Lawn Bowls in Australia

On my recent trip to Australia we toured around the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast areas of Queensland. While there we managed to visit a few bowling clubs and I thought some of our members may be interested in an insight into how things are done down under.

As we were driving through Tweed Heads in New South Wales we came across the Tweed Heads BC. This is one of Australia's best known clubs. Well known Australian bowler Kelvin Kerkow is a resident of Tweed Heads although I understand that he plays out of another bowling club in the town.

On a skill level Scottish bowlers can compete with anyone in the world but our clubs don't normally offer the facilities of those down under. For example, I came across five or six clubs over there and even the smaller ones served excellent food to both members and guests. Visitors are always welcome. All you have to do is sign the visitor's book.

In Australia lots of the social activities revolve around the local clubs and Tweed Heads BC is a good example of this. Private clubs are where most of the gambling takes place and this is what generates much of their revenue. Other popular clubs are the RSL (Returned & Services League of Australia - their version of the British Legion) and on that coast, the Surf Clubs.

Tweed heads BC's sprawling premises offers three restaurants including an a la carte restaurant that won a prize for the excellence of their food a couple of years ago. I can personally vouch for their Brasserie restaurant where we had an excellent lunch. They have two or three lounges, a betting shop and a "pokies" room with dozens of slot machines.

In their main lounge they have three very large screens for showing sporting events. They also show recently released movies on these.

They are one of the top bowling venues in Australia and they regularly host major championships. They have three excellent outdoor greens and an international standard, eight rink indoor. Indoor bowling is very popular in Australia since it shields them from the extremes of weather that they often experience letting play take place in air-conditioned comfort.

In addition to the facilities mentioned above they also have a bowling shop, a travel agent and an off licence.

What does all of this cost? Well, if you fancy it you can join for $7.70 AUD, which at current exchange rates is about £3.60!

Australia Bowling Green

We arrived at lunchtime and there was a senior's match taking place but as you can see from the cloudy skies the weather was a bit threatening.

Bowling Club Lounge

This is just a corner of the large upstairs lounge.

Bowling Club Betting Shop

The Club Betting Shop!

Bowling CLub Pokies Room

The Pokies Room

Tweed Heads Bowling Green

Here in Scotland we are well used to bad weather interrupting play but the weather can be just as unpredictable in certain parts of Australia. During our visit the heavens opened up and the match that was taking place had to be abandoned.

Tweed Heads Indoor Bolwling Centre

The Indoor.