Anyone concerned about the erosion of the Queen’s English would do well to spin by the Hermosa Beach Lawn Bowling Club.
Balls are measured in sizes from “five heavy” down to “double-aught.” The slight weight difference in sides of a ball, caused by carvings of different sizes of circles, is known as a “bias.” And the greens are maintained with an ingenious contraption known as a “scarifire.”
The club, located on Valley Drive just south of Clark Field, will be hosting an open house this Saturday, as will other clubs throughout California: as part of a kind of state-wide lawn bowling holiday, greens all across the state opening their doors to members and non-members alike.
The celebration coincides with a special anniversary for the club, which is marking 80 years in Hermosa Beach. But as it enters its ninth decade, club leaders say the sport has left the Victorian Era behind.
The open house will go from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. but that night will also serve as the debut of newly installed flood lights. The lights will allow for lawn bowling at night, and will hopefully open the sport to a whole new generation of bowlers. Limited daylight has previously kept those with traditional work schedules unable to hit the green, slanting the participant base further toward retirees.
Now, everyone in town will be able to get in on the spin.
“It’s going to change quite a lot,” said club president George Renshaw. “We have lots of people that want to bowl in the evening. They can’t during the day, because they have work.”
Other members hope that the lights, combined with the club’s exposure to passing traffic on Valley Drive, will attract passersby.
“Kids coming by on their skateboards — get them involved too,” said member Steve Yocum.
The Lawn Bowling Club was started by John Clark, namesake of Clark Field, who was the city’s mayor at the time. Since then, it has attracted members who come to the sport from very different backgrounds.
One of them Paul Flahive. A retired teacher who helped start Mira Costa’s soccer program in the 1970s, Flahive was initially turned off from the prospect of playing such a slow-paced game.
“I’d walk by [the club] and say, ‘No way, no way,’” Flahive said.
But the sport became a way to spend time with his wife. The two have now been members for 12 years, and go to lawn bowling events all over Southern California.
Others come at the game with a deeper background. Renshaw, the club president, is an immigrant from England. In his native Manchester, lawn bowling greens can be found in the back of almost every pub. (There, he said, greens are designed with hills, rather than the flat square found at the Hermosa club). Since arriving, Renshaw has undertaken a number of improvements, including a recently completed refertilization of the lawn.
While a friendly atmosphere prevails on most days, the club has also produced serious competitors. Hermosa resident Aaron Zangl, who joined in 2006, has competed at championship events as far away as China and Australia.
Club members say that it is this blend of competition and camaraderie that keeps them coming back.
“It’s amazing to think this place has been here that long,” said Chick McIlroy, a Torrance resident and nine-year member. “Someone asked me, ‘How do you describe this sport?’ I said, ‘It’s excitement in slow motion.’”
