About Us
For Members
Although all lawn bowls clubs offer more or less casual draw games for members, Mount Dora has for decades run an unusual if not unique system for its daily draw games. We call it "pill bowling" because participants blindly draw pills to determine on which rink and with whom they will bowl that morning or afternoon.
A casual game of pill bowling.
But what makes us different is that we do not have a rigid designation of our bowlers as leads, vice skips and skips, as is done at most other clubs using the so-called, "tag system." In our pill games, coordinators in charge pick the needed skips for that morning or afternoon. They are instructed to pick the most able bowlers, men or women, but it's up to them, and often they choose newer bowlers who show promise.
The other players draw pills that tell them on which one of our 14 Har-Tru surfaced rinks they will bowl. At each rink, the two skips make up two teams as equally as possible for games of triples or pairs, and let a coin flip decide which skip bowls with which team.
During our high season - from October to May - we pill bowl Monday through Saturday at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., and that's the season when we conduct all of our intra-club tournaments. We also pill bowl all summer as well, except we start at 8:30 a.m. and substitute night bowling at 7:30 p.m.
The club follows the same rules of the game as those used in all 40 of the world's lawn bowling countries. We also follow the USLBA dress code for tournaments and special club events, which call for white or cream-colored clothing.
Bowlers in "dress whites" during a tournament.
Most of our bowlers learned the rules, skills and etiquette of the game in classes for beginners offered by the club every fall, spring and summer, and often in the winter as well. These lessons are free and are required for membership in the club. Although you are not obligated to join the club after graduation, most do.
A view of the clubhouse from the lower rinks.
Compared to other recreation sports, such as golf, tennis and croquet, lawn bowling is inexpensive. You have to own a pair of flat-soled, gridless shoes and a set of four bowls, and that's about it. Most beginners buy used bowls for $60 to $100 (new sets cost about $250).
The club supports itself without subsidy from the city or any other government entity. We pay our way with dues of $148 (plus tax) per year from active members and half that amount for associate (non-bowling) members. New members are also charged a one-time initiation fee of $25.
Member contributions of close to $250,000 financed the building in 1997 of our beautiful clubhouse and locker room pavilion. These structures are named after the principal donors: James and Phyllis Danioes for the clubhouse, and Frank and Julia Brown for the pavilion.
