Bowls Australia's Education & Training Coordinator, Steve Campbell, has advised of a change of law passed by the World Bowls Council.
In a nutshell; The revised law has come into effect in Australia as of 1 January 2017. The requirement for bowls manufacturers to include large groove rings on the non-bias side of a bowl has been removed. This will allow for customisation of the size of distinguishing marks on the non-bias side of the bowl, as the design will no longer need to fit inside the groove ring. The bias (or small ring) side of the bowl will remain the same. Bowls we are currently using which have the manufacturers large groove ring will remain valid for all levels of play.
PLEASE NOTE: This law change is not to be confused with club adhesive rings. These club rings are still required by all players in a side and must still be adhered to both sides of the bowl. Copy of the full BA memorandum >here Post: 5 Jan 2017