Summer Sports - Bowls


Royal Leamington Spa’s historic Victoria Park was one of the first sports facilities to be named as a venue for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, after Birmingham won the bid to host the games back in December. Jane Carley headed to the Regency Warwickshire town to meet with the venue’s Head Greenkeeper Mike Finch to find out how the home of Bowls England was chosen to host the tournament


H


ead greenkeeper Mike Finch, who manages the venue for Warwick District Council’s contractor idverde, explains the process that led to the ground, which is home to Royal Leamington Spa Bowls Club, being chosen.


“Victoria Park hosts the Bowls England National Championships annually and is the venue for the Men’s British Isles Championships 2018. Bowls England has also had its headquarters in Leamington since 2013, joined the Council in proposing the venue to the Games’ organising committee.” Bowls England and Warwick District Council backed the bid, citing the high standards in place and the Council’s previous experience in hosting high profile international bowls events at Victoria Park.


Also in its favour was its proximity to Birmingham, less than forty miles away, and the venue’s existing five greens. When Glasgow hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2014, the organisers had to build four new greens in the lead up to the Games. The greens at Victoria Park are home to a range of bowling activities, in addition to being the home of Royal Leamington Spa Bowls Club. It also hosts national competitions and international Test matches, and is open seven days a week for other bowls and parabowls clubs, societies and individual bowlers, and its profile means that there is a continual drive to increase standards, he explains:


“I am always looking to raise our percentages, whether that be grass density and quality or soil structure. I work closely


PC JUNE/JULY 2018 I 39


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