Bensham Manor Bowling Club

The Game

​

Bowls is a simple game, played on a square of closely cut grass called 'the green' which is divided into playing areas called rinks. The green is surrounded by a ditch to catch bowls which leave the green and a bank upon which markers indicate the corners and centrelines of each rink.

 

Players take turns to deliver their bowls from a mat at one end of the rink towards a small ball, otherwise known as 'the jack,' at the other end. The bowls are shaped so that they take a curved path towards the jack. To be successful the bowl must be delivered with the correct weight and along the correct line.

 

The aim is to get as many of your bowls closer to the jack than those of your opponent on each end - one point is scored for each counting bowl.

 

There are different formats to the game: singles, pairs, triples or fours. In singles, the winner is the first to score 21 points. In the other three formats, the winner is the team that scores the most points over a set number of ends.