations of religiously adhered to "keep-your-head-down" philosophy, is thanks to Ross' father, the late Irvin "Hammy" Hamilton, an adroit lawn bowler in his own right
"My father used to say if things are not working great go back to the delivery.
"It's all about concentration - from the head to the finger at the point of delivery."
Lance, he reveals, once had a beer with him when his cricketing left arm had a mind of its own and that advice reaped rewards.
He went on to take "a fistful of wickets", equalling former Black Caps seamer Simon Doull's provincial record for Counties.
In fact, Ross fondly recalls taking a youthful Doull's wicket at first slip while trying to play an outswinger to gulley, after the Metro Club asked him to come out of retirement at 45 following Christmas. He knew Doull's father, Max, of Pukekohe, quite well.
Ross Hamilton, who has been living in Napier for the past 10 years with wife Pam, met her in Hastings when he arrived here in the late 1950s on a working holiday.
But the couple returned to Papakura where Lance was born, one of six siblings - three boys and girls.
They went back to Papakura in 1971 but returned in 2004 after she "gave up driving down to Napier" to visit her family.
A Counties representative captain/selector who went by the nickname of "The Warhorse", the senior Hamilton captained Metro prems when former Black Caps player/coach John Wright was a teammate.
"At Eden Park John pushed TV reporters aside in his last game. He gave them 15 minutes to change and return to the field but instead shook hands and spoke with Lance and I that day."
Another highlight was when former New Zealand player/coach Warren Lees took, a then, 17-year-old Lance to the nets where he bowled to NZ batsmen all afternoon.
While Lance was a left-arm bowler and right-hand batsman, his father, who played for Sharpies Driving Range Taradale CC, was a right-armer who swung the willow as a leftie.
It was Pam who rolled her left-arm indoor first and Ross followed as the lure of other friends consolidated that transition.
The couple, who have won numerous Bay, Auckland, Bay of Plenty pairs crowns together as Counties reps, have also a North Island pairs title to their credit.
Hamilton says he gets as much of an adrenalin fix from the bowling mat as he did on a cricket pitch.
"It kicks in when you're coming down from 74, 32, 16, 8 as well as qualifying and sudden-death games."
If those hormones take hold in the next five days, Hamilton will shrug off the bridesmaid tag in singles and fours at national level.
