Amendoeira Bowls Club is to close at the end of March next year and the bowling green replaced “with facilities aimed at a broader audience”.
The green at the Oceânico Amendoeira Golf Resort near Silves was opened in 2009.
In October that year it staged the Oceânico Bowls Masters Portugal tournament with TV coverage on SkySports.
However, this year Oceânico was unable to secure sponsorship for the tournament, meaning it could not be televised.
Oceânico Group’s CE, Martin Date, said: “We have been dedicated to promoting the bowls greens at Amendoeira and were delighted to be able to offer the only natural grass crown green outside the UK.
“But with the sport appealing to such a niche audience, predominately in the North West of England, we have found it difficult to sustain the numbers through the door that subsequently maintains their existence.”
During a review of the use of Amendoeira Golf Resort facilities, he said it became apparent that the area devoted to the bowling greens could no longer be justified “based on financial performance and strategic importance to the resort”, which is primarily a golf resort.
Local bowlers, who played regularly on both the flat and crown greens, were thanked by Oceânico for supporting the Amendoeira Bowls Club over the past three years.
