Lawn Bowling

Before ever stepping on the lawn bowling green for our field trip, I had a good sense of what to expect from the game having previously played bocce ball and after seeing the game played on television. I had been introduced to bocce ball by my grandmother a few years ago and I immediately recognized its parallels to lawn bowling. The object of the game is exactly the same: to get your bowl closer to the jack than any of the opponent’s bowls. The only difference was the added weight to one side of the bowl and the grass playing surface.

I did however get a much different feel at this venue than at the facility where I played bocce. As I heard in lecture this week, lawn bowling clubs are losing money so they are starting to appeal to a younger crowd with the music they play and the more relaxed attitude towards the game. This was in stark contrast to my experience playing bocce, where I brought down the average age of a player by about 50 years and all of the players seemed to take the game very seriously.

While I really enjoyed my experience lawn bowling, the game definitely took some time to adjust to. My first few bowls were not very pretty, but as I became more accustomed to the break of the ball I began to throw much better. I am not sure I would play the game again, but I definitely gained a greater appreciation for the skill it takes to play the game professionally.