Bowled Over: Seattle's Love Affair with Lawn Bowling

Atop Beacon Hill, just south of downtown, sits Jefferson Park. Within its over 52 acres of land you can find a golf course (home to PGA great Fred Couples), a community center, some pretty sweet views, and a lawn bowling club. It is the lawn bowling club that is drawing all the attention this weekend.

The Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club, home to Men with Big Bowls and their ladies-league counterparts Bowl Busters, is hosting the National Lawn Bowling Championships this weekend, and the whole state seems swept up in the excitement of it all. Little did you know, but you are currently in the midst of King County Lawn Bowling Week (August 24-29), and the City of Seattle went whole hog when Mayor McGinn declared August to be Lawn Bowling Month. Even the governor extended a warm welcome to the championship contenders.

So, what is this lawn bowling thing all about? Well, it's similar to bocce ball, petanque, boules, and a variety of other sports where you lay a jack (usually a small ball) before two teams take turns launching larger balls in an attempt to land closest to the jack. It's like curling, minus the ice and someone hilariously yelling "HARD!" in a wonky Canadian accent. In fact, yelling is not really encouraged, lawn bowling is a courteous game, after all. Want to know more about the rules, read up here.

Championship play, which began yesterday, continues this morning and runs through Sunday, when a National Champions will be crowned. There are men's and women's brackets for both singles and doubles play, so there will be plenty of bowling action to take in over the next few days. While lawn bowling is cool in its own right, the best part about this event is that it's free to attend, and nothing is better than free.

Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club // 4103 Beacon Avenue South // Friday-Sunday // 9am-4:30pm // Free