Hampden Park Bowls Club

1. All Club Competitions will be administered by the Competitions Secretary.
The Controlling Body will consist of the Competitions Secretary and the Ladies’ and Men’s Captains.
A challenge to the Competitions Secretary’s decision, received within 24 hours of the game ending, may be taken to the Controlling Body for resolution. Their ruling will be final.

2. The draw for the competitions and the setting of handicaps will be made by the Competitions Secretary and two other club members, ideally the two Club Captains.

3. No member should enter a competition if they know or suspect they will not be available to play on the finals weekend. Should they find out after entry then they must notify the Competitions Secretary immediately and withdraw from the competition. In a singles competition the last player they beat will be offered the opportunity to be reinstated in their place, including in the final.
Entries received after the designated closing date set by the Competitions Secretary will not be accepted. However, if a new member joins the Club after the draws are complete, but before any match in that particular competition has taken place, consideration for inclusion will be taken by the Competitions Secretary.

4. The date by which each round should be completed will be shown on the Draw Sheets. Should a game not be played by the given date and there are no exceptional circumstances, the player or team who the Competitions Secretary considers to be responsible for the delay, may be disqualified.

5. The first named competitor or team on the draw sheet shall be the Challenger. Within one week of the completion date of the previous round they must offer their Opponent three suitable dates for the match, one of which must be a weekend. Within a further week the Opponent must notify the Challenger of acceptance of one of the dates offered, agree an alternative date, or concede a walkover.

6. The Challenger is responsible for booking a rink and, where necessary, arranging a marker. The Challenger is also responsible for providing the Scorecard which, in addition to giving the names of both competitors and the date played, must state the competition being played.
At the end of the game the Scorecard must be signed by both sides, the finishing time recorded and, where appropriate, signed by the Marker. The completed Scorecard must be placed in the appropriate box.

7. Bowls, which need not have a current Date Stamp, must be from the same set for the game but not necessarily for trial ends. Trial ends may be taken by agreement.
No competitor may play or practice on the rink selected for their match on the day it is to be played.

8. Any player causing more than 20 minutes delay beyond the start time of the match may be disqualified, as may their team.

9. In a team match the order of play must remain the same during the match but, should the team progress, the team order can be changed in subsequent rounds.

10. Substitutes and Replacements. A Substitute stands in for a team member for one round where that team member is unavailable for what the Competitions Secretary considers to be a good and acceptable reason. Should the team progress then if the absent player is available, they must return to the team for the next round.

Should a team member be unavailable for two consecutive rounds they will be permanently replaced by a Replacement.
In Triples, teams may have no more than two Substitutes and no more than two Replacements ensuring at least one original drawn player remains. A team unable to satisfy this requirement may be disqualified.

A player may only substitute for the same team on two occasions but can become a Replacement for that team.

There can be no Substitutes in the semi-final or final, but there can be Replacements.

A Substitute can have played in the competition before in any capacity.

A Replacement must not have previously played in the competition other than as a Substitute. If, within this rule, no Replacement can be found then a player who was eliminated in an earlier round can be considered as a Replacement.

A Substitute may not play Skip in Triples matches.

Players cannot choose their own Substitutes or Replacements. Placement of eligible Substitutes and Replacements will be done from the list held by the Competitions Secretary.

11. The makeup of a team in the final must be from the same players who played in the semi-final. Failure to satisfy this requirement will result in the Competitions Secretary offering a player(s) from the team they eliminated in the semi-final the opportunity to play in their place in the final.

12. If green steward declares the green unfit or dangerous to play, or if lightening is in area, play will be stopped. If a game is at least two thirds complete at that stage then the game will be deemed to have been completed, will not be resumed and the result will stand. However, if the game is tied at that point, then an extra end will be played at the earliest convenience, but no later than one week. If the game is a final and the extra end cannot be played then the final will be deemed to have been tied and both sides will be declared joint winners. The extra end need not be played on the same rink or green if circumstances dictated otherwise as decided by the Green Steward.

If the game is less than two thirds completed then the game will be resumed at a later time, continuing from the score when the game was stopped. The game need not be restarted on the same rink or green if circumstances dictated otherwise as decided by the Green Steward.

If it is raining but the green is playable, and both sides agree, then the game can be stopped and resumed later in the day, but not necessarily on the same rink or green if circumstances dictated otherwise as decided by the Green Steward. If the rain continues the game can be resumed on another day provided it is completed within one week. If not, and if neither side concede defeat, both sides will be eliminated. If it is a final no trophies will be awarded.

13. In the event of a player becoming unwell during a match and therefore cannot continue, the other player/team should agree to continue the match on an alternative date, at the point where the match was suspended. If an agreement to continue the match on an alternative date cannot be reached, the unwell player/team will concede the match to the opponents.

14. Should circumstances dictate, the Competitions Committee may relax any rule at any time.

April 2025

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