Bowls have been part of the Island Games events on three occasions since their introduction in 1987. If the host nation chooses to include bowls as an event, they have the option of one of indoor bowls, outdoor bowls or ten pin bowling.[1]
Indoor bowls were part of the 1987 and 2005 Games, whilst ten-pin bowling was part of the 1999 Games and is on the list of prospective events for the 2019 Games. To date, no outdoor bowls competition has been held at an Island Games.
Medals are awarded in both individual and team competitions, with varying number of medal events between the games. Each island to submit one competitor/team for each medal event.[1]
| Event | XIX 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indoor bowls | |||||||||||||||||||
| Singles | X | No bowls events held | X | No bowls events held | X | ||||||||||||||
| Pairs | X | X | X | ||||||||||||||||
| Triples | X | ||||||||||||||||||
| Fours | X | ||||||||||||||||||
| Team | X | X | |||||||||||||||||
| Ten pin bowling | |||||||||||||||||||
| Singles | X | X | |||||||||||||||||
| Team | X | X | |||||||||||||||||
| Gold Medals | Total Medals | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No: | Team | No: | Team | |
| Singles | 5 | 7 3 | | |
| Pairs | 4 | 7 6 | | |
| Triples and Fours | 3 | 4 3 | | |
| Team | 3 | 4 3 | | |
| Year | Games | Host | Event | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | Bronze | ||||
| 1987 | II | Men Women | M Nicoll J Nicoll | | | ||
| 2005 | XI | Men Women | Paul Ingrouille Alison Merrien [2] | | | | |
| 2023 | XIX | Open | Alison Merrien [3] | ||||
| Year | Games | Host | Event | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | Bronze | ||||
| 1987 | II | Men Women | | | | ||
| 2005 | XI | Men Women | | [4] | | | |
| 2023 | XIX | Open | |||||
| Year | Games | Host | Event | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||||
| 1987 | II | Men Women | | | | |
| 2005 | XI | Men Women | | | | |
| Gold Medals | Total Medals | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No: | Team | No: | Team | |
| Men's | 4 | 9 6 |  Bermuda | |
| Women's | 6 | 11 7 | | |
| Year | Games | Host | Event | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||||
| 1999 | VIII | Singles Team | | | | |
| 2019 | XVIII |  Gibraltar[5] | Singles Doubles Team Mixed Masters | | ||
| Year | Games | Host | Event | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||||
| 1999 | VIII | Singles Team | | | | |
| 2019 | XVIII | Gibraltar | Singles Doubles Team Mixed Masters | | Bermuda | Bermuda |