The Lockleys Bowling Club was formed on 31st January 1913. An acre of land was purchased on Cross Street on the northern side of Henley Beach Road, and the Lockleys Bowling Club was officially opened on 12th April 1913. In 1914 these premises became freehold. The Lockleys Bowling Club won its first Pennant in the 1918-19 season.
As the need to cater for growing membership grew, ideas were put forward to relocate of the club. In 1961 a decision was taken to relocate the club to its current site on the Lockleys Oval Reserve in Rutland Avenue. This site consisted of sand dunes. Four bowling greens were developed and the clubrooms and greens were opened in 1964. It should be noted that, in granting the use of this new land, the West Torrens Council stated that it would not provide any financial assistance to develop the site. That was managed through the sale of the previous premises at Cross Street and the resources of club members.
Further pressure of membership numbers led to the lounge extension in 1973. And again, the financial and labour resources for this extension were provided by the members.
This journey of foresight and self-help by the members of the club set the basis for the development of a club that has been developed into a world class lawn bowls venue as evidenced by being selected to host the 1996 World Bowls Tournament, 1987 and 1988 Jack High Competitions (Mazda International Bowls Tournaments), 2011 Asia-Pacific Bowls Championships, and 2012 World Lawn Bowls Championships. More recently the Lockleys Club hosted the 58th Australian Police Bowls Championships in April 2016, and the Australian Sides Championships in April 2017.
To quote Vern Butler our Club Historian in summarizing the reason for this outstanding history since 1913 …
“Over the last hundred years there have been countless members whose voluntary work has been responsible for the magnificent facilities we have today and we give thanks to all who have worked tirelessly since the Club’s formation.”
