Bowls or lawn bowling is an outdoor sport that involves rolling a weighted or biased ball so that it stops as close as possible to a smaller ball called a “jack” or kitty”. Bowling in Glasgow has rich roots that date back to 1695 when the first known bowling green was run by Mungo Cochrane in Candleriggs. As with Golf, it is widely acknowledged that the modern sport of lawn bowling, as we know it, owes its existence to the Scots.
A cotton merchant in Glasgow by the name William Mitchell, of the Willowbank Club, published the first set of bowling rules in 1864. However, it wasn’t until 1892 that the Scottish Bowling Association was formed. The rules still form the foundation of how we play the game today, although different variations of the game have cropped up.
Due to the growing popularity of the game, it has seen exports to other countries, and today it is currently played in over 40 countries across the world. What’s more, it has been a Commonwealth Games sport since the year 1930.
