The First 75 Years
AT the turn of the last century, the game
of lawn bowls was unknown in the Far East, until a number of enthusiastic
Scotsmen, resident in Kowloon, put their heads together and secured
a very desirable site in Kimberley Road, described at the time
as "a sequestered corner nicely shaded by palms and other
tropical trees." As a result in 1900, the Kowloon Bowling
Green Club (KBGC) was formed. However, the increasing value of
land, even in those early days, necessitated their removal to
near, and then to their present site next to the KCC, which was
originally a swamp. Two more clubs were soon formed in 1904 and,
apart from playing cricket, were also involved in lawn bowls.
These were the Civil Service and Police Recreation Clubs.
It appears that KCC members first became
involved in lawn bowls in September 1908 when in the second of
a series of friendly sporting matches arranged between the KBGC
and KCC (the first match being tennis which KCC won), KBGC entertained
representatives from KCC to a bowls match held on 12 September.
KBGC won by 74 shots to 51. Many of the KCC players were also
members of KBGC.
In July 1909, a KCC team with R Lapsley,
T Neves, C W Alexander and W Harvey as skips surprised a KBGC
side and defeated them by 90 shots to 67! In the previously arranged
game, KCC could not even raise a team.
The KCC lawn bowls section was officially
born on 28 September 1918 at the same time as tennis hard courts
were introduced. In the inaugural game against KBGC, playing for
spoons and war bond tickets, KCC lost. Almost concurrently, In
the first of the Interports, Hong Kong played lawn bowls matches
in Shanghai. On 27 September 1918, Hong Kong defeated the Junior
Golf Club at Hongkew Park. On the previous day they had lost 20
to 14 against Yangtsepoo, having previously lost the Interport
by 11 shots to 30.
KCC spent a long time finding their length
in this new sporting activity, not winning any League until 1926
(2nd Division), again in 1927, and then in 1931 (1st Division).
However, the game was gaining popularity all the time, the Club
being specially privileged in having its own greens available
all the year 'round, as these were separate from the main playing
field which catered for cricket and lawn tennis.
On Saturday, 18 September 1926, KCC finally
made it and won the 2nd Division title beating East Point RC by
55 shots to 52 in a play off for the championship, each team having
won 11 games. KCC repeated the win the next year, again winning
11 games from 14 played.
"TOUCH AND GO FOR THE KCC," read
the headline, "Lose last match but win the lawn bowls championship." On Saturday, 22 August 1931, the KCC won the 1st Division Championship
for the first time in the history of the Club, but they had to
thank the Taikoo Recreation Club for the title. Needing only a
point to make themselves absolutely safe from further challenge,
KCC failed to obtain it, losing to Civil Service by 17 shots in
a surprise defeat. Everything therefore depended on the result
of the Craigengower-Taikoo RC match, the former being in a position
to mount a very strong challenge to KCC's position. But Taikoo
won and thereby made KCC the winner.
In a 1st Division match in May 1936 played
at Cox's Path, KCC defeated CCC B who were previously undefeated.
An eight by Hyde-Lay's rink scored on the eighth head was largely
responsible for the 71-49 victory.
Four years later at the AGM on 4 October
1940, Ezra Abraham, Vice President presiding, remarked, "Our
first team owing to the continual change in players due to volunteer
and other duties are in a very lowly position and will probably
just avoid relegation." It appears that volunteer duties,
and in more recent years annual leave, has nearly always affected
our chances. Also lawn bowlers seem to change clubs more often
than other sporting members, so it is difficult to be able to
state which members have represented KCC in Interports and have
won Colony Championships. This is particularly applicable to the
pre-War era.
We know that C J Tacchi was President of
the HKLBA in 1936/37 and was a member of the winning KCC 1st Division
team in 1931; V C Labrum was President of the HKLBA in 1951/52;
R Lapsley won the Colony Open Singles in 1927 and represented
Hong Kong against Shanghai in 1920, 1922 and 1926; A Hyde-Lay
won the Colony Open Singles in 1933 and played for Hong Kong against
Shanghai in 1933, 1935 and 1936. Others representing Hong Kong
in the series of Interports against Shanghai were: H Hampton,
A E Silkstone, E C Fincher (pre-War) and T A Madar and W Hong
Sling (post-War).
The Club's No. 1 fah wong (gardener or
groundsman), Yu Chung Kwong, remembers the bowling greens being
used as vegetable gardens during the Pacific War. However in November
1946, the greens were reopened and to this day are used continuously
throughout the year by the Club's present Men's A, B, C and D
Teams and four ladies' teams, plus many others who play just for
the enjoyment of the game.
In the early Fifties, KCC introduced ladies
to the game of lawn bowls, with most of the other Clubs in the
Colony with lawn bowls facilities following the example. The Ladies'
A Team won the League titles in 1952 and 1962. The ladies have
also been successful in Colony Championships:
The Last Quarter Century
In the late Seventies, Hong Kong was seeing
a boom in its economy and many expatriates were drawn to these
shores. Most of them were middle aged and lawn bowls seem to be
the game that they could easily adapt to. With the new arrivals
plus a number of local bowlers who were eager to join, the Club
was quick in expanding the Lawn Bowls Section. By the mid-Eighties,
the section was running six men's and four ladies' teams, and
the KCC suddenly emerged as a formidable power in this sport.
Since then, the first team has never looked
back and continues to dominate lawn bowls by winning 1st Division
(later known as the Premier League) 10 more times. With back-to-back
winners along the way in 1985/86, 1988/89, 1991/1992 and 2002/2003.
Over the years KCC has produced a string
of young and talented bowlers who were influenced by their parents
at an early age. These youngsters took on the game and later represented
the Club at the top level in the league. Together they have won
the Junior Singles Champion seven times between 1979 and 1994.
Gary Dang (1979), Kelvin Melbourne (1985 and 1986), Chadwick Chen
(1987 and 1989) and Graeme Parker (1993 and 1994).
Looking back over the past two decades,
KCC has outshone other bowling clubs in capturing league championship
in all divisions no less than 31 times, an astounding achievement
to say the least. The section's focus this centenary year will
be to retain the championship for the third year running.
In 1987 a lady official from the Sports
Administration Department in China, who was an acquaintance of
the KCC's Anna Hamet, was keen to know more about the game. She
was duly invited to a demonstration and brief introduction. A
year later Anna was invited to bring a team to Guangzhou to give
another demonstration. A group of around 20 KCC bowlers and spouses
arrived by train and was escorted to lunch that was more like
a banquet. In the afternoon they were driven to the green for
a demo of the game. To their surprise, or more like horror, the
green turned out to be a football pitch. Nonetheless, they managed
to do their best in front of more than 200 cheering Physical Education
University students, who were subsequently asked to join in the
fun. A question and answer session followed. This trip was a first
for Hong Kong since the war.
The twenty-first century has started off well for the section.
In the last six years, many new and older members from other sporting
sections have taken up this game. It has also attracted new bowlers
from the Sporting Subscriber scheme. The pool of players that
the KCC now has is most encouraging, the direct result of accomplishments
at the turn of the century. The sport is as strong as ever. With
the calibre of players that now exists, plus an extra push in
dedication and enthusiasm, the KCC Lawn Bowls Section can continue
on its path to glory through the coming years.
Lawn Bowls Section sub-committee
Section representative - Chadwick Chen
Email: lawnbowls@kcc.org.hk
A Team Captain - Jurg Blaser
Email: director@delicia.com.hk
B Team Captain - Bob Mehta
Email:
bob_mehta@hotmail.com
C Team Captain - Richard Bryson
Email:
bryco@netvigator.com
D Team Captain - Alan Cheung
Email:
alan118hk@msn.com
Ladies Captain - Mona Li
Email:
lifk@hotmail.com
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