The quick version
Play singles or two pairs on a booked rink. The venue helper sets a legal mat and centered jack. Sides alternate rolling one bowl; each person has two. After all bowls stop, only the side nearest the jack scores: one for each of its bowls closer than the opposition's closest. Record the score and play back in the other direction, with the scoring side starting. After six completed ends, the higher total wins; share a tie. Use the simple out-of-bounds and disturbed-end rules below for this house session.
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Start with a real rink and a venue introduction
Arrange a flat-green bowls rink and an introductory helper from the venue. Ask for two matching biased bowls per person, a jack, mat and measure, plus suitable footwear. Bocce balls and a garden lawn do not recreate a bowls green. Confirm the venue permits the short house format below; its staff control rink safety and care of the surface.
For singles, each person is a side. For pairs, agree a lead and second player on each side. Toss for the first delivery. Have the helper position the mat on the center line and establish a legal jack length for this rink. Normally the jack is rolled and then centered at that distance; ask the helper to demonstrate, including the minimum distance and end boundary. Do not improvise those markings.
Use six completed ends. An end is one full use of everyone's two bowls toward the same jack. A new end runs in the opposite direction. The main game involves walking between ends; seated delivery or mobility aids depend on the actual venue and are not assumed.
Roll alternately and leave the head untouched
Check the bias and deliver
The helper shows which side causes your bowl to curve. Keep a foot on or over the delivery mat at release as instructed. Roll close to the surface rather than lofting or throwing. Stay within your rink and keep people clear of the delivery line.
Alternate sides
Singles alternate A, B, A, B. In pairs, the two leads alternate their two bowls first; then the two second players alternate theirs. A bowl may move another bowl or the jack within the rink. Nobody rearranges the cluster, called the head, during play.
Use a clear out-of-bounds rule
For this introductory house game, remove a bowl that comes to rest outside the rink or in the ditch; it scores nothing even if it earlier touched the jack. This intentionally omits official toucher rules. If the jack leaves the rink or enters the ditch, declare the end dead, reset it and replay it without counting toward six. Stop and ask the helper about a disputed boundary.
Agree the score before moving anything
After the last bowl stops, identify the nearest bowl from each side. The nearer side scores one for every bowl closer than the other side's nearest. Use the measure for close comparisons, without shifting a bowl. If the closest opposing bowls are exactly tied, score zero for that end. That tied end still counts.
Set the next end
Write the score, retrieve bowls safely, and reverse direction. The scoring side sets the next jack and delivers first. After a zero-score end, this guide keeps the previous starting side. Keep the same pair roles until a selected variation changes them.
Six ends, then compare the totals
Add the shots earned across six completed ends. The higher total wins; an equal total is a shared draw. For example, if your closest three bowls all beat the opponent's nearest, you score three. The opponent receives zero on that end; you do not subtract their distance or award points merely for touching the jack.
A stopped or unsafe session ends immediately. If the venue must reclaim the rink before six ends, report the completed-end score as a shortened game rather than inventing a time-based result. Return the venue's equipment and leave the green as instructed.
Give first-timers a trial end
Use one unscored end to explore the bowl's curve and rolling weight. Keep everyone behind the active delivery area or in the venue's designated waiting position. Check adjacent rinks before retrieving an errant bowl. A person learning the bias benefits more from seeing the path than from being told to roll harder.
This is an introductory social format with an on-site helper, not full Laws of the Sport. In particular, it simplifies touchers, dead ends and ties. Calgary's club offers an introductory coaching session with drop-ins; that example supports the hosted approach, but does not promise the same arrangement at another club. Confirm your own booking.
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Ideas & Twists
Choose a variation together before you start.
Lawn bowls · See main rules
House adaptation of 100 Up SinglesFour nearest score
Use two individual players with four bowls each. Alternate all eight deliveries. Rank the four nearest bowls and award their owners 4, 3, 2 and 1 points respectively; both people may score. Split the points for any tied positions equally, including a tie crossing fourth place. Play six ends and compare totals. Keep the main jack and boundary rules. Unlike the published first-to-100 format, this house version has a fixed six-end finish.
Lawn bowls · See main rules
House adaptation of Metre SinglesWithin one metre
Play singles with two bowls each. After delivery, ignore any bowl more than one metre from the jack. Among the remaining bowls, score normally: one for the nearest, two if the same player owns both nearest. If none qualifies, score zero and count the end. Use six ends rather than the source's 21. A measure is required; agree that exactly one metre qualifies.
Lawn bowls · See main rules
House adaptation of Jack Last pairsJack delivered last
Use four people in pairs and two bowls each. Keep the mat fixed for the end but do not place a jack yet. Complete all eight deliveries in ordinary pair order. The final bowler then rolls the jack from the same mat; leave it where it stops within the legal length and rink, without centering it. If invalid, the other side gets the next attempt, alternating until legal. Score the settled layout normally. Play six ends; the scoring side starts the next. The late target rewards useful clusters rather than chasing a visible jack.
Lawn bowls · See main rules
Published idea with the guide's boundary and finish choicesRoving jack
Roll the jack first, but do not move it onto the center line. Bowl toward the legal position where it stops. A jack outside the permitted length, off the rink, in the ditch or on a side boundary is recast by the other side until valid. Use the main scoring and six-end finish. Different angles now matter, so keep every shot within the booked rink.
Lawn bowls · See main rules
Published Variable Pairs idea with a six-end house finishSwap the pair roles
Use four people and two bowls each. Keep teams fixed, but swap who leads and who delivers second after every completed end. The new lead handles that side's jack delivery when entitled. All scoring, boundary rules and the six-end finish remain unchanged. Both partners get three ends building the early position and three ends responding to the final layout.
About this guide
The closest-bowl scoring principle comes from Bowls England. Its alternative-formats booklet thanks Abbots Langley, Farnborough, Gerrard's Cross, Newhaven and Redland Green clubs collectively; it does not identify one club as author of each format. Variations here are explicitly shortened or clarified house adaptations. The guide requires a venue introduction and does not claim to replace the full Laws. Calgary's undated drop-in page is one venue example, not a universal price, schedule or access promise.
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