Jack — The small white ball. One per lane.

Bowls — Eight bowls per team. In a four-person team each player throws two. In a three-person team, the Lead and Second each throw three and the Skip throws two.

Mat — A black rubber mat at each end of the lane. Keep the second mat off the green until you're ready to throw from that end.

No dress code here. Just make sure you're wearing flat-soled shoes — runners, sandals, deck shoes, and even bare feet all work.

Heeled footwear of any kind is not allowed on the greens.

A standard team has four (4) players: Lead, Second, Third, and Skip.

If you can't field a full team, your Lead and Second each throw three (3) bowls and your Skip throws two (2).

Bowls have a bias, meaning they're weighted to curl rather than roll straight. Instead of aiming directly at the jack, you aim to the side and let the bowl curve its way in.

Each bowl has two rings — the smaller ring indicates the bias, which is the direction it will curl.

We have two (2) greens, each with eight (8) rinks (lanes). Get your teams sorted before you arrive.

We've recently invested in a lot of new bowls. Please treat them well — don't let them crash into the wooden boards, and don't leave them sitting in the sand when not in play. Return bowls to the totes in sets of four with matching symbols.

Be aware of who is bowling, be patient, and don't walk through another team's game. And please make sure your cans, bottles, and recycling end up in the right bins.

The goal is simple: get your bowl as close to the jack as possible.

1. A coin toss decides which team tosses the jack first. The winner can choose to bowl first or last — bowling last is called having the Hammer.

2. The jack must cross the hog line. It's then picked up and centred in the lane.

3. If the jack lands in the gutter it can be placed six feet from the gutter or re-thrown by the other team. Both teams must agree. The bowling order stays the same.

4. Each player bowls in the same order for the whole game, though order can be changed before a new game begins.

5. After each end, the jack is tossed by the Lead of the team that won that end. They also bowl first. The losing team gets the Hammer.

6. The team that throws first sets down the mat, which stays in place until the end is finished. When delivering, keep at least one foot on the mat.

7. Any bowls that land in the back gutter or outside the lane don't count. If a bowl hits the jack and continues into the gutter, it stays in play.

8. The jack can be moved by a bowl and stays in play unless it leaves the lane. If it's knocked sideways out of the lane, a dead end is called and the end is replayed from the same mat. If the jack is knocked into the gutter it's live and play continues. Any bowl that follows it into the gutter is also live.

1. Start by finding the bowl closest to the jack. That counts as one point. If the next closest bowl is from the same team, that's another point. The first opposition bowl you reach stops the count.

2. Work through all the bowls, counting points for every bowl closer to the jack than the nearest opposition bowl.

3. If you can't agree on which bowl is closest, measure. Borrow a tape measure from another member or bring your own.

4. After five ends (this may vary), tally up the score.