OAKS NORTH

LAWN BOWLING CLUB

San Diego, CA

Bowls, bowling greens, bowl playing
by Edward T. Ayers. 2nd ed. (London : Jarrold, [1894].)

Lawn bowls has been popular in England, and especially Scotland, at least since Tudor times.

  Many country houses had sections of their grounds set out as bowling greens, but organized lawn bowls as a competitive sport dates from the Victorian period.

The Game of Lawn Bowls
 

     Lawn Bowls is a team game. It is played on a rectangular section of a grassed area known as a "rink". Two, three, or four players form opposing teams. Players alternately roll three or four "bowls" towards a white ball (the "jack") which has been positioned near the far end of the rink.

     A game is made up of a series of contests. In each contest, the winning team scores one point for each of its' bowls that end up closer to the jack than the closest of the opponents' bowls. The team with the greatest total score is the winner.

     The bowls are not perfectly spherical. One side of the bowl's circular running surface is slightly offset. Therein lies a tricky and challenging aspect of the game. When initially released, the bowl tends to follow a straight line. However, as it slows down it tilts towards the offset side and its path curves in that direction.

The bowler's stance, precision and speed of release all influence the quality of the bowl's path, as does the condition of the grass, and - even the wind.

. . . So I took up bowling to win my hubby back                
and found that what he could do with Kitty,       
I could do with Jack