Lawn bowling might be the perfect sport to get into as the weather cools off this fall. The Chesapeake Bay Lawn Bowling Club gathers for games twice a week at the Chesapeake Bay Croquet Club in Hartfield.
Club member Sissy Hall recently gave a crash course on the basics of lawn bowling to a new member, telling her “There is etiquette [and] there are rules.”
The game is played on a green in lanes called rinks, using a bias weighted ball called bowls that are rolled towards a small white ball called a jack. “The small dot has the bias,” Hall explained, pointing to the side of the bowl. “When you roll, if you watch, the bowl will start turning towards the bias side [as it slows down].”
For a game of pairs, there are two teams, each with a lead and a skip. The leads are first up to bowl, in tandem, while the skips stand behind the head, the cluster of bowls around the jack, ready to give advice if needed. “When they finish, the leads will go behind the head and the skips will come up [to t...