Definitely not your grandfather’s bowling green By Kris Grant Just in time for spring and the 75th anniversary of lawn bowling’s 1935 debut in the Crown City, Coronado’s lawn bowling green is ready for action. And it’s in better form than ever before. The new green, set for a dedication on March 17, features a specialized artificial turf manufactured in Australia. The turf utilizes a non-directional yarn pattern that allows a lawn bowl (that’s bowl, not ball, for the uninitiated lawn bowler) to follow its own natural course. The half-inch deep turf is infilled with more than 20 tons of special silicon sand, and underneath that is four inches of very small aggregate. Just before bowlers take to the green, water sprinklers are turned on for about five minutes, which packs down the sand under the turf, resulting in a firm surface with a bit of “give” — much like walking along wet sand at the ocean’s edge. Lawn bowling is a sport in which the goal is to roll slightly asymmetric balls, called “bowls,” closest to a smaller, usually white, bowl called the “jack.” It’s a fairly old game, traced back to 13th century London. Today the game is popular throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Denmark, Hong Kong and parts of the United States. It is also gaining popularity in Japan. 48 Coronado Lifestyle • Spring 2010
Although city records are a bit vague, lawn bowling enthusiast Bill Hiscock believes the first Coronado green may have been at the corner of Sixth and D, where a city tennis court is now situated. Shortly thereafter it was moved to its present location of Seventh and D, opposite what is now the Senior Center. Earlier the building was the City’s Recreation Department and may have been constructed as the Lawn Bowling Clubhouse. Hiscock led the campaign for the resurrection of the lawn bowling green, which had fallen into disrepair in the 1990s and was then used as staging area for the library construction project from 2003 through 2005. He looks back to a long history of the Lawn Bowling Club in the city. “The club was closed down during World War II because the war so impacted Coronado,” Hiscock said. “But it reopened after the war. In the 1950s, travel was harder and club members didn’t travel all around the nation and the world like we do today. But I found a photo showing that the club was in a national tournament in Washington State and they won a tournament in Santa Ana.” Hiscock first discovered lawn bowling when he came to California in 1951. “I rented an apartment a block south of Wilshire in Los Angeles, and the Santa
Monica Lawn Bowling Club was right there. Donald Douglas, the guy who founded the Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica in 1921 (remember those DC-3s), gave that block to the city for a park and a lawn bowling club was put in there.” Hiscock has competed in tournaments all over the world, including New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Australia, the latter country boasting 800,000 lawn bowlers out of a population of 23 million. There are four lawn bowling clubs in San Diego County — Coronado, Joslin Lake Hodges, San Diego (in Balboa Park) and Oaks North (in Rancho Bernardo). At the conclusion of the library construction, Hiscock was surprised to hear that a meeting was scheduled with the city to discuss possibly eliminating the green. He sprung into action and within a few days had 300 signatures on an informal petition to support lawn bowling. Today, there are 77 dues-paying members of the Coronado Lawn Bowling Club “and we have a long list of people who want to try a lesson,” said Hiscock, who will be offering “Introduction to Lawn Bowling” classes this spring through Coronado’s adult education. There are two reasons he loves the sport. “First, it’s very competitive,” he explains. “In golf, you are really playing against yourself. No matter where you hit your ball, you’re not going to affect the other fellow and where he hits his ball. In lawn bowling, you can come up and hit the other guy’s bowl away from the jack. So the game changes, the lead changes and it’s exciting. “It’s also very genteel and social. You never ‘boo!’ You always praise your opponents. Inside, you might hope he doesn’t make it, but outside you’re always a lady or gentleman.”
In tournament play, those ladies and gentlemen always wear “whites,” meaning white shirts and pants; players usually follow through with white hats and shoes, too. Typical teams are “triples,” and are usually mixed. There’s no distinction between men and women with teams
from left: Rob Crenshaw, Mike Woiwode and Bill Hiscock are ready to roll on Coronado’s new green.
selected by lots. “Draw games are the heart and soul of local bowling clubs,” Hiscock said. “One day you’ll pick a champion as a partner and you’ll think you’re really good.” A tentative schedule at the green offers game play on Tuesday, 1:30 p.m.; Wednesday, 10 a.m.; Thursday, 3 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. and Sunday, 2 p.m. Whites are required on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Recently, the Island Beer Club — an informal group of guys who graduated from Coronado High School in bygone years — came down to the club to try out the sport. “The beer guys caught on incredibly well,” Hiscock said approvingly. “They actually played a game and had fun.” Spring 2010 • Coronado Lifestyle 49
Definitely not your grandfather’s bowling green By Kris Grant Just in time for spring and the 75th anniversary of lawn bowling’s 1935 debut in the Crown City, Coronado’s lawn bowling green is ready for action. And it’s in better form than ever before. The new green, set for a dedication on March 17, features a specialized artificial turf manufactured in Australia. The turf utilizes a non-directional yarn pattern that allows a lawn bowl (that’s bowl, not ball, for the uninitiated lawn bowler) to follow its own natural course. The half-inch deep turf is infilled with more than 20 tons of special silicon sand, and underneath that is four inches of very small aggregate. Just before bowlers take to the green, water sprinklers are turned on for about five minutes, which packs down the sand under the turf, resulting in a firm surface with a bit of “give” — much like walking along wet sand at the ocean’s edge. Lawn bowling is a sport in which the goal is to roll slightly asymmetric balls, called “bowls,” closest to a smaller, usually white, bowl called the “jack.” It’s a fairly old game, traced back to 13th century London. Today the game is popular throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Denmark, Hong Kong and parts of the United States. It is also gaining popularity in Japan. 48 Coronado Lifestyle • Spring 2010
Although city records are a bit vague, lawn bowling enthusiast Bill Hiscock believes the first Coronado green may have been at the corner of Sixth and D, where a city tennis court is now situated. Shortly thereafter it was moved to its present location of Seventh and D, opposite what is now the Senior Center. Earlier the building was the City’s Recreation Department and may have been constructed as the Lawn Bowling Clubhouse. Hiscock led the campaign for the resurrection of the lawn bowling green, which had fallen into disrepair in the 1990s and was then used as staging area for the library construction project from 2003 through 2005. He looks back to a long history of the Lawn Bowling Club in the city. “The club was closed down during World War II because the war so impacted Coronado,” Hiscock said. “But it reopened after the war. In the 1950s, travel was harder and club members didn’t travel all around the nation and the world like we do today. But I found a photo showing that the club was in a national tournament in Washington State and they won a tournament in Santa Ana.” Hiscock first discovered lawn bowling when he came to California in 1951. “I rented an apartment a block south of Wilshire in Los Angeles, and the Santa
Monica Lawn Bowling Club was right there. Donald Douglas, the guy who founded the Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica in 1921 (remember those DC-3s), gave that block to the city for a park and a lawn bowling club was put in there.” Hiscock has competed in tournaments all over the world, including New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Australia, the latter country boasting 800,000 lawn bowlers out of a population of 23 million. There are four lawn bowling clubs in San Diego County — Coronado, Joslin Lake Hodges, San Diego (in Balboa Park) and Oaks North (in Rancho Bernardo). At the conclusion of the library construction, Hiscock was surprised to hear that a meeting was scheduled with the city to discuss possibly eliminating the green. He sprung into action and within a few days had 300 signatures on an informal petition to support lawn bowling. Today, there are 77 dues-paying members of the Coronado Lawn Bowling Club “and we have a long list of people who want to try a lesson,” said Hiscock, who will be offering “Introduction to Lawn Bowling” classes this spring through Coronado’s adult education. There are two reasons he loves the sport. “First, it’s very competitive,” he explains. “In golf, you are really playing against yourself. No matter where you hit your ball, you’re not going to affect the other fellow and where he hits his ball. In lawn bowling, you can come up and hit the other guy’s bowl away from the jack. So the game changes, the lead changes and it’s exciting. “It’s also very genteel and social. You never ‘boo!’ You always praise your opponents. Inside, you might hope he doesn’t make it, but outside you’re always a lady or gentleman.”
In tournament play, those ladies and gentlemen always wear “whites,” meaning white shirts and pants; players usually follow through with white hats and shoes, too. Typical teams are “triples,” and are usually mixed. There’s no distinction between men and women with teams
from left: Rob Crenshaw, Mike Woiwode and Bill Hiscock are ready to roll on Coronado’s new green.
selected by lots. “Draw games are the heart and soul of local bowling clubs,” Hiscock said. “One day you’ll pick a champion as a partner and you’ll think you’re really good.” A tentative schedule at the green offers game play on Tuesday, 1:30 p.m.; Wednesday, 10 a.m.; Thursday, 3 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. and Sunday, 2 p.m. Whites are required on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Recently, the Island Beer Club — an informal group of guys who graduated from Coronado High School in bygone years — came down to the club to try out the sport. “The beer guys caught on incredibly well,” Hiscock said approvingly. “They actually played a game and had fun.” Spring 2010 • Coronado Lifestyle 49