Grand Opening of the Fort Wayne Lawn Bowls Club and Fort Wayne Croquet Club

The Fort Wayne Curling Club announces the grand opening of a brand new bowling green and the introduction of the Fort Wayne Lawn Bowls Club and the Fort Wayne Croquet Club that will both utilize the green.

The Fort Wayne Lawn Bowls Club will feature Lawn Bowls, a sport similar to Bocce and Curling where players roll shaped, biased balls on a flat grass field to get them as close as possible to a smaller target ball called a “jack”.

The Fort Wayne Croquet Club will feature Golf Croquet, the most popular form of Croquet in the world, known for being fast, simple and tactical.  In future seasons, the club will introduce American 6-wicket Croquet and other variations of the sport.

The Fort Wayne Lawn Bowls and Fort Wayne Croquet Clubs will offer introductory sessions, drop-in nights, leagues, adaptive programs for people with disabilities, programs for the senior community, corporate/private events and tournaments from early May through October every year.

Media are welcome to join us for the official ribbon cutting ceremony on August 1st at 1:00 pm where we will be joined by representatives of:

• The WindSwell Foundation
• Visit Fort Wayne
• Fort Wayne Marketing
• Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation
• Bowls USA (the National Governing Body of the Sport of Lawn Bowls)
• Drakes Pride, a leading lawn bowls equipment manufacturer
• The United States Croquet Association

The public are invited to stop by for a Public Open House from 3 pm – 5 pm to tour the green, get a brief introduction to both Croquet and Lawn Bowls, and get more information about the clubs.

Introductory sessions are also available for signup on the Fort Wayne Lawn Bowls Club and Fort Wayne Croquet Club website (www.FortWayneLawnBowls.com and www.FortWayneCroquet.com, respectively).  Sessions for Lawn Bowls will start on Saturday, August 1st and sessions for Croquet will start on Sunday, August 2nd.

What is Lawn Bowls?

Lawn Bowls (of Lawn Bowling) is a precision sport where players roll specially weighted, asymmetrical balls called "bowls" on a manicured grass or synthetic surface known as the "green." The goal is to get your bowls as close as possible to a smaller target ball called the "jack."

Lawn Bowls is similar to Bocce but what makes Lawn Bowls unique is that the bowls are not perfectly round; they are slightly flattened on the sides and heavier on one side. This off-center weight is called the "bias." Because of the bias, the bowl does not travel in a straight line—it curves as it slows down. Players must aim strategically to curve their bowls around opponents' balls to reach the jack.

The sport is also very similar to Curling and is often referred to as “Curing on Grass”.  This makes it a perfect complement to Curling as the seasons are almost the complete opposite.  The Club will run Curling from September – April each year and Lawn Bowls from May – October each year.

What is Golf Croquet?

Golf Croquet is a fast-paced, highly social version of the classic backyard sport of Croquet.  The goal of Golf Croquet is to be the first through each hoop in a fixed sequence.  It features no bonus shots, simple rules and intense tactical interaction. The game has no relation to Golf, but rather is referred to as Golf Croquet because of the “single-stroke” turn sequence and the competition for a single wicket at a time.

About the Fort Wayne Curling Club

Curling has a long and storied history in Fort Wayne which can be found here, but the modern Fort Wayne Curling Club was founded in 2010 by Craig Fischer, Greg Eigner, Jerri Mead and Dan McCoy.  Brief history of the club is here.  The club started curling at the Parkview Ice House (then known as the Lutheran Health Sports Center) and, in 2014, opened a 3-sheet dedicated facility in a rented warehouse on Wells Street (now partially occupied by 2Toms Brewing Company).  In 2019, the club opened a dedicated 4-sheet curling facility at 3837 N. Wells Street, directly across Wells Street from the Parkview Ice House.  The Fort Wayne Curling Club is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that offers leagues for curlers of all ages and abilities, Learn to Curl sessions, private events, corporate events and activities for those with special needs.