“SOLE” SEARCHING

by Diana Wilk (Santa Maria LBC)

Rules of attire are among the most interesting aspects of the game, as much a part of tradition as baseball uniforms in the major leagues. Canadians, for example, specify black or brown shoes; Australians white or tan shoes; and Americans have no specific color. For clothing, “whites” are the order of the day for tournaments. Australians demand a hat, tie, blazer, shirt, long trousers, socks and shoes, white or cream. Aren’t you glad we don’t have to wear all that?

The shoes that are worn on our greens for bowling are important for the health of our turf. Please take a moment to look at the shoes you have been wearing and make sure they will not harm our greens. The shoes are required to be “heel-less”. That means completely flat on the bottom. My unofficial survey this week noticed many shoes that had slight concave sections between the heel and toe. Also, the less tread on them the better. The theory behind that is that we are bringing weed seeds on to the turf lodged in the tread on the bottom of our shoes. The ideal place for your shoes is in your locker or car, and is used only for bowling.

An excellent leather shoe is made by SAS, which can be found at Shoetown (by San Roque Post Office). It is rather expensive, but it is a great walking shoe. Another nice shoe is the PureFit by Keds (Robinson’s carries it for about $35).