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Lawn Bowling Glossary

 Draw Glossary
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Name tag board – The Board holding all the club member name tags organized by men and women then by Skips, Seconds and Leads.
 
Draw Table and accessories – The Draw Table is a long table marked with a grid labelled for Skips, Seconds and Leads. The accessories include red and white poker chips marked with numbers 1 – 8 denoting the 8 rinks on the green, a draw bag and a binder with templates for reference.
 
Drawmaster – A member trained in the procedure to conduct a random draw.

Open Draw or Drop in – This refers to a scheduled game that members can choose to play as long as they are present for the draw held 15 minutes before game time.

Triples - This is the default game with 3 players on each side, Lead, Second, and Skip. Each player gets 3 bowls.

Pairs - This is a game with 2 players per team with each player getting 4 bowls.

Singles - One on one game with each player getting 4 bowls.

Cutthroat - This is a game with 3 players playing against each other. Each player gets 4 bowls. Scoring is different, in that the closest bowl to the jack gets 3 points, the next closest gets 2 points and the third closest gets 1 point.

Pony - This term refers to games arranged for only members with 3 years or less lawn bowling experience. 

 
Aggregate – This is the same as Open Draw or Drop in, accept members put a loonie down on their name tag. The accumulated money goes towards prizes after the aggregate is completed. An Aggregate runs for a specific period, usually about 2 months. A record is kept for each member attending for each aggregate. The points awarded are as follows, Triples/Pairs - Win - 3, Tie - 2, Loss - 1 Cutthroat - Win - 3, 2nd - 2, 3rd - 1
At the end of the aggregate, the prize money is awarded to members finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd and maybe 4th depending on the total prize money. Also, an additional prize is given as a draw of all non winning members who have attended 70% of each aggregate. Success in an Aggregate is based on skill, luck of the draw and commitment to participating. 

4 Play - 4 Play games are pairs organized by 4 members who would like to play together. There are specific days and times scheduled for this. The 4 members can
choose to play every week at the same time or each pair can challenge other pairs.
 
League – An organized number of games arranged for set teams to play. This starts with a team signup sheet with the opportunity for all members to consider forming a team and signing up. There is a cost for each team that goes towards prizes that are awarded at the end of the League play.

Convenor – A member in charge of organizing and managing a tournament.
Game Glossary
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Green – The playing surface composed of 8 lanes.
 
Rink – Each lane on the green is referred to as a rink.
 
2 Metre mark - Often referred to as the “T” - The furthermost position that the jack can be placed following the lead bowler rolling the jack at the start of an end. If the jack is rolled past this point, and remains within the rink boundaries, the jack is spotted 2 metres back from the ditch. This 2 meter line is determined by picturing a line that joins the black and white striped markers on the edges of the ditches.

End - A defined segment of the game which includes: delivery of the jack, delivery of all the bowls required to be played by all of the opponents in the same direction on a rink, and deciding the number of shots scored.

Head - The jack and any bowls which have come to rest within the boundaries of the rink of play and are not dead.
 
Hog line - The Hog line is an imaginary line 21 metres in front of the mat line. 21 metres is the minimum distance a jack must be delivered in order to start an end.
 
Toucher - A bowl that makes contact with the jack during its initial delivery.
 
Wick - If your bowl touches another bowl, changes direction, and continues to move, it is described as having ‘wicked off’ that bowl. 
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