Crown Green Bowls

As a sport, bowling has many different varieties. The game may be played on either real or artificial grass and either indoors or outside. One form, usually called flat green, or rink bowls is played, as the name suggests, on a green that is flattened and players bowl up and down the green. Alternatively, crown green bowls is played on an uneven surface and challenges the player to quickly determine the lie of the land and learn the green. It is this form of bowling that this site is devoted to.

Principles of Bowling

One player begins by bowling the ‘jack’ – a smaller ball. The same player then sends his own bowl (or ‘wood’) and is followed by his opponent. Each player has two bowls and the winner of an ‘end’ is the player who is closest to the jack. If a player has one bowl closer than his opponents he scores a point. If he has two bowls closer than his opponents nearest bowl then he scores two points. The winner is the first player to score 21 points. The full rules of crown green bowls can be found here.

Bias of the Bowl

Bowls do not travel in a straight line as they are designed to make them curve. This is called a ‘bias’. The bowl will naturally pull to one side – the side is usually determined by a dimple in that side. The challenge of the game is to not only determine the right angle to release the bowl in order to place it closest to the jack, but to do so whilst also trying to navigate the uneven nature of the green.

Where to Bowl

There are bowling clubs spread across the United Kingdom, most often associated with local pubs. Crown green bowls tends to be more popular in the Midlands and the North of England. Further south is generally flat green or rink.