Lawn Bowls Tournament
2006-07-19

A small social event, just for a laugh. We planned it for what would hopefully be a nice night in the summer and managed to hit one of the hottest days ever in Carlisle! El Scorchio!

The format was a nice casual pairs tournament, with five or six games of three ends. (see rules at the end).

Firstly, I hope everyone enjoyed the evening.

A major embarrassment on my part to actually end up on the winning team, and with the Boss at that!! I can confirm that this was a random pairing, and that no match fixing was involved....

And now the worst bit.... I miscounted and it turned out that David Keith and James Notman came second, and that Dilys Bowness and Sheila Marsh came third. Many, many apologies to them. Hopefully the prizes can be redistributed without too much disappointment.

In hindsight, it would have been better to have played as many rounds as there were teams, so that all teams sat one round out. Also, as not everyone played everyone, a final between the two highest scoring teams probably was a better idea, as was the format in the full NHS tournaments in previous years.

There were a couple of queries on scoring after games had finished, but as the scores had already been agreed by the teams involved, then those scores stood.

Special mentions:
Christian Van Tilburg, both for his "prone bowling style" more akin to a curler, and also his immense glee at winning the wooden spoon.
Steve Philips, for best headwear
James Notman, for his very stylish bowling technique (some were suggesting he'd been practicing in front of a mirror).
Mark "Planet Killer" Jackson, for managing to get a hamstring injury and consuming the most alcohol

So before you look at the final table, scorecards and rules, why not check out all the photos.

Lawn Bowls Rules Summary

The standard bowling green divided into six rinks or lanes. The bowler must have one foot on a rubber mat, 14 by 24 inches size, when delivering a ball.

The target ball, or "jack", is a small white ball. Each bowler has two "bowls" (balls/woods). They are not perfectly round; they weighted slightly on one side, enough to make the ball curve about 4 feet in that direction over a distance of 100 feet. This weight is called the "bias". It will be best to spend a minute or two practicing before competing, if you've never played before.

Before each match, the teams will toss a coin to decide which team goes first. The first contestant to bowl first rolls the jack ball. If it doesn't go at least 75 feet, or if it goes out of the rink boundaries, the other team rolls it. The jack is then centred in the lane at that distance from the mat (the "length") and then becomes the target for all the bowlers.

Having rolled the jack, the first bowler (called the lead) rolls a bowl, then the other team's lead rolls bowl. Then each lead rolls their second bowl. Then the other players (or "anchors") take their turns.

When walking up and down a lane/rink, try to walk along the edge as much as possible, and not when a player is bowling.

The player not bowling is allowed to stand near the jack and provide verbal feedback to their bowling partner.

It is permissible to knock an opponent's ball out of place.

If the jack is knocked into the end gully, then any bowl which touched the jack counts even if they are in the gulley, and any bowl still on the lane or rink counts also. If the Jack is knocked into a neighbouring rink/lane or into a side gulley, the next player rolls it again from the mat, whilst balls that have already been rolled remain in place.

Once all the balls have been rolled, thus completing the end, scoring is similar to the scoring in horseshoes or curling: A team gets 1 point for each of its bowl closer to the jack than any of the opponent's bowls. The team which scores in one end rolls first in the next end.

Competition format:
- Only 6 lanes, so only 12 teams (of two players) playing at one time
- Teams move alternately in opposite directions so that no team plays on a lane all night. As teams register, they are allocated a number or letter A, 1, B, 2 etc. The letter teams move first, then the number teams, and so on.
- Each match is two ends
- Teams will decide amongst themselves end winners and complete the scorecard before bowls are moved
- Scorecards will be passed to the official scorer at the end of each match (probably "Honest" Dave Atkinson)

The winner on the evening will be decided on:
- the number of ends won
- the total number of scoring bowls
- Any result between drawing teams
- A one bowl "sudden death". Organiser bowls the jack, and each drawing team designates a player to bowl one bowl.

So remember, every scoring bowl may be important!

Players must wear flat soled shoes to protect the bowling surface. Drinks must be kept away from the playing surface to prevent spillages and broken glass on the bowling surface.

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