The season’s right for outdoor bowling in Southeast

By David F. Ashton

The Bee, Jul 7, 2010

Long, summer days are perfect for a sport that’s not often seen in the United States – lawn bowls.

For decades, Southeast Portland’s Westmoreland Park has long been home to the Portland Lawn Bowling Club – complete with a clubhouse and a bowling green.

The club’s spokesperson, Carol Cookson, filled us on the game, which is thought to date back to ancient times. “It’s a simple game to learn, but it can take a lifetime to perfect. To start off, we roll ‘bowls’, not balls.

“I’ve been involved with lawn bowling since 1980,” said Cookson. “I saw people out here playing a game. When I stopped by, they welcomed me with open arms. I played for 10 years, took 10 years off because of a career change, and then came back three years ago. It is kind of an unusual sport, but I’m attracted by unusual things.”

These leather-clad bowls aren’t spheroids. “They have a built-in bias,” Cookson explained. “One circumference is round, the sides are slightly flat – one side is flatter than the other. This means that no matter how hard you roll a bowl, it’s not going to roll straight; it’s going to curve.”

The aim of this genteel game – no trash-talking an opponent is allowed! – is to get more of your own team’s bowls closer to the “jack” (it looks like a billiards cue ball) than your opponent does, during each “end”, or round, played, Cookson said.

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