SFLBC Remains as Cool as the Weather to Carry Off the Trophy

A cool, nay chilly, day—the kind that evokes the apocryphal Mark Twain quote about a summer in San Francisco—welcomed BLBC bowlers and their cousins from across the Bay to the 2026 Bay Bridge Challenge, the annual tourney between the Berkeley and San Francisco Lawn Bowing Clubs.

Long story short, after two rounds of 12-end Triples matches, the San Francisco visitors prevailed with a total of 6 wins and 2 ties to Berkeley’s 4 wins and 2 ties. If just one bowl in each of those ties had gone Berkeley’s way, we’d have had an even split and a transition to a 3-end bowl off to determine the destiny of the trophy. Ah, the couldas wouldas, shouldas of lawn bowling!

But while the competition was fierce, the spirits were, as always, friendly. And, on a further positive note, teams from each club won ends qualifying for the Bowls USA Super Shot Club. This accolade is awarded for a significantly high score on an individual end (7 or 8 points in Pairs, and 7, 8, or 9 in Triples). In the morning, David Eldred, John Peet, and Juan Medrano of San Francisco scored 7 on one end of their winning match, but in the afternoon they felt what it was like to be on the other side of the ledger when Berkeley’s Jim Corr, Judy Hillyer, and Sal Garcia-Lemus managed to place all 9 bowls in scoring position.

So, onto next year!