In the game of life, we all expect a few curveballs, but in lawn bowling, there’s a curve to every ball you roll.

Imagine bowling with a ball that’s not perfectly round, but is slightly heavier on one side — that’s the kind of challenge that hooks avid players like Nancy Miller, president of the Honolulu Lawn Bowls Club at Ala Moana Beach Park. (Actually, the technical name for the ball is “bowl,” hence the name of the club.)

It’s a lot harder than regular alley bowling held indoors because of the built-in bias of the bowl, she said, and the ever-­changing conditions of the grass.

Miller and her husband, Ray Yourchek, joined the club over 10 years ago and have since been active members in its upkeep. The small clubhouse with its manicured bowling green is “a beautiful little gem here in the park,” she said.

It’s somewhat hidden in plain sight because the game is played by so few and it’s the only club in the state. Unless passersby are curious enough to look over the white concrete wall surrounding it, they’d hardly know it was there. Located near the tennis courts, the green was established in 1935 as part of the original city park, which is included on the Hawaii State Register of Historic Places.

The club’s 40 or so members are asked to volunteer during a monthly cleanup day or whenever something needs to be done, as the club is largely maintained independently from the city parks department, Miller said.

The club relies on donations from players to cover the costs of a greenskeeper who mows the grass three times a week — $600 per month alone — and for the repair and upkeep of the backboards, equipment and clubhouse.

Miller has noticed that since the pandemic began, more local residents in search of other avenues of outdoor recreation have tried lawn bowling, or as some say, “lawn bowls.” The club is more than glad to give them a couple of free lessons to get them off the ground, Miller said.

“It’s not hard to learn,” she said. “But hard to master like golf.”

The game requires good hand-eye coordination, finesse and strategy to roll the bowls down a lane, or rink, that is 120 feet long and 15 feet wide, marked only by lines on a backboard on either end.

A bowl generally weighs about 3-1/2-pounds, but there are lots of different brands or types of bowls that have very little bias, and some with a heavier bias that can veer off two or three feet, Miller said. The bowl usually curves toward the side of the bowl that is heavier before it comes to a stop, but that can be influenced by a player’s skill and other factors.

Besides the built-in bias, Miller said lawn bowling is a lot more difficult than alley bowling because the target (a small white ball called the “jack”) can move if a player’s bowl hits it, whereas in regular bowling, the target (the 10 pins) is stationary.

Each player on a team gets four bowls and scores a point for each bowl that gets closer to the jack than an opponents’. Basic strategy includes bumping an opponent’s bowl farther away from the jack, or bumping the jack itself farther away from an opponent’s bowl.

“Every time a player bowls, the bowls surrounding the jack create a new challenge. Every game is different, every end is different,” Miller said. (After all, the players on two teams take their turns on one end, they go to the other end to bowl, back and forth about 14 times per game.)

“The hardest part is figuring out the rink: how it’s playing can vary depending on when the grass was last mowed, rolled (with a heavy roller), or how wet or dry it’s been. During the game the grass can change,” Miller said. For example, if the wind kicks up and dries it up, it affects the speed of the bowl. So it’s vital for the player to adjust how much weight to put into the delivery of the bowl, she said.

Many of the club’s part-time members hail from other countries, like Phil Westcott and his partner, Hetta Danford, from Sydney, Australia, where lawn bowls is an extremely popular and well-heeled sport. Longtime Hawaii resident Gene Wasosky spends half the year in Thailand, where he also bowls. Quite a few players come from Canada every year to escape their frigid winters.

Brian Flynn, originally from Scotland, where he used to work on the greens as a youngster, has been a full-time Honolulu club member for 20 years. He remembers when, more than 10 years ago, the dress code required members to wear white in keeping with its genteel, country-club image, but the policy was dropped when so many travelers who discovered the club arrived without their traditional whites, he said. Now all that’s required is flat shoes.

Flynn, who bowls two or three times a week, said the game is great exercise for older people, but it’s good for younger people, too. He’s going strong at 73 years of age, even with his bad knees. All you need to play is fairly good eyesight and reasonably good health, Flynn added.

Vern Rodriguez of California, who is about half Flynn’s age, popped in recently for a pickup game and immediately kicked off her sandals to play barefoot. A regular at her Santa Barbara club, Rodriguez said she got hooked on the outdoor activity, a great way to spend a summer day with friendly people. She finds it a lot more complex than bocce, an Italian version of lawn bowls. Rodriguez searched the internet for clubs in Hawaii while here and was surprised that there was only one in the state. “Everybody seems to be so nice!” she added.

Usually the club hosts its biggest tournament, Aloha Barefoot Bowls, in February, which attracts an international roster, but it’s been canceled for the second year in a row because of COVID-19. However, there are always smaller tournaments throughout the year, which are organized by Judy Rasmussen, the club’s activities director.

“It’s all about having fun, and building camaraderie,” Miller said.

—

Honolulu Lawn Bowls Club

1141 Ala Moana Blvd.

>> Games available 10 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

>> Free lessons and use of bowls at 9:30 a.m. Saturdays.

>> Flat-soled shoes required; no dress code.

>> Suggested donations: $10, one day; $30, weekly; $50, monthly

>> For more information, email margiehyatt@gmail.com.