Lawn Bowling : SOUTHEAST/LONG BEACH AREA CLUB CHAMPIONS : LONG BEACH LAWN BOWLING CLUB

History --The Long Beach Club was started in 1929 with first competition in 1930 when the Recreation Park lawn bowling facility was constructed. The club has both men and women members who compete together and not in separate divisions. There are no records of club champions prior to 1974.

Singles

1974--Ken Patterson (Norwalk).

1975--Arnold White (Fountain Valley).

1976--Cecil Pyron (Seal Beach).

1977--John Scott (Long Beach).

1978--Nell Parkhill (Long Beach).

1979--Arnold White (Fountain Valley).

1980--Mike Leslie (Seal Beach).

1981--Cecil Pyron (Seal Beach).

1982--Ken Patterson (Norwalk).

1983--Verna Walberg (Long Beach).

1984--Ken Patterson (Norwalk).

Pairs (doubles)

1974--Arnold White-Jim Parkhill (Fountain Valley-Long Beach).

1975--Clint Wolford-Bill Harper (Long Beach).

1976--Arnold White-Jim Parkhill (Fountain Valley-Long Beach).

1977--Cecil Pyron-Charles Suits (Seal Beach-Long Beach).

1978--Cecil Pyron-Phyllis Madden (Seal Beach-Long Beach).

1979--Arnold White-Dorothy Wotring (Fountain Valley-Long Beach).

1980--Ken Patterson-Verna Walberg (Norwalk-Long Beach).

1981--John Roller-Phiyllis Madden (Long Beach).

1982--Ken Patterson-Al Keithley (Nowalk-Long Beach).

1983--Doreen Collins-Ray Danol (Long Beach).

1984--Manning Moore-Verna Walberg (Long Beach).

NOTE--The 1985 club championships are scheduled next fall.

RECREATION PARK LAWN BOWLING CLUB

History --The Recreation Park Club was started in 1937. It is a men’s club. There are no records of club champions prior to 1965.

Singles

1965--Gene Tincher (Long Beach).

1966--Clint Wolfard (Long Beach).

1967--Arnold White (Fountain Valley).

1968--Arnold White (Fountain Valley).

1969--Clint Wolfard (Long Beach).

1970--Clint Wolfard (Long Beach.

1971--Arnold White (Fountain Valley).

1972--Arnold White (Fountain Valley).

1973--Jim Parkhill (Long Beach).

1974--Arnold White (Fountain Valley).

1975--Burl McColm (Long Beach).

1976--Art Rhyn (Long Beach).

1977--Cecil Pyron (Seal Beach).

1978--Ernie Allfie (Long Beach)(.

1979--Ken Patterson (Norwalk).

1980--Clark Donaldson (Long Beach).

1981--Arnold White (Fountain Valley).

1982--Cecil Pyron (Seal Beach).

1983--John Guerra (Long Beach).

1984--Jack Ellis (Long Beach).

Pairs

1971--Arnold White-Bob Barrow (Fountain Valley-Long Beach).

1972--Arnold White-Bob Barrow (Fountain Valley-Long Beach).

1973--Clive Forrester-Joe Ibe (Long Beach).

1974--Cecil Pyron-Clark Donaldson (Seal Beach-Long Beach).

1975--Arnold White-Jim Parkhill (Fountain Valley-Long Beach).

1976--Clark Donaldson-Art Rhyn (Long Beach).

1977--Cecil Pyron-Burl McColm (Seal Beach-Long Beach).

1978--Ken Smith-Mike Leslie (Long Beach-Seal Beach).

1979--Burl McColm-Lee Boswell (Long Beach).

1980--Arnold White-Ken Patterson (Fountain Valley-Norwalk).

1981--Arnold White-Ken Patterson (Fountain Valley-Norwalk).

1982--Clark Donaldson-Lew Atkinson (Long Beach).

1983--Arnold White-Al Keithley (Fountain Valley-Long Beach).

1984--Ernie Allfie-Don Jones (Long Beach).

NOTE--The 1985 club championships are currently under way.

NATIONAL TITLES WON BY SO. CALIFORNIANS

U.S CHAMPIONSHIPS

Men’s Singles

1965--Ezra Wyeth (Northridge).

1972--Neil McInnes (Pasadena).

1974--Richard Folkins (Sunland).

1975--Richard Folkins (Sunland).

1982--Neil McInnes (Pasadena).

Women’s Singles

1983--Loretta Geisner (San Diego).

Men’s Pairs

1960--Thomas Stirrat-Fred Howarth (Long Beach). 1963--Robert Russell-Dan Howarth (Irvine-Long Beach). 1964--Robert Russell-Donald Buckley (Irvine). 1972--Neil McInnes-Ezra Wyeth (Pasadena-Northridge). 1974--Neil McInnes-Ezra Wyeth (Pasadena-Northridge). 1975--Neil McInnes-Arthur Grimmitt (Pasadena). 1976--Richard Folkins-Gerald LaPask (Sunland-Glendale). 1977--Richard Folkins-Gerald LaPask (Sunland-Pasadena). 1979--Richard Folkins-Gerald LaPask (Sunland-Pasadena). 1980--Neil McInnes-Arnold White (Pasadena-Fountain Valley). 1981--Neil McInnes-Arnold White (Pasadena-Fountain Valley). 1984--Keith Lance-Arnold White (Irvine-Fountain Valley).

Women’s Pairs

1978--Mabel Hay-Eva Petersen (Santa Barabra). 1981--Corinna Folkins-Helen Buckley (Sunland-Irvine). 1982--Kay LaPask-Roz Brown (Glendale-Laguna Beach).

NOTE--Recreation Park Greens in Long Beach will be host to the U.S. Championship Southwest Division Men’s Playdowns (qualifying) July 20-21 and 27-28. Top finishers will qualify for the 1985 U.S. Men’s Championships, scheduled Sept. 22-25 at Santa Barbara. The 1985 U.S. Women’s Championships are scheduled Sept. 9-12 at Buck Hills, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Richard (Corinna) Folkins now live in Mission Viejo and Mr. and Mrs. Gerald (Kay) LaPask now live in Laguna Beach.

NATIONAL OPEN

Men’s Singles

1946--Arthur Hartley (Pasadena). 1947--Floyd Taylor (Los Angeles). 1952--Hugh Folkins (Los Angeles). 1957--Richard Folkins (Sunland). 1959--Thomas Stirrat (Long Beach). 1964--Ezra Wyeth (Northridge). 1971--Ezra Wyeth (Northridge). 1974--Frank Petit (Pasadena). 1977--Neil McInnes (Glendale). 1980--Richard Folkins (Sunland).

Women’s Pairs

1971--Henrietta Krohn (Laguna Hills). 1973--Lilly Godfrey (Arcadia).

Men’s Pairs

1933--Albert Dehner-W. Dehner (Pasadena. 1947--J.G. Calderwood-A. Graham (Hermosa Beach). 1950--Richard Folkins-Hugh Folkins (Los Angeles). 1952--Richard Folkins-Hugh Folkins (Los Angeles). 1954--Richard Folkins-Hugh Folkins (Los Angeles). l957--Richard Folkins-F. Murray (Los Angeles). 1959--D. Cameron-L. Graham (Los Angeles). 1962--H.T. Morgan-Gene Tincher. 1964--W. Lloyd-H. Whitescarver (Los Angeles). 1971--Neil McInnes-Ezra Wyeth (Los Angeles). 1977--Richard Folkins-Gerald LaPask (Pasadena).

Women’s Pairs

1971--Betty Ewen-Peggy Johnson (Redlands-Santa Monica). 1972--Betty Ewen-Peggy Johnson (Redlands-Santa Monica). 1973--Ina Jackson-Jeanne Pizey (Santa Ana-Holmby Park).

Men’s Triples (3-Member Team)

1950--Redlands. 1954--Pasadena. 1957--Los Angeles. 1962--Los Angeles. 1967--Pomona. 1969--Riverside. 1973--Pasadena. 1983--Pasadena.

Women’s Triples

1971--Riverside-Seattle combination team. 1972--Redlands-Riverside-Santa Monica. 1973--Arcadia-Sun City, Ariz.-Holmby Park. 1975--Sunland-Walnut Creek-Glendale. 1977--Laguna Hills. 1978--Sunland-Arcadia-Seal Beach. 1982--Santa Monica-Laguna Hills. 1984--Alhambra-Laguna Hills-Santa Barbara.

Men’s Rinks (4-Member Team)

1933--Pasadena. 1936--Pasadena.

NOTE--The National Open, an international event with both men and women’s divisions, features mostly triples in team play although some of the years team play has been four-member (rinks or fours) competition . The 1985 National Open is scheduled Aug. 2-8 at Seattle.

WORLD BOWLS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Men’s Triples

1972--Richard Folkins-Bill Miller-Clive Forrester (Sunland-Florida-San Francisco).

Playing Sites

Southeast/Long Beach Area lawn bowlers have one of the largest playing sites. The facility has three 120-foot square greens. Most playing sites have one or two greens. Each green provides room for eight playing rinks or lanes (each 14 1/2 feet wide) where matches are held.

Local lawn bowlers in time visit most of Southern California’s greens as inter-club league or regional and national competitions are conducted.

The Long Beach Lawn Bowling Club and the Recreation Park Lawn Bowling Club share use of the Recreation Park greens.

Southern California lawn bowling sites are: Santa Anita (Arcadia) 4 greens, Beverly Hills 3, Recreation Park (Long Beach) 3, Riverside 3, Alhambra 2, Claremont 2, Holmby Park (Los Angeles) 2, Laguna Beach 2, MacKenzie Park (Santa Barbara) 2, Newport Harbor 2, Pasadena 2, Pomona 2, Redlands 2, San Diego 2, Santa Ana 2, Santa Barbara 2, Cambria 1, Casa del Sol (Mission Viejo) 1, Escondido 1, Friendly Valley (Newhall) 1, Glendale 1, Meadows-Irvine (Irvine) 1, Oaks North (San Diego) 1, Rancho Bernardo (San Diego) 1, Saddleback (Laguna Hills) 1, Santa Maria 1, Santa Monica 1, Smoke Tree Ranch (Palm Springs) 1, The Groves (Irvine) 1.

A Little Bit of History

Lawn bowling, according to Ferrell Burton Jr. and other historians of the sport, existed in primitive forms 5200 years ago in ancient Egypt. Variations of the game spread over the centuries to Europe, Polynesia, China and, in pre-Colonial times, to North and Central America.

Modern-day versions of lawn bowling migrated from England to America in Colonial times. George Washington’s father built a green at Mt. Vernon in 1732.

San Francisco LBC, started in 1901, is the oldest active lawn bowling club in the United States. Southern California’s first lawn bowling green appeared in Exposition Park in 1903 on property where the Los Angeles Sports Arena is today.

The Southeast/Long Beach Area’s only lawn bowling greens are at Recreation Park in Long Beach, built in 1930.

It is estimated almost half the members of the both the American Lawn Bowling Assn. (men) and the American Women’s Lawn Bowling Assn. (women) are Southern Californians, obviously one of the world’s hotbeds for lawn bowling competition.

Most lawn bowlers are seniors “but it is a sport for all ages,” says Paul Owen of Long Beach, local historian. “Since most young people must work, they have few day hours to bowl. It is interesting how youths are taking to lawn bowling in England since they built indoor greens for anytime participation over there.”

Recreation Park is home for both the Long Beach and Recreation Park Lawn Bowling Clubs. Club members belong to either the ALBA or AWLBA. Other than tournaments and intraclub matches, they compete in interclub team play in a Coast League, one of six leagues in the ALBA’s Southwest Division. Other Coast League clubs are The Groves (Irvine), Meadows-Irvine (Irvine), Santa Ana, Laguna Beach, Newport Harbor, Saddleback (Laguna Hills) and Casa del Sol (Mission Viejo).

Each green has room for eight rinks (playing lanes). Action is conducted from one end of a rink to the other end. A small white ball (jack) is lagged to one end of the green to start a match. Each player rolls three bowls (balls, each weighing three pounds). The bowls aree weighted heavier on one side so they travel curved paths on the roll toward the jack. Points are scored by locating bowls closest to the jack. A match is over after a predetermined amount of ends with total score deciding a winner.