Harlequin Bowls Club

A history of the Quins Bowls Club

In 1903 British servicemen stationed in Pretoria formed a hockey club, which also allowed the participation of local citizens. After searching for a suitable name the club wrote to Harlequin Rugby Football Club in London and obtained their permission to use the name Harlequin in Pretoria. Other sports, notably rugby and cricket, were formed as subsections of the Club. In the late 1940s, the present site in Groenkloof was leased to the Club on a long-term lease at low rental, allowing the addition of further sporting sections.

The Harlequin Bowling Club section of the main club was formed in 1958 with two bowling greens. A private donor had a third green built to enable players to play throughout the year. The membership of the Bowling section increased steadily until the 1980s when it peaked at approximately 150 members.

Unfortunately the membership decreased drastically during the nineties, further aggravated by the decision of members of the women's section to leave the Club en masse. As the membership decreased sides were relegated to lower leagues. A low was reached in 1997 when there were only 28 registered members. At the beginning of 1998 a concerted effort was made to increase membership by introducing family day bowls once a month, allowing participants to dress casually and play with flat soled shoes. This resulted in membership increasing to 60 members by the year 2000. Financially the Club also progressed from not being able to pay its operating expenses, to a healthy bank balance, even being able to outsource the maintenance of the greens.

In spite of the problems, both the men's and the women's teams progressed exceptionally well with numerous members obtaining their provincial colours. Two players, Shirley Webber and Frans du Plessis had the honour of representing the Springboks at international level.

Berea Park Bowling Club

The Berea Park Bowling Club was officially opened during 1917, and was the second oldest club in Northern Transvaal. The Club had three greens, Elliott (1917), Victory (1919) and Buchanan (1922). The Club's greens were rated amongst the best in Northern Transvaal and the Club had on numerous occasions been headquarters for the National and All-Transvaal Tournaments.

In district and national tournaments the Club had been well represented and had a fine record of achievements. On the administrative side, the Club had provided three presidents of the N.T.B.A. and three presidents of the N.T.W.B.A. The Club produced three Springboks over the years, namely, Albert Adamson, George Jacobs and Brian Ellwood, plus Junior Springbok Tony Holtz. The late George Jacobs and Brian Ellwood, now in Cape Town, won the South African Singles Championship.

In 2000, when the Berea Park main club was busy closing its doors, the bowls club had an active membership of 70. These members decided on an amalgamation with the Harlequin Bowls Club and all of them joined the newly formed club, Harlequin-Berea Bowling Club, after the amalgamation.

2001 Harlequin-Berea Bowling Club Committee (photo courtesy of Terry Chester)

The first committee of the amalgamated club - Standing: Charl Rautenbach, Joe Oosthuysen, Keith Holmes; Sitting: Billy Roets, Terry Chester, George Donaldson (president), Herc du Preez, Brenda du Preez

Harlequin-Berea Bowling Club

In 2004, the committee of the main Harlequins Club decided to reallocate the ground of the top bowling green for squash courts. Many members felt that the top green had the best bowling characteristics of the three greens, so were very disappointed with this decision.

In 2010, it was decided to rename the Club Harlequin Bowls Club.

Brooklyn Bowling Club

After the fire which destroyed the Brooklyn clubhouse in August 2011, all of the active members of the club joined Harlequins as social members. Many of these become full members at the the start of the 2011/12 league season. After the clubhouse was rebuilt in 2012, a brief attempt was made to revive the Club. However, the Tshwane Council (owners of the grounds) decided to hand the clubhouse over to the Reach for a Dream Foundation. This signalled the end of the Club, even though the greens are still being maintained by the council up to today (2016).

(updated: 19 June 2023)