Short Mat Bowls

The short mat game began in Ireland and was later introduced into mainland UK.

According to the Irish Indoor Bowls Association, the story goes that around 1926, when a group of bowlers from the outdoor club of Victoria in Belfast were rained off their green, they retired to their Church Hall, Strand Presbyterian. To pass the time, they rolled bowls up and down the bare floor and someone suggested that a piece of carpeting might help matters.

And so Short Mat Bowls was born.

As gentle as this sport looks, there is real skill involved in throwing and trying to get as near to the jack as possible. Not least because right in the middle is a centre block that must be avoided at all costs!