Southport Magazine

Don’t be surprised this summer if while you’re relaxing with your crew at the beach, a woman comes over and challenges you to play a form of beach Skeeball. Say yes. It’s tremendous fun, and you’ll be helping a neighbor. It’s all part of marketing a new game, Beach Bowl, invented by an Oak Island resident and her family. 

Lynn Hefele saw an opportunity, had an idea, and ran with it. “As a beachgoer, I’ve always been an active participant rather than a beach sitter. In my younger days, this meant body surfing and beach volleyball. But as I’ve gotten older, my beach game has evolved. These days, I’m more likely to take a walk on the beach or play a game of Bocce Ball with my family,” she said. “That is, until one day, my daughter-in-law, Amanda, and I spotted some beachgoers playing a game we’d never seen before. They were rolling a ball into a hole on the beach, and we were immediately intrigued.”

They were intrigued enough to start playing around with ideas of their own, but soon ran into a couple problems. “We tried to emulate the game on our own, but quickly became disheartened by our inability to create two identical holes in a straight line,” she said. “Then one day, as we were playing around with our ideas on the beach, the tide started coming in. This presented a new challenge.”

The solutions were a template showing where holes for various forms of a game could be placed, and playing up the beach, with the ocean at your back, like Skeeball. 

But how to make sure the holes were uniform? After playing around with different shovel solutions, they finally they came up with a winning idea — the Skupper, a hand-held plastic device that works kind of like the one used to create holes on a golf green. 

“The Skupper was a game-changer,” Lynn said. “It allowed us to dig perfect sand cups every time, making it possible to play Beach Bowl with ease.” 

Beach Bowl is a family affair. Lynn’s son played a major role in moving the idea from concept through production to marketing, and that’s been one of the best parts of the experience for Lynn. “He lives in Buffalo, NY.  Since starting this adventure, I have talked with him easily five out of seven days a week. I am so proud of how he has managed the business and of how he helps me navigate the business world. That is priceless!” she said.

I met Lynn on the beach one morning to see this invention for myself. The entire set, which includes the Skupper, a template with stakes to keep it in place, a set of hard rubber balls and a little ball for playing bocce, comes in a blue bag about the size of a school backpack. All the components are well-made and colorful, but what impressed me most was how much you can do with just what comes in one set. 

The game takes full advantage of the beach. Not only can you easily create the holes, but if you want a little ramp in front of them for that Skeeball effect, you just make one. Want bumpers on the sides or back? Just pile up some sand. While the game includes rules for five games, the limit is really only your imagination. 

But be sure to clean up after yourself when you’re done. “Filling in the holes is the biggest concern people have on social media and rightfully so,” Lynn said. “While our holes are fairly shallow, we don’t want anyone to sprain an ankle and we certainly don’t want baby sea turtles to get stuck in a hole. We encourage everyone to fill in their holes and have created a public service announcement that we will post throughout the summer,” she said.

After tossing some balls ourselves, we went looking for some folks to try the game out, one of the best marketing tools in Lynn’s toolbox. We found a family with some children who picked the game up immediately. 

“Walking the beach is the best part of the experience so far,” Lynn said. “People are so kind and truly happy to play! I have played with little ones rolling from one foot away, groups of teenagers, and college students, as well as groups that have three generations present! All levels of players are experiencing the same success. While all ages can play, children should be under parental supervision.”

If you’d like to try Beach Bowl out for yourself, head down to Beach Day on July 1 in front of the Cabana on 46th Street. “Oak Island Recreation has been kind enough to allow us to set up a station on Oak Island Beach Day,” Lynn said. “We will be set up next to the other events on the beach. We plan to have at least five games set up. Four of the games will represent the games that are presented with the game: Beach Bowl, Sand Skee-ball, Sinkhole and possibly Beach Cornhole. The other will be a game we have invented this summer called Deep Six. Beach goers will be able to try out all of the games.”

Beach Bowl is available for sale online at beachbowl.co and locally at Strands Outfitters on Oak Island and Southport Market in Southport. Want to try before you buy? Beach Bowl is available to rent on Oak Island from Black Sails Adventure Company. 

“I hope by the end of this summer, our commercial businesses have had a positive experience with us and our product. I hope people know the name Beach Bowl and have seen and/or played with the game on the beach,” Lynn said. “Most importantly, I hope we have created lasting memories for families and friends. We are already talking about our next products but we haven’t nailed anything down yet. We know that we want to put out quality products and find ways to make them affordable to a larger population.”