What’s more fun than bowling a cannonball down a road on a Saturday morning?
If you’ve ever participated in Irish road bowling, you know the peculiar delight of seeing that 28-ounce sphere roll along a straightaway and then catch a sweeping curve at just the right speed and angle so that it keeps rolling, and rolling and rolling some more.
If you’ve ever Irish road bowled, you probably also know what happens when you get too clever in your read of the road’s angles. If you overcompensate, the ball might just go straight into the weeds. And then get lost.
“But I thought ...,” you will mutter to yourself as one of your teammates laughs and the other one scowls.
On March 21, the Savannah division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians will host its 2015 Spring Irish Road Bowling Tournament on the Hutchinson Island racetrack. AOH Savannah (http://www.aohsavannah.com) has been hosting road bowling tournaments for about a decade, but the group is now raising the profile of the spring event, which is a significant fundraiser benefiting local charities.
“Going forward, it is our intention to have the spring tournament the first Saturday after St. Patrick’s Day and market it as the unofficial end to the green season here in Savannah,” said Greg Jenkins, AOH Savannah vice president.
For many locals, that “green season” begins with the Savannah Irish Festival, and it’s hard to imagine a more fitting finish than a big road bowling competition. If there’s wind or rain for the outdoor event, then that just makes it feel more authentically Irish.
“All are welcome. We consider it a family event,” Jenkins said. “You don’t have to be Irish.”
I actually am a little Irish — I once visited the farm in County Galway that my grandmother left as a teenager bound alone for America — but no one will check for your green card when you register.
And the dreaded cannonball is merciless to all nationalities, religions and ethnicities.
By the way, while stronger people might have an advantage on the course, successful bowlers come in all sizes. To that extent, road bowling is a little like 10-pin bowling. If you see the road correctly, get a little leverage and manage a smooth release, you’ll probably out-bowl competitors who try to rely on brute strength alone.
“Road bowling is a sport that anyone can do as long as you can hear screams of ‘faugh a ballagh’ (‘clear the way’) or ‘ball, ball ball,’ and get out of the way as cannonballs are being hurled down the road at you,” said longtime bowler Chris Hagan, whom Jenkins credits with introducing the sport to Savannah.
“It is not always the young lads that can pitch the ball the farthest that win,” Hagan said. “It also takes finesse to get through the S-curves and banked curves.
“The most important part of holding your team together is to not get a case of the shanks. If too many have misthrows, you will quickly fall out of the competition. It is loads of fun, and as soon as you have played it once, you will be anxiously awaiting the next tournament.”
The Hutchinson Island course is approximately 2 miles, according to Jenkins, and the winning team will likely have close to 20 bowls. If you’re a math whiz, you know that means an average of 500 feet per turn — that’s a long way for a metal ball to stay on the road.
Advance registration for the March 21 tournament is strongly encouraged. Registration forms and a PayPal link can be found at http://www.aohsavannah.com. It’s $45 for each team that pays in advance and $60 for walkups on the day of the event.
AOH Savannah has successfully secured corporate sponsors for the upcoming tournament, including Coach’s Corner. The Victory Drive restaurant will be the site of a social event on the Sunday after the Saturday tournament.
Given how much fun road bowling is, I think the sport has tremendous growth potential in America. Jenkins told me that there is a hub of road bowling activity in West Virginia, but you won’t find the sport in many other places on this side of the pond.
Maybe with this fresh push by AOH Savannah to raise the profiles of the spring tournament and of the sport itself, we’ll really see road bowling take off in Savannah.
City Talk appears every Tuesday and Sunday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net. Send mail to 10 East 32nd St., Savannah, Ga 31401.