Bryce AldertonImagine rolling a three-pound ball you...

Bryce Alderton

Imagine rolling a three-pound ball you know will curve, but still

have to judge its speed and direction without knowing where it will

stop.

*

Welcome to the world of lawn bowling, a game developed in

13th-century England that can be played right here in Corona del Mar

at the Newport Harbor Lawn Bowling Club, one of only 100 clubs in the U.S. to house the game. The club is one of nine Orange County lawn

bowling facilities and among 32 Southern California bowling clubs

located between San Diego and Santa Maria.

The game -- played on a rink which measures at least 14 feet wide

-- requires players to roll their “bowls” as close to a single white

ball, called a “jack.” A team can consist of one to as many as four

players and points are awarded for whoever rolls the bowl closest to

the jack. Singles and doubles roll two bowls while each player uses

three bowls in triples. Each competitor rolls two bowls in a game of

fours. Eight rinks can fit on a green that is at least 120 square

feet.

Bowls weigh less than four pounds with one side slightly

flattened, eliciting a natural curve when it is rolled on the short

grass.

Therein lies the challenge of the game: attempting to master the

bowl’s curvature.

Mert Isaacman, who has won U.S. singles championships in 1988,

1999 and 2000 and is the only American to claim any medal in

international singles competition, said the game presents many

challenges not easily noticed by the casual observer.

“The faster the green, the longer it takes the ball to roll to the

target because you have to allow for more curvature,” Isaacman said.

“It is hard to put it on a jack each time. The closer you can get on

a consistent basis, the more you are going to win.”

A bowl can hit the jack, placed at least 69 feet from the edge of

the mat where a player stands to roll. If the jack falls short or

rolls out of bounds, the opposing team then gets two chances to roll

the jack to a new location. If the jack rolls out of bounds on the

next two tries, it is positioned 6 feet, 6 inches from the ditch,

which is behind the mat.

After each team throws its bowls, an “end” is completed and a

point is awarded to the team with the bowl closest to the jack. Each

bowl belonging to the same team that is closer to the jack than the

nearest competitors’ counts for one additional point. A person in

charge of daily games or tournaments announces -- prior to the start

of play -- how many “ends” or “points” will constitute a complete

game. The player or team with the most points after the final end is

played, or after the pre-set number of points is reached, wins the

match.

As in all sports, lawn bowling players have positions. In pairs,

triples and fours events, the “skip” is the bowler in charge of his

team. He or she is usually the most skilled team member. Other

positions are “vice skip” and “lead.”

Isaacman, 57, lost a bet lawn bowling with his father and was

determined to improve.

“I said, ‘Let us make it interesting. I will give you $100 if you

win and you only have to give me $10 if I win,’ ” Isaacman recalled

telling his father. “He was a very good player. He gave me a 15-point

start in a game to 21. I didn’t score one point and he beat me,

21-15. That made me angry ... I lost $100.”

Losing a bet is one of the only ways lawn bowling can get

expensive.

NHLBC is open to the public with green fees set at $1 per a 2

1/2-hour round. Free lessons are staged at 10 a.m. every Tuesday and

at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.

A set of bowls costs about $150 and you only need to wear

flat-soled shoes. Initiation fees at the club cost $35 and an annual

membership will run $100.

“It is the most ingenious game invented by the mind of man,” Clare

Donovan, president for the last three years of the NHLBC, said.

“There is a lot of strategy and challenge to it ... the total

package.”

The “total package” includes a social aspect both Isaacman and

Donovan mentioned as why the game has begun to attract more people of

varying ages.

“Lawn bowling is the most hospitable and social sport you can

play,” Isaacman said. “You don’t have to arrange for a partner, you

just go out and play.”

Isaacman started playing in 1986 and spent 10 years in Texas

before coming to California. He trained for the sport in South

Africa.

An international flavor will invade Newport Beach Lawn Bowling

Club Oct. 11-16 for the National Open. Donovan is expecting close to

200 bowlers from places such as Hong Kong and Canada.

“It is the best of the best,” Donovan said about the players

competing in the October event. “You have to qualify for this.”

An international bowls federation, headquartered in Worthing,

England, oversees 42 countries that make up the international World

Bowling Board. It conducts the world championships every four years

and the Asia Pacific Games every two years. U.S. Lawn Bowls

Association and club invitational events are conducted nearly every

weekend in Southern California from February through December.

NHLBC includes two members who have won U.S. singles titles each

of the last three years. Bob Nunez captured the championship last

year and in 2001 while Ed Quo won it in 2000. Quo teamed with Dick

Tait to claim the national open pairs flight title in 1988. Quo has

been a member since 1986 while Nunez has been at the club for 10

years.

Just last month NHLBC hosted its first “Showcase of Lawn Bowling,”

in which the public watched international and U.S. champions compete

for awards.

“It was the all-star game of lawn bowling,” Donovan said. “Players

competing had combined for more than 100 titles.”

NHLBC will host an open house June 21 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Donovan, 68, hopes to draw more people toward a sport that he

stresses can be played by anyone at any age.

“We have had some people move from South Africa who are 10 and 11

years old with a sprinkling of English-born members who are in their

30s.”

Young or old, lawn bowling is alive and well in Newport Beach.