Bowling in Gisborne: Lawn Bowls Clubs and Where to Play

Bowling in Gisborne means lawn bowls. The city on New Zealand’s East Coast has three lawn bowls clubs within its boundaries and a fourth nearby in the wider Tairāwhiti district, but it has no dedicated ten-pin bowling alley. This guide explains where you can play, what each club offers, how a complete beginner can get started, what it costs, and what your options are if you specifically want ten-pin. Contact details and hours change from season to season, so treat the numbers here as a starting point and phone the club before you visit.

Lawn bowls or ten-pin: which “bowling” does Gisborne have?

Gisborne is a lawn bowls town, not a ten-pin town. The two sports share a name but are completely different. Lawn bowls is an outdoor green sport in which players roll weighted, lopsided bowls across a flat grass or synthetic surface to finish as close as possible to a small target ball called the jack. Ten-pin bowling is the indoor game played on a polished wooden lane, where you roll a heavy ball to knock down ten pins.

Every established bowling venue in Gisborne is a lawn bowls club. There is no ten-pin alley in the city, so if you search for “bowling in Gisborne” expecting rental shoes and glow-in-the-dark lanes, the local answer is the green rather than the lane. The rest of this guide covers the lawn bowls clubs in detail, then explains where the nearest ten-pin centres are.

Where can you play lawn bowls in Gisborne?

Three lawn bowls clubs operate inside Gisborne city, and one more sits up the coast at Tolaga Bay. Each club has its own green, clubrooms and membership, and each welcomes visitors and newcomers. Below is what you need to know about each one before you turn up.

Gisborne Bowling Club

Gisborne Bowling Club is the city’s oldest and best-known club, at 15 Rawiri Street. The club was established in 1884 and describes itself as the oldest bowling club in New Zealand still playing on its original site. It has natural grass greens — most listings say two, while the club’s own description refers to “two and a half” — maintained to a high standard.

The club runs both competitive and social bowling, including casual roll-ups through the warmer months, and it is the usual venue for larger Gisborne tournaments. Published hours vary between directories, so the simplest approach is to ring (06) 867 3050 and ask when the green is open and whether you can join a social session. New and casual players are welcome; you do not need to be a member to give it a try.

Kahutia Bowling Club

Kahutia Bowling Club is centrally located at 165 Cobden Street, within easy walking distance of the Gisborne town centre. The club has a friendly, social feel, offers plenty of free off-street parking, and makes its clubrooms and facilities available for hire at a modest cost — useful if you are organising a group day or a function.

The Kahutia site is also home to Gisborne Pétanque, which plays on a gravelled court alongside the bowling greens. Pétanque is a French boules game that is related in spirit to bowls but played with metal balls on a small gravel surface, so the two groups share grounds without sharing a green. To check green availability or ask about joining, phone (06) 867 6556 or email [email protected].

Poverty Bay Bowling Club

Poverty Bay Bowling Club, at 111 Ormond Road, has the only artificial (synthetic) green in Gisborne. That single feature sets it apart: a synthetic surface drains and dries far faster than natural grass, which lets the club play right through the year rather than only in summer. If you want to bowl in winter or after rain that would close a grass green, Poverty Bay is the club to call.

The club plays social and club bowls on its all-weather green and welcomes visitors. A good local contact is listed as 021 963 179; because committee contacts rotate, confirm the current day and time before heading over.

Tolaga Bay and the wider district

Beyond the city, Tolaga Bowling Club at West End, Banks Street in Tolaga Bay serves the coast north of Gisborne. Tolaga Bay is about 50 kilometres up State Highway 35, so the club mainly suits players already living on that side of the district rather than Gisborne city residents. You can reach it on (06) 864 5815. Smaller East Coast settlements have had bowling greens over the years, but Tolaga Bay is the nearest active club outside the three in town.

Who runs lawn bowls in Gisborne?

Bowls Gisborne East Coast is the amateur sports body that coordinates lawn bowls across the Gisborne and East Coast bowling district. It organises the local competition calendar, inter-club events and representative teams that play other centres around the country, and it links the individual clubs to the national governing body, Bowls New Zealand. If you want to know about pennant competitions, open tournaments or representative selection in the region, this is the body to ask; its contacts are published through the clubs and on its Sporty and Facebook pages.

For readers new to the structure of the sport, it helps to know the layers: you join a local club, your club affiliates to the district centre (Bowls Gisborne East Coast), and the centre sits under Bowls New Zealand, the national organisation. Entry-level social bowling needs none of this — it only matters once you start playing organised competition.

How do you get started as a beginner in Gisborne?

You can start lawn bowls in Gisborne with no equipment and no experience. The clubs keep sets of bowls you can borrow while you learn, so you do not need to buy your own set to try the sport. The simplest first step is to phone one of the three city clubs, say you are a beginner, and ask about a social roll-up, an open day or a “come and try” session.

A typical first visit looks like this:

• Call ahead. Confirm the day, time and that a beginner session is running. Clubs often set aside specific afternoons for casual bowling.
• Wear flat-soled shoes. Greens require flat, smooth soles to protect the surface. Many clubs run “barefoot bowls” sessions where you play in bare feet or socks, which removes the footwear worry entirely.
• Borrow a set of bowls. The club will lend you bowls and show you which side the bias is on so your bowl curves the right way.
• Learn the basics on the green. An experienced member will show you the stance, the roll and how to aim at the jack. You will be playing within minutes.

If you decide to keep playing, a member or coach can guide you on buying your own gear later. Choosing the right size and weight matters more than brand for a new player, and getting the fit right early makes the game far easier to learn.

To understand the game before you arrive, it is worth reading a plain-English overview of how to play lawn bowls and the basic lawn bowls rules. Knowing what the jack, the mat and an “end” are will make your first session click much faster.

What is barefoot bowls, and is it in Gisborne?

Barefoot bowls is a relaxed, social version of lawn bowls played in bare feet or socks, usually with food and drinks and no competitive pressure. It is popular for group outings, work functions and birthdays because it needs no skill, no special clothing and no membership. Clubs supply the bowls and often run it as a booked session for groups.

Gisborne clubs with clubrooms and a bar are well suited to barefoot bowls for private groups. Because availability depends on the season and on whether the green is free, barefoot bowls is almost always arranged by booking in advance rather than turning up. Call the club you want to use, tell them your group size, and ask whether they can set up a barefoot session.

When can you play lawn bowls in Gisborne?

The main outdoor lawn bowls season in New Zealand runs through the warmer months, roughly from spring to early autumn (about September or October to March or April). During the season the Gisborne clubs run regular social and competitive play, and the summer holidays are the busiest time on the greens.

Year-round play is possible at Poverty Bay Bowling Club thanks to its synthetic green, which stays playable in winter and after rain. Natural grass greens at the Gisborne and Kahutia clubs are more weather-dependent and may close over the wettest part of the year for maintenance. Opening hours differ by club and change between the summer and winter programmes, so the single most reliable step is to phone the club on the day you want to play.

What does it cost to go bowling in Gisborne?

Casual lawn bowls in Gisborne is inexpensive, and a one-off social session typically costs only a few dollars in green fees, with bowls lent free of charge. Prices are set by each club and are not published on a single list, so ask when you book. As a rough guide to the kinds of costs involved:

• Casual or barefoot session: a small green fee per person, often just a few dollars, with club bowls provided.
• Annual membership: a yearly subscription if you join as a playing member, which gives you full access to greens, competitions and the clubrooms.
• Clubroom hire: a separate, modest charge if you book the facilities for a private function, as Kahutia advertises.
• Your own bowls (optional): a one-off cost only if you decide to buy a set after you have started; second-hand sets are common and cheaper.

Compared with most sports and with a ten-pin game, lawn bowls is cheap to take up, which is one reason it remains popular across all ages in a provincial city like Gisborne.

Where is the nearest ten-pin bowling to Gisborne?

There is no ten-pin bowling alley in Gisborne, so a ten-pin game means travelling out of the region. The geography of the East Coast makes this a genuine road trip rather than a short drive, so it is usually something people combine with a wider trip rather than a casual night out.

The two closest established centres are:

• Superstrike, Hastings (Hawke’s Bay): a long-running ten-pin centre on Omahu Road, roughly a two-and-a-half to three-hour drive south of Gisborne on State Highway 2. It is the nearest full alley.
• Strikezone, Rotorua: a ten-pin centre on Te Ngae Road in Rotorua, further away again by road.

Prices, opening hours and lane availability at these venues change, so confirm directly with the centre before travelling. If you want to understand the indoor game before a trip, our guide to the ten-pin bowling rules explains frames, strikes and spares. For most Gisborne residents, though, the practical local option is the lawn bowls green, not the ten-pin lane.

Common mistakes to avoid

The most common mistake is turning up unannounced and finding the green closed. Lawn bowls clubs are run largely by volunteers, greens are weather-dependent, and hours change with the season, so an unplanned visit can easily meet a locked gate. A quick phone call solves almost every problem. Other frequent slip-ups include:

• Wearing the wrong shoes. Hard heels or cleats damage the green and will not be allowed. Bring flat, smooth-soled shoes, or ask about a barefoot session.
• Assuming you must own bowls. You do not. Clubs lend bowls to beginners, so there is no need to buy anything to start.
• Buying bowls before you have played. Size, weight and bias all matter, and the right fit depends on your hand and strength. Try the game first, then get advice before buying.
• Confusing the two sports. Searching for “bowling” and expecting ten-pin lanes leads to disappointment in Gisborne; the local game is lawn bowls.
• Ignoring the season. Grass greens may be closed in winter. If you want year-round play, head for the synthetic green at Poverty Bay.

If you want to learn the game properly, reading up on what bias is and why a bowl curves, the main formats such as singles, pairs, triples and fours, and how to choose beginner bowls will shorten your learning curve before you ever set foot on a Gisborne green.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is there a ten-pin bowling alley in Gisborne?

No. Gisborne has no dedicated ten-pin bowling alley. Every established bowling venue in the city is a lawn bowls club. The nearest ten-pin centres are Superstrike in Hastings, roughly a two-and-a-half to three-hour drive away, and Strikezone in Rotorua, which is further again.

How many lawn bowls clubs are there in Gisborne?

There are three lawn bowls clubs within Gisborne city: Gisborne Bowling Club on Rawiri Street, Kahutia Bowling Club on Cobden Street, and Poverty Bay Bowling Club on Ormond Road. Tolaga Bowling Club at Tolaga Bay serves the wider East Coast district about 50 kilometres north.

Can beginners play lawn bowls in Gisborne without their own bowls?

Yes. The clubs keep sets of bowls that beginners can borrow, so you can turn up and play without buying anything. Phone the club first to confirm a social or come-and-try session is running, and wear flat-soled shoes or ask about a barefoot bowls session.

Which Gisborne club can I play at in winter?

Poverty Bay Bowling Club has the only artificial green in Gisborne, and its synthetic surface drains and dries quickly, so the club can play through winter and after rain. Natural grass greens at the Gisborne and Kahutia clubs are more weather-dependent and may close during the coldest, wettest months.

How much does it cost to go lawn bowling in Gisborne?

A casual or barefoot session usually costs only a small green fee of a few dollars, with club bowls provided free. Annual playing membership costs more and gives full access to greens and competitions. Each club sets its own prices and they are not published on one list, so ask when you book.