In 1820, Governor Macquarie made “Bell Vue” (Bellevue Hill) a fashionable beauty spot for the gentry to stop in their open carriages to take in the sea view, and catch the ‘Nor’easter on humid days.  At the base of Bellevue Hill, dashing young officers raced their open carriages (called “drags”), along Captain Pipers flat.

On St Patrick’s Day 1825, an unofficial race meeting was organized near “Bondi Bay”.  The site for this was in the bush off the (Old) South Head Road on land which today is the site of the Bondi Bowling Club (BBC) and Barracluff Park.

The racing event grew to become a popular mid-week meeting and by 1825, the “Sydney Turf Club” was formed.   However, a rival club known as the Australian Racing and Jockey Club (ARJC) was formed in 1828 by loyalists to the governor holding their first meetings at Homebush before moving to a “sandy course at Randwick” in the early 1830s.)  The STC lingered on for 18 months during this time.

By 1832, a Sydney gazetteer noted that “the bush had been reclaiming the old racecourse and that all that was left was a few posts and the wreck of the clubhouse building.”

From 1897 to 1904 there was a fairway of Royal Sydney Golf Course running south to north across the area of Bondi’s Number 3 Green, with the tee in, what is now Blair Street and the green on the corner of Brassie Street and Gilgandra Road.

Foresight

During 1933, a dedicated group of Bondi citizens worked through the year towards the formation of a bowling club and their foresight culminated in the Foundation Meeting on 19 December, 1933, at which the Bondi Bowling Club was founded.

Foremost among this group were Norman Thomas (later Foundation President and local MLA), Dr. T.F.Brown, Rupert O’Brien and F.A.E. Thom.

Relief Fund

To build the clubhouse and greens, three thousand pounds was borrowed through Waverley Council from the Unemployed Relief Fund.

On July 25, 1935, the clubhouse was opened by Hon. E.A.Buttenshaw, Minister for Lands, and on November 16, 1965, the greens were officially opened by Hon. B.S.B.Stevens, Premier – at the same time the building was handed over to the club by Alderman D. Hunter, Mayor of Waverley.

First Game

First game of bowls played on Bondi greens was on Boxing Day, 1935.  There were 59 Foundation Members from the December 19, 1933 meeting.

Extensions to the clubhouse were completed in December 1938, and further improvements in 1954, with celebrations to commemorate BBC’s 21^st birthday and the official opening of the improved clubhouse.

In January 1971, members authorised the introduction of the Bondi Women’s Bowling Club.

The various achievement boards show the bowling attainments of Bondi members over 75 years.