San Francisco Lawn Bowling Club

as wilhem said, i see this in my retirement future. this and snowboarding. made an appointment ahead of time. they were prepared for us. very knowledgeable, friendly, eager to teach the game. they ask for a small donation at the end of the lesson, which i was happy to give.

I recently got a possible glimpse of my retired future thanks to members of the San Francisco Lawn Bowling Club (SFLBC) in Golden Gate Park. As a thank you for helping maintain and beautify the prestigious lawn bowling greens in the park our group of volunteers were given access to the SFLBC’s historic clubhouse and lessons on how to play this vintage game which historians believe originated back in 5000 BC with the ancient Egyptians.
For the record the game is tied to similar sports of Bocce in Italy, Boules in France, Bolle in Denmark and is the forerunner to Curling in Canada. The English are credited with reforming the rules of the game to the sport that is played today sometime back in 1299 AD. The sport was introduced to North America in the 1600’s as President George Washington is considered one of the early pioneers to the sport often played on his estate. The San Francisco Lawn Bowling Club originated in October 1901.
Inside the clubhouse I found a treasure chest of history on this ancient sport in the form of vintage photos, awards and documents some of which I’ve photographed and posted in the photos section. There is a kitchen, a meeting hall and separate locker rooms for men and women inside.
The game itself is rather simple to learn with the main emphasis being rolling the little bowling balls officially known as «bowls» as close to the smaller white ball officially referred to as a «jack». The catch is that the bowls are weighted on each end. The bowls are oddly shaped with a wide end and a small end. Depending on whether you roll the bowl with a forehand or a backhand the bowl will curve either to the right or to the left because of its shape. There are out of bounds boundaries to avoid and specific rules such as keeping one foot glued to a brown mat at all times. The bowls rolled closest to the jack earn a point and games can be played up to a specific point total or up to a certain number of ends, lawn bowling’s equivalence to baseball innings or hockey periods. Sides are alternated after each end so there is no advantage or disadvantage to starting a game on any side.
Although the members of the SFLBC insist that lawn bowling is a game for all ages I couldn’t help but notice that most of the men and women involved in game play during my visit were slightly advanced in age than me. The official attire color for lawn bowling is white and only flat soled shoes are allowed on Golden Gate Park’s lawn bowling greens. I can’t picture myself in all white apparel so if I do ever take up this sport that rule will need to be bent.
All in all it was a fun sport, and I thank the members of the SFLBC for their education and gamesmanship.