The Nursery

Editor’s note: Ever wonder about the small Mini-Me bowling green next to the mat shed. Read on for greenskeeper Patrica Erwin’s glimpse into spring initiatives to keep our green in tip top condition.

Since the Spring ‘drill and fill’ workday various bowlers have asked the BLBC greenskeepers if we got some time off since the green was closed.  In fact, the work on the green has continued at a brisk pace, but with different tasks and more flexible timing while it was closed for bowling. 

Following the drill and fill, the greenskeepers diligently dragged and swept the green daily. In a few areas, they filled holes one by one with sand. As the sand settled, regular watering was conducted to prevent the green from drying out due to the extensive sand distribution. Careful walking of the green was essential to search for and remove weeds, particularly during the spring season. In the photo, Poa (annual meadow grass) is being removed. Poa requires proactive control to prevent it from overrunning the green.

Another specific area of focus is supporting challenging areas such as the western corners. In mid-April, the team harvested a section of the nursery to replace an approximately 3’x4’ area in the southwest corner. This process, sometimes humorously referred to as a ‘surgery’ on the green, involves delicately cutting a section from the nursery, peeling off the grass and roots, and then ‘grafting’ it into the green. The grafting process requires meticulous attention to detail, including carefully removing the damaged area and placing the new section from the nursery just so. It is then leveled with a layer of sand and seed to enhance its strength. We place wire nets over the grafted area to prevent critters from digging and to mark the area for daily misting to aid seed germination.

The nursery has also received recent care. Damaged areas that were excessively dry or mossy were removed and then refilled using some of the thousands of plugs removed during the aeration process. Currently, the nursery is regularly watered, weeded, and supported to promote its growth and health. This will enable us to continue using sections of the nursery as needed on the green in the coming year.

A Good Day at Rossmoor

Sprightly Berkeley Teams Carry the 2025 Tunnel Challenge Trophy Back Over the Hill

The Tunnel Challenge is the annual “home and home” tournament between Berkeley and our colleagues of the Rossmoor Lawn Bowling Club out in the hinterland near Walnut Creek. Atop the trophy for this fiercely friendly contest sits the Spanish phrase “Allende El Cerrito” which can be translated as “beyond” or “over” the hill—the latter an arch witticism, clever, yes, but feeding the myth that lawn bowling is the preserve of the gerontocracy. That doesn’t mean, however, we will not deign to display it proudly in our clubhouse, as we retained the shield for the third year in a row (and seventh of the last eight).

This year’s matchup was held on Saturday, April 12, which started out on the chilly side, but being literally over the hill and thus protected from the ocean breezes, the temperature warmed up quickly for a lovely bowling day. 

Each club put forth eight triples teams who played a 12-end game in the morning and the afternoon. Berkeley started out on the front foot, winning five and tying two of the morning games for a commanding lead of 12 points to 4 at lunchtime. And the foot remained pedal to the metal in the afternoon with a further 6 wins, 1 tie, and 1 loss. There were a number of quite close games (in addition to the ties) and a few “blowouts”—our team of Hugo, Ginger, and Ashok were in danger of falling afoul of the Constitution’s cruel and unusual punishment clause with their 25-2 victory in the afternoon. Here’s a link to the game scores.

Our Rossmoor hosts took the outcome with graciousness and humor and we thank them for their hospitality and camaraderie. Thanks also to all the Berkeley players who made it “beyond the hill” and back with the plaque in good hands for another year.

Rossmoor is a lovely place to bowl not only for the warmth and camaraderie of the Rossmoor club members but also the handsome setting of their three bowling greens. The greens are well tended and surrounded by a lovely set of trees, reminiscent of English arborial splendor. Each visit features a subtle soundtrack provided by Rossmoor’s abundant, natural life – hawks and turkeys come immediately to mind. It is a most pleasant place to visit.

The Green Reopens

Our fantastic greenskeeper team is happy to announce that the green reopened Wednesday, April 9 at 10 AM.  Please note there may be some sand on the green which may be picked up by bowls.  If there is sand on your rink, we ask you not to use rakes or squeegees.

The green has made a quick recovery from the Spring drill and sand maintenance, reopening just 17 days after the workday. Just a couple of years ago, a cloudy and cool Spring delayed reopening by two months so we are lucky this year. As bowling resumed today there was some sand evident on the green but the bowls behaved well. It will get better as the days progress.

As a reminder, please make sure to read the notice board in the equipment shed for information related to using the green, such as bowling direction, rink color, and green sheet status.

Continue reading The Green Reopens

Opening Day 2025

Opening Day, the official beginning of the lawn bowling tournament season, was held on 5 April at the Rossmoor Lawn Bowling Club. Rossmoor’s three greens were looking fine and, better yet, bowled well with a reasonably fast pace. Opening Day provides a welcome opportunity to renew acquaintances from other clubs with this year’s attendance including 108 enthusiastic lawn bowlers from the Bay Area and beyond. That’s eighteen triples games underway at once on three greens.

The event was kicked off by Calvin Darling, PIMD President, and Bud Birkenseer, longstanding Tournament Director for the PIMD.  Bud, as always, ran a smooth ship – no small feat given the large turnout. He is undeniably one of the great heroes of Bay Area lawn bowling and a most pleasant guy to boot. The winning teams were awarded prize money!  A good time was had by all.

From upper left clockwise: Ethan and Judy, Leslie and Cindy, Stephan and Karen, Chris and Mike.

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club had a great showing with 22 bowlers participating in the games. The weather cooperated with a pleasant sunny day and slightly warm temperatures. It was great weather for bowling and for our home green’s recuperation. While we were having a good time bowling at Rossmoor, our green back home was enjoying its last days of rest in recovering from the spring tine and sand maintenance. We should be bowling back home fairly soon.

From upper left clockwise: Cris, Glenn, Phil, Bernadette, HC and Ashok.

It was good to have this group of Berkeley bowlers practicing during Opening Day, for we will be back at Rossmoror next Saturday for the annual Over the Hill Tournament to be played on their home turf.

From upper left clockwise: Aika and Lennon; Janie and Patricia; Leslie and Charlie; Claudia and Mei.

Spring Workday shines

 Ethan Bortman reports from 7.000 miles away

Once again, I am pleased to report that last Sunday’s drill and fill workday was a huge success.  I was amazed when I Facetimed Leslie at 1 PM to view the activity from afar and there was nothing to see other than a few munching on pizza.  The work was completed in record time.  Very impressive indeed.  It is this type of volunteerism and cooperation that enables our green to be the envy of PIMD.

A big shout out to the volunteers (listed in random order and including several who called in sick):  Alexandra Terninko, Rolly, Phil Watson, Leslie, the Bentons, Kern, Steve Harris, Annie, Gary S, Chris High, Glenn, Douglas Frey, Martin, Charles, Mike O’, Stephen Ng, Ben Corson, Marty Lorber, Daniel, Mark Baker, Cathy, Tom Birt, and, of course, our four terrific GKs…Patricia, Janie, Judy, and Sarah.  If I missed anyone, please let me know.

For those of you who were unable to participate, stay tuned because most likely there will be another workday in the fall.

Update: Janie and Patricia just sent a photo of the green from this morning (four days after sanding). The green has received a gentle watering compliments of a cold front and the sand is settling very nicely into the grass – by all accounts a quickly paced recovery is underway.

For more information on this annual maintenance ritual read on.

Continue reading Spring Workday shines

PIMD Mixed Pairs Winners

Congratulations to Janie and Luis

Congratulations are due to BLBC bowlers Janie Hillyer (Skip) and Luis Zapata (Lead) who won the first official PIMD tournament of the 2025 season, the PIMD Mixed Pairs.

Played at San Jose LBC on Saturday, March 22, the event involved 14 teams playing four 12-end games. Going into the last round, only two teams had won their first three games–Janie and Luis, and Jesse May and Rachel Marcuson of Santa Cruz LBC. By the chance of the random draw, these two teams faced each other in the final matchup, ensuring that only one would end the day undefeated. (Excluding the possibility of a tie, which would then have thrown victory to the one with the better differential.) Playing with the assurance and consistency they had shown all day, Janie and Luis got out in front in the early stages and never looked back. 

San Jose’s synthetic green requires Berkeley bowlers to make skillful adjustments.

In addition to the prize money, Janie and Luis go home as the front runners in PIMD’s first Bowler of the Year contest. This award will go to the Man and Woman Bowler who accumulate the most points in the course of the seven PIMD Tournaments open equally to all PIMD bowlers in 2025. For tournaments using a round robin format, 10 points are awarded for each win, 7 points for second place, 5 points for third place, with fewer points awarded down to those in eighth place. (A slightly different points allocation will be used in tournaments based on an elimination format.) See the PIMD President’s January 2025 newsletter for further details.

Terry Taplin Visits

Terry Taplin, the Council Member for Berkeley’s Second District, stopped by today’s draw game for a tour of the club and an introduction to bowling.

The club is located in Mr. Taplin’s district as are well over a dozen club members. Our long history with the city dates back to BLBC’s inauguration in 1929. Our green and clubhouse are situated on City property so it is a fine thing to have the opportunity to brief the Council Member on developments at the club and our upkeep of facilities.

It was lovely to meet the Council Member and his staff. We appreciate their taking time to visit.

Then and now

While working on the website, I stumbled upon a photo (above) from an open house the club hosted back in August 2017. I was instantly blown away by how much progress the club has made since then in the area visible in the photo. For comparison, here’s a similar image (below) taken in March 2025, almost eight years later.

Looking at the old and new photos, I couldn’t help but think about how much volunteer work and club projects have changed our facilities. It’s impressive how much the green and supporting elements have progressed. In the 2017 photo, I can spot eight places where improvements have been made – some small and some substantial:

Read on for a quick enumeration of progress recently achieved just in the area shown in the photo.

Continue reading Then and now

Bay Bridge Battle

Berkeley Retains 2025 Bay Bridge Challenge Trophy

The Bay Bridge Challenge is the annual contest between Berkeley and the San Francisco LBC, held at the respective venues on alternating years and thus sometimes referred to as a “home and home” match. This year’s contest, held on Saturday, March 15, took place on two of SF’s three greens in Golden Gate Park, a lovely setting but where the greens are notoriously heavy and slow—it’s an achievement to get the jack, never mind a bowl, past the hog line.

It also tends to be cold! And this year was no exception, although the downpours earlier in the week had dissipated and, by the afternoon, it was actually quite pleasant. By that time, too, Berkeley had asserted its strength, winning five of the eight Triples matches. But San Francisco wasn’t giving up and came back after lunch to win 4 ½ (one tied game) to 3 ½. A valiant effort—but not quite enough, with Berkeley scoring 8 ½ to 7 ½ on the day thereby retaining the shield, which will now be displayed in our clubhouse for another year.

Well done to all the Berkeley bowlers who made the trip across the Bay, most especially to the teams of Hugo, Judy, and Joann, and also HC, Glenn, and Bernadette, who won both their games, as well as Cris, Cindy, and Aika, whose afternoon tie prevented an even split in games won/lost, which would have required a three-end bowl off. Finally, many thanks to our SFLBC hosts, whose hospitality was excellent.

2-Bowl Singles Tournament

The 2025 2-Bowl Singles Tournament was held on Saturday, March 8. On the fourth round of a (primarily) strength v strength format, Daniel Gorelick seized the crown, bettering his semi-final achievement of 2024.

The day was seasonably fresh, with a nippy breeze from time to time, but nothing to dampen the spirits and performance of the 12 players who eventually took to the field after several late dropouts, including one on the morning of the event. Ginger Chen graciously offered to withdraw to maintain an even number of players. Tournament Directors everywhere thank you, Ginger.

A random draw was used to determine the initial matchups for the games of first to reach 15 points, which resulted in a top six of Calvin Darling, Hugo Deaux, Chris Davis, Lennon Hamilton, Daniel Gorelick, and Art Kotoulas. After the second round, based on strength v strength, Chris, Daniel, and Hugo topped the table with two wins each, while Calvin was running close as the highest ranked of those on one win, one loss.

Only two players—Daniel and Hugo—were on an unblemished 3 wins at the end of Round 3, setting up a tasty final.Both players put in amazing shots in the final, but Daniel dominated from the outset and never looked back. It was not that Hugo played badly, drawing much applause from the peanut gallery, and losing five extremely close measures. But on this day, he was up against a finely tuned machine in the form of Daniel, who had set his eyes firmly on the prize and won the match 15-6. 

Congratulations to Daniel as this year’s 2-Bowl Champion! And thanks, as always to our hospitality crew, our great greenskeepers, and the markers who gave generously of their time.

We promote the game of lawn bowling for the enjoyment of new and experienced players alike.