Lawn bowling event drives up membership

Rodman Muller of Newport Beach has played bocce ball for at least a decade, but on Saturday he expanded his gaming repertoire to lawn bowling.

He was one of 175 people who tried out the game at the Newport Harbor Lawn Bowling Club’s Saturday on the Green event, and after meeting members and receiving instructions on the British game that was built on the Italian bocce, Muller decided to join.

“The main reason is for the camaraderie and business connections and just for the sport itself,” Muller said.

Muller plans to play at the club twice a week — once during the week and once on a weekend so he can take his wife, friends and kids.

Lawn bowling seems to be getting more popular locally — so far Saturday’s event has translated to 40 new members. The same event last year led only 16 people to join.

“We considered it a huge success,” club vice president John Groothius said.

The club is working to broaden its membership base and is succeeding. In the last year, Groothius said the average age of members has dropped about a decade.

People from 40 to 80 years old “are the main majority of our membership…. We’re trying to bring in younger people because that’s where our real future is,” Groothius said. “Getting younger people in there sooner is good — they then bring in their friends, and it becomes a very good social networking opportunity.”

The club now has about 150 members, something Groothius is also proud of since two years ago when the club “struggled” to keep about 100 members.

To join, new members must pay a $35 initiation fee and a $125 annual fee — just over $10 per month — to have access to the club whenever they’d like to.

“What a nice venue they have there,” Muller said. “It gives you the opportunity to have company functions, birthday parties and just get-togethers, and that’s what’s so neat about that community area right there.”

Groothius has said the club is all about friendship and camaraderie, but to nine of its members it goes beyond socializing. Those nine are internationally renowned world champion lawn bowlers who have competed against the world’s best.

This fall, the club will host an international competition where men and women will compete.

The club is also good for team building, Groothius said. A real estate company had about 60 of its employees at the club Tuesday for an event in which different departments played against each other for a day of fun.

To join or for more information, call world champion and club treasurer Jan Hargraves at (949) 640-6049.