Recently we have received enquiries about the rule of Possession of the Rink. The situation is that a player started to walk up the green for head visit right after the opponent delivered the bowl.
According to the Laws of the Sport of Bowls, “Possession of the Rink” will belong to the player or team whose bowl is being played and it will only be transferred to the opponent when the bowl comes to rest. During which time the delivering player or team should not be interfered with, annoyed or distracted in any way by their opponents.
So the player who walked up the rink right after the opponent delivered the bowls has clearly breached this rule. The player should either wait until the opponent’s bowl stopped and then walk up, or just follow his own bowl to the head. But in the latter case the bowler should be located behind the jack when his own bowl stopped.
Please note that lawn bowls is a gentleman’s game and fair play is a key element in the sport. We urge all bowlers to follow the rules and treat your opponents fairly.
MEMORANDUM (Pdf file)