About Us
Lawn Bowling at Sun City Center
How it all started...
Mr Del Webb commenced the construction of a retirement community between Tampa and Sarasota named Sun City Center in 1961 and the facility was officially opened in January 1962.
Mr Webb was a keen lawn bowler (as was his good friend Walt Disney) and the first lawn bowling green at Sun City Center was completed in the same year.
Initially ladies were not permitted to become members however eventually the men gave way and allowed ladies, as guests, to lawn bowl on Tuesday afternoons.
Later the ladies were allowed to play on Tuesday and Friday afternoons, hence the formation of the Tuesday and Friday Ladies Club which is still active today. This is a club within a club and, apart from lawn bowling, they enjoy a number of social activities.Eventually the rules were changed, and the membership was amended to include women.
The number of members has fluctuated over the years. Initially there were approximately 100 members; however it gradually grew and peaked at 420 in the 1990s.
By that time, 3 new greens had been added. The club was flourishing and it was therefore surprising that over the next two decades interest in Lawn Bowling as well as many other sports diminished. The club now has 3 greens and a membership of around 180. However new members are joining every month, most of them having completed the instruction classes. The new magnificent Club House was built in 2002. The cost of construction was covered by members’ donations, a large gift from long-serving members Mr and Mrs Bill Eberhardt, and from The Community Association. Appropriately the building is named “The Eberhardt Building”. The club is well-run, has a good atmosphere and many members enjoy the morning mixed matches and the many social events. Other clubs who play under the umbrella of the mother club are the Tuesday and Friday Ladies, and the two clubs which are affiliated to the United States Lawn Bowling Association – The Suncoasters (ladies) , and the Pebble Beach Lawn Bowling Club (men).
