On Target : British Pub Fad Goes California

American enthusiasm for darts began in Southern California and swept from English-style pub to woodsy tavern across the country until 60,000 dart players now belong to the American Dart Organization.

Actually, estimates the group’s Vice President Bill Lins, there are probably more than 100,000 league dart players in the nation, because not all leagues belong to the organization.

The pasttime, according to Torrance “dart pub” owner Bill Fitzgerald, whose book “All About Darts” is already in its ninth edition, is second only to soccer as the fastest growing British game in the United States.

Dart leagues started in Santa Monica in the 1960s, says Viki Gigliotti of the Southern California Darts Assn., because many former British residents settled there.

Both men and women have taken to the game because there are few physical requirements. “Unless you are blind and armless you can play darts,” says David Lee Dyer, who has written a book of his own: “Darts in Los Angeles.”

Dyer points out in his book that in 1951 there were six teams representing four pubs in Los Angeles. By 1963, when the Southern California Darts Assn. was formed, there were 20 teams operating from six pubs. Today, there are 600 teams in the Los Angeles area (including the Antelope Valley) representing 120 pubs and social service organizations such as the American Legion.

Dart bars range from taverns with elk heads on the walls, such as Junction Station Lounge in Johnston, Iowa, to outright English-style pubs like Santa Monica’s Ye Olde Kings Head, replete with ale, kippers, Scottish eggs and “banger” sausages.

Fitzgerald’s Crest Restaurant in Torrance boasts a dozen dart boards--more than any other dart pub in the Los Angeles area.

Since most dart leagues are in pubs, players tend to drink. “They’re not guzzlers,” says Fitzgerald, but they’ll have a beer or two.