They bowled in the shadow of the Citizens Bank clock tower as Scout the robotic watchdog stood guard.

Senior citizens from across the region gathered on the sprawling Citizens campus in Johnston for the inaugural Johnston Senior Center Bocce Tournament.

Competitors included five teams from the Johnston Senior Center, and teams from the Johnston Fire Department, the Johnston Rec Department, Morgan Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center, The Bridge at Cherry Hill and two teams from Citizens Bank.

The winning team, Johnston Senior Center Team 1, included members Doreen Balmforth, Ralph Votta, Janice Desjardins and John Signore Jr. The final match, or championship game, was played between them and Morgan Health & Rehabilitation Center.

The Sept. 6 tournament gave more than 100 participants the opportunity to enjoy an afternoon of bocce, refreshments and community.

“This is one of just many programs the Citizens’ Johnston Campus will hold this year — ensuring community members and organizations have a place to participate in field sports, gather, and celebrate,” according to a press release from Citizens Bank.

“We’re happy with the town and we’re thrilled to do this kind of stuff,” said Mike Knipper, executive vice president of property and procurement for Citizens Bank.

Knipper and Scout made their rounds, circling a pair of pristine bocce courts and chatting with players and spectators.

“There’s some history between us and the Johnston Senior Center,” Knipper said. “When we did the first press conference to announce that we were moving to Johnston, we did it in the Johnston Senior Center … I guess that was 2016. We’ve had a tremendous experience here in town. But the campus was built to be integrated with the community.”

He said the public is “absolutely” invited to enjoy the campus.

“We said, from day one,” Knipper explained over the laughter of the bocce crowd. “You’ll notice, the reason why there’s no security guard station when you drive in, is because of just exactly that. The only thing we control, is we don’t let people on the baseball field unless it’s booked … This is 100% open.”

This likely won’t be the senior center’s final visit to the campus.

“We hope this will become a tradition, not just for tournaments,” Knipper said. “When the staff came to us and said they’d like to have a tournament, we jumped on it.”