Lawn Bowls Lunacy Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sir Francis Drake

Sir Francis Drake is said to have been in the middle of a game of bowls in Plymouth Hoe on July 15th 1588 when he was informed that the Spanish Armada was approaching. In response he declared "We still have time to finish the game and thrash the Spaniards too". The legitamacy of this story is still debated although there is no doubt that he did go on and defeat the Spanish.

Answer: Penny

The official name is the jack. Although it is never called a Penny, there is a tradition called a spoon drive which takes place before friendly matches where the jack is placed or rolled into the middle of the green. All the players then stand with one foot in the ditch and roll one bowl as close as they can, at the same time. Coins are then dropped on the green by the jack by everyone for the winner to collect.

Answer: Bias

The bias side of the bowl is indicated by a small circle. As the bowl slows down the bowl move increasingly that way. Bowls vary in the amount of bias they have and the conditions of the bowls green will also have a massive effect on the the line that needs to be taken to get to the jack.

Answer: Carpet

Bowls is normally played on grass in the summer and on carpet indoors in the winter. All the major televised tournaments in Britain are also played on carpet.
There is a form of bowls called Crown Green Bowls which is also played on grass but its greens are never flat and actually rise to a crown in the middle. The jack has a bias which is not the case in flat green bowls and players are allowed to roll the jack anywhere on the green.

Answer: Head

As each bowl is delivered the head is built up. Understanding the best shot to play and what your opponent is likely to do is called reading the head.

Answer: It is removed from play unless it has touched the Jack.

A bowl that hits the jack when it has been delivered it is marked with chalk to indicate that it is a toucher. A toucher is the only bowl that remains in play if it goes into the ditch.
Ditches are not very deep and are usually filled with stones, cork or rubber.

Answer: Bowling to the jack with precise weight.

The draw shot is most important in the game of bowls and is the most common shot played. Playing with a lot of power is known as a firing shot or a drive, while playing to hit another bowl but stay in it's place is an example of a yard on shot. A bowl a long way short of the jack is called a blocker.

Answer: To see which bowl is closest to the jack

Most callipers look a lot like a compass and are used when two bowls are very near to the jack to determine which is closest.

Answer: Blackball

Blackball is a surprisingly good comedy set in Torquay, England about Cliff Starkey who becomes known as "the bad boy of bowls". Cliff has to team up with his arch rival and enemy Ray Speight (who also happens to be his girlfriends father) to beat Australia in the bowls version of the ashes.
The idea for the movie came from real life bowler Griff Sanders from Torquay who was banned for 10 years in 1998 for inappropriate dress, swearing, and obscene language towards an official. This ban was overturned on appeal a year later.

Answer: New York

Bowling Green Park is located at the end of Broadway on the south side of Manhattan. It was originally the city's meat market before being turned into a bowling green in 1733 for some British colonists who leased the land at a price of one peppercorn per year.