Lawn bowlers accuse officials of neglect

When lawn bowlers from across the world came to Sarasota for the sport’s 2017 U.S. Open in November, the competitors arrived at a venue that wasn’t up to the standards of the international event.

That’s according to members of the Sarasota Lawn Bowling Club, who have submitted a series of complaints about the conditions to county and city officials. Those members say the maintenance of the facility during the past year has been inconsistent and misguided.

By the time of the U.S. Open, the playing surface was in such poor shape that the tournament had to use an alternate venue outside of the city limits for some matches. 

“These are really world-class lawn bowlers, and they felt it was terrible,” said Alin Lozada, president of the Sarasota Lawn Bowling Club. “It put a bad stain on our reputation.”

The county and city are working with the lawn bowling club to address the issues members have raised, but officials dispute allegations of neglect or improper care in the run-up to the tournament.

“We’re going to take an in-depth look now that these things have shown their head,” said Jerry Fogle, the city’s parks and recreation director. “We weren’t really aware — everything looked good right before that.”

Lawn bowling is a niche sport in America, but there’s a prime piece of real estate dedicated to it here. Sarasota’s lawn bowling greens sit near the bayfront, right next to the Municipal Auditorium. Although the property is located in and owned by the city, the county is responsible for the day-to-day management of the facility.

In 2014, Sarasota nabbed the rights to host the 2016 and 2017 U.S. Open. The lawn bowling club saw it as a triumph, an opportunity to mark Sarasota as a lawn bowling destination during a moment where the sport is vying to become an Olympic event.

Prior to the 2016 U.S. Open, the city and county replaced one of the three greens on the premises. The greens were in relatively good shape, Lozada said, and the tournament was a success.

The lawn bowling club said the problems started shortly afterwards. Although the 2016 event went smoothly, club members believed some of the improvements to the course came at the last minute, cutting things a little too close for comfort. They encouraged county staff to take a more proactive approach to keeping the greens in good shape.

Lozada and others said the county did not heed their advice. Some complaints say the facility did not get the attention it needed in the spring and summer. Others said the county’s maintenance plan did not recognize the specific needs of a lawn bowling facility, versus a different grassy playing surface.

Members said the county told them funding issues made it difficult to address the issues they raised. Lozada said, despite several meetings with county staff, things continued to trend in the wrong direction.

“There was very little supervision,” Lozada said. “They cut the greens the wrong way. It was really a fiasco.”

“There was very little supervision. They cut the greens the wrong way. It was really a fiasco.”

Through a county spokesperson, Nicole Rissler, the county’s deputy parks and recreation director, said the county did not change its maintenance routine for the lawn bowling facility after the 2016 U.S. Open. County documents show the facility was still routinely maintained. Rissler said via email that the conditions and age of the lawn bowling greens made it a challenging property to manage.

“The deterioration of the greens is caused by agronomic factors that are not conducive to the environment in which the facility exists, as well as poor weather conditions late summer and early fall,” Rissler said in the email.

Fogle echoed Rissler’s comments. He said rain ahead of the tournament caused the setbacks, and suggested irrigation and drainage issues were bigger problems than a lack of maintenance.

“We definitely need to take a really good look at the whole entire infrastructure of the lawn bowling facility,” Fogle said.

Rissler said the county would work with the city to determine if the facility needed any improvements for staff to more effectively maintain the property going forward.

Still, lawn bowling members remain critical of how the property has been managed. They say other parts of the lawn bowling area have also deteriorated, including fences and bathrooms.

They said the county has prohibited members from assisting in the maintenance of the greens, which precludes guidance from people familiar with the specifics of the sport. Rissler said that was done because club members were not trained on industry standards.

The lawn bowling club is also skeptical of the motives of local officials. The city is in the process of planning the redevelopment of the bayfront land on which the lawn bowling facility sits.

“Really, a lot of membership feels that maybe we’re being sabotaged because the bayfront (planners) don’t want us to be there,” Lozada said. “It’s prime piece of property.”

Fogle said he hasn’t had a conversation about the long-term future of the facility with city administration. For now, he said he’s focused on finding a way to bring the lawn bowling greens up to the standard club members are asking for.

“As of right now, I’ve been instructed to do the best we can to bring the lawn bowling up to standard,” Fogle said.