Lawn Bowling

Objective

• Bowls or lawn bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls called woods so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green which may be flat, convex or uneven. The objective is to score the most points over 14 ends.

Game length

• Games are comprised of 14 ends (or when time runs out).
• Games start and end according to the official schedule.
• If games start late, games must finish at the scheduled time (e.g. 6:45pm-8:00pm).

Equipment

• Players are required to wear flat soled shoes.
• All rinks will be set-up with mats and flip scoreboards.
• Players must pick-up scorecard and appropriate set of bowls from Clubhouse.
• Teams are required to keep score.

Players on Green, Gender Ratio and Defaults

• Teams are comprised of 3 players - a skip, a second, and a lead.
• The skips set-up at the far end of the rink where they will manage the head (terminology for bowls gathered around the jack)
• The lead of the winning team sets the mat anywhere before the yellow marker and bowls the jack to where their skip indicates.
• The skip centers the jack in the rink.

Game Set-Up

• Games begin with a coin flip to determine which team has first bowl.

General Game Rules

• The lead of the team who won the coin toss bowls first, while the skips stand behind the head (other end of the rink) and direct bowls for their team.
• Back of Mat must be placed a minimum 2m out from ditch, but can be positioned up further.
• Jack must be delivered 23m from mat; however, any jack delivered within 2m of the opposite ditch is centered at the 2m mark. Jacks delivered out of bounds, into the ditch or too short are returned for the opposing team to deliver. They may re-set the mat before doing so.
• One foot must be on the mat while bowling.
• Each lead alternates bowls until all 3 are done.
• Seconds wait their turn in behind off the rink.
• Once seconds have bowled, skips come down and bowl their 4 bowls, while seconds control the head and leads watch from the side.
• Points are scored by bowls ending up closest to the jack.
• The bowl closest to the jack scores one point until an opponent’s bowl is closer and cancels it out. Each bowl on that team scores a point until a rival bowl is deemed closer.
• Bowls in the ditch which have been marked with chalk count.
• If a discrepancy occurs, and seconds cannot agree, a skip from another rink or Club Member can measure.
• The winning team’s lead sets the next mat while the losing team’s lead rakes in the bowls.
• After four ends are complete, skip becomes lead, lead becomes second, and second becomes skip.
• Bowls which finish outside rink boundaries are removed by that player’s Skip.
• A bowl lands on a line, it is considered ‘in’. (Players on the mat end of rink stand on marker and advise).
• Bowls which land in ditch are also removed... unless it touched the jack when first delivered.
• If the jack is knocked out of bounds it’s re-centered at the 2m mark.
• If the jack has been knocked into the ditch within rink boundaries it remains there. Scoring bowls are measured from where it lies.

Playoffs

• A game can end in a tie during the regular season. 
• During playoffs, if tied at the end of 14 ends then a 15^th tie-breaker end should be played.
• Team playoff position:  Ties in the standings will be broken first by head-to-head play. If there are more than 2 teams that are tied, all the teams must have played each other in order for the results to go to head-to-head. Otherwise, least points against, then +/-, then most points for will determine the placement in that order.
• The SSC office will update the playoff schedule once all scores have been submitted and after the last regular season game.  Please do not assume the time/location of your playoff game until team names have been posted into the schedule.