Our friends at Rossmoor graciously hosted the annual Tunnel Challenge on Saturday, March 14 (Pi Day). We played 12-end triples games with 8 teams during the morning and again in the afternoon. Berkeley fielded 25 bowlers.
Kickoff briefing ay the Rossmoor Clubhouse
The day started with pleasantly cool weather although we expected the heat to come later, which it did by mid-afternoon. The morning games got off to a slow start with most of BLBC’s teams down, but our bowlers did what we do best; we worked together, we didn’t give up, and we went into the lunch break with 5 wins, 2 losses, and 1 tie.
LelsieRollySarahBernieChecking the scoresDaniel
Remembering a disaster several years ago in San Francisco where BLBC needed only one win after lunch (a win which never came) we didn’t want to be overly confident going into the afternoon session. Berkeley’s teams focussed, bowled well, and won 4 games, enough to clinch victory for the day.
The trophy remains with Berkeley
Thanks to all who helped us keep the trophy and thanks to Rossmoor for welcoming us to their club. It’s always a joy to bowl with the Rossmoor folks.
Click here for details on game results
Our next interclub tournament is the Bay Bridge Challenge on May 2 at Berkeley. Look for an announcement as the date approaches.
The BLBC 2026 2-Bowl Singles Tournament took place on Saturday, March 7 under sunny skies. But despite the higher-than-average Bay Area temperatures for the time of year, there were no complaints from the 14 bowlers who had signed up for the competition—although maybe a few were left wondering if the late morning gusts of 25+ mph winds could be used to excuse an errant shot or two.
The format was, as the title identifies, two bowls per player. The goal in each game was first to 15 points. Following a random draw to determine the first round of play, bowlers were matched in a modified strength v strength process. From a strong field, four players emerged as the leading quartet after the first two rounds—Kevin Reynolds, Cris Benton, Chris Davis (each with two wins) and Daniel Gorelick (one win, one loss, but just enough of a positive differential to edge out both Ben Corson and Mark Baker by one point).
What was effectively a pair of semifinals matched Kevin against Daniel and Cris versus Chris in two tight games. In the latter, Cris and Chris traded the lead until the position stood at 9-9 after thirteen ends. But then Chris D got into a run and brought the score to 13-9 by the sixteenth end and within sight of victory. Cris B was not giving up, however, and took one point on each of the next two ends to narrow the gap to 11-13. But on the following end, Chris managed to find the remaining two points needed to secure the win.
If that was a close enough battle, over on the neighboring rink Kevin and Daniel were in a dogfight. Kevin jumped into a 10-5 lead by the tenth end, but then Daniel applied the pressure as only Daniel can, scoring seven points over the next four ends to edge in front 12-10. Kevin replied with a 2, a 1, and a 1, to reverse the lead to 14-12. Daniel wasn’t letting that phase him, and tied the game up at 14 apiece on the next end. But Kevin kept his cool and, with one point on the final end, prevailed by the narrowest possible margin 15-14.
Kevin the victor
Perhaps it was Kevin’s continued adrenaline from the third game, or perhaps Chris had relaxed a little while waiting for the Kevin v Daniel scrap to finish, but Kevin built up a steady but substantial head of steam in the final, leading by 11-4 after thirteen ends, and by 14-5—on the edge of victory—after sixteen. Chris sought to recover momentum with one point on each of the next two ends, but Kevin killed the game off with the needed single point on the eighteenth, thereby preventing Chris from repeating his win in the 2024 edition of this tournament. Congratulations to Kevin on his consistent strong performance throughout the day, and thanks as always to the “usual suspects”—the greenskeepers, the markers, the hospitality team, and all those who helped with early set up. The TD wishes to express his particular thanks to Daniel who brought his computer to the event with the tournament spreadsheet on it—unlike the TD who forgot his!
The 4-3-2-1 Tournament format remains relatively new to Berkeley, this being only the second year it has been held. It may be related to “The Belgrano” devised in tribute to General Manuel Belgrano, an Argentinian military hero and Founding Father who has many sites, streets, and institutions named after him in his native country, including the Belgrano Athletic Club, home to Argentina’s first and largest lawn bowling club (situated unsurprisingly in the Belgrano neighborhood of Buenos Aires). It is speculated
that Argentina originated this variation on the more casual “Cutthroat” game of bowls involving involves three players. The 4-3-2-1, in contrast, is a Singles game, but follows Cutthroat scoring—the closest bowl to the jack, irrespective of whose it is, gets 4 points, the second-closest 3 points, the third bowl 2 points and the fourth a single point. Thus, in principle a total of 10 points is available to either player in a given end.
Consistency is the key goal of any lawn bowler and consistency pays off particularly in this format—make sure you get something out of each end and don’t give up too many 9 or 10-pointers. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself deep in the hole after only a few ends, even with first to 65 points being the decisive goal.
Standings after the preliminary games.
This year, the BLBC tournament was held on Saturday, February 28 under fine bowling conditions. Following a preliminary set of matches held over the preceding three weeks, 12 players qualified for the final day’s contest. They faced each other in a modified version of strength-to-strength play in which the stronger players after each round went up against bowlers lower in the rankings with the field tighteningafter each round.
By Round 4, only two players—Daniel Gorelick and Jim Corr—had won all three preceding match-ups: Daniel against Russell (Rolly) Coe, Cris Benton, and Mike O’Leary, while Jim had prevailed against Michael Leutzinger, Tom Birt, and Sarah Allday. The final was keenly contested. Jim built up a small but significant lead early on, playing his short jack game. But when he got an opportunity, Daniel began closing the spread with a T-to-T strategy, so that after 10-ends the gap had been closed to only 4 points, 52-48 in Jim’s favor. Over the next three ends they split the points 15 apiece resulting in a razor-thin 67- v63 victory for Jim.
Jim Corr – winner of the 2026 4-3-2-1 Tournament
Congratulations to Jim on his success in the first club tournament of the BLBC 2026 calendar, and thanks to all participants, the greenskeeping team, the hospitality folks, not to mention the always welcome markers who made the games flow smoothly.
The Pacific Inter-Mountain Division (PIMD) bowling season reached a spectacular conclusion on November 22, 2025, as the Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club hosted the annual Champion of Champions Tournament. Under beautiful skies, the event brought together the division’s elite—competitors who had already proven themselves by winning their respective club singles tournaments. A total of twelve club champions from across the Bay Area, including representatives from Santa Cruz, Oakland, San Jose, San Francisco, Rossmoor, Santa Clara, and Palo Alto, gathered on the Berkeley greens for this prestigious season finale.
Janie Hillyer has become a formidable competitor within the PIMD and beyond
The women’s competition proved to be a nail-biter, featuring a relentless round-robin format that came down to the wire. The field was incredibly evenly matched, ending with a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard: Rachel Marcuson (Santa Cruz), Reggie Banares (San Jose), and local favorite Janie Hillyer (Berkeley) all finished with impressive 4-1 records. The title was ultimately decided by “plus points,” with Rachel Marcuson edging out Janie Hillyer by a slim margin of just two points (+27 to +25) to secure the overall victory. Congratulations to Rachel Marcuson for emerging as the 2025 Women’s Champion of Champions.
Daniel’s bowls as seen in a final game head – it kind of says it all.
On the men’s side, the field was split into two flights, with stellar performances leading to a clash of undefeated bowlers. Ian Cameron (San Jose) and Daniel Gorelick (Berkeley) dominated their respective groups, both posting perfect 3-0 records to advance to the final. In the championship game, Berkeley’s own Daniel Gorelick defeated Ian Cameron to claim the title, keeping the Men’s trophy at home. Congratulations to Daniel on his victory, and to all the competitors for a wonderful end to the season. (Action photos provided courtesy of Dave Seivert) .
The victors: Rachel Marcuson and Daniel Gorelick
Umpire Annie Brillhart, a maven of marking, ran a tight ship of volunteer markers.
As the 2025 lawn bowling tournament season wraps up, it was time for the annual BLBC Novice Tournament. This year, the field was small but packed with talent. We had Mike O’Leary and Ben Corson, who took first and second in the PIMD Novice Tournament just a week ago in San Francisco. Joining them was Mark Baker, who also did well in the PIMD Tournament, and Stephanie Upp, a less frequent bowler with a natural athletic flair.
Contestants Ben Corson, Stephanie Upp, Mark Baker, and Mike O’Leary.
It was a lovely fall day for bowling, with perfect temperatures and no wind under a sunny sky. The hospitality committee put together a delicious spread, and the tournament drew an appreciative group of spectators and markers. The tournament followed a round-robin format with three rounds of games. Winners were determined by the first to reach 15 points. After two rounds, Mike was leading with a 2–0 record, Ben and Mark were each 1–1, and Stephanie was 0–2. This set the stage for an exciting finish. Mike would win outright with a third victory, while Ben and Mark were in striking distance if that didn’t happen.
Mark Baker showing fine form
Mike O’Leary delivers before a rapt audience in the final game
Ben played Stephanie in the final game and won, bringing his record to 2–1. In the next rink, Mark faced off against Mike in a closely watched game. This one was intensely played, with Mark establishing an early lead and maintaining a small margin as the game went on. The heads were impressively tight, with both bowlers well dialed in. As Mark approached the required 15 points, Mike had some really nice bowls that came within an inch of claiming the head. But, in a stroke of misfortune they bounced the wrong way, and the game went to Mark.
Mike and Mark approach the final and deciding head . Mike’s two bowls came close to displacing Mark’s nice shots.
At the end of the day, Mark, Mike, and Ben each ended up with a 2–1 record. The winner was then determined by differential points. Mark had the highest differential total, making him the 2025 BLBC Novice Champion.
Mark Baker, 2025 BLBC Novice Champion and Leslie Engler, BLBC President.
Well done to all the bowlers for putting on such an entertaining display. Kudos as well to the Greenskeepers, Cindy Moss as Tournament Director, and the Hospitality Committee.
Once again new players from around the Bay Area have gathered for the annual PIMD novice tournament and once again the BLBC had a fine showing. This year the tournament attracted 16 novice players, all of whom had been in the game for two years or less.
The 2025 Novice Tournament participants plus the ever helpful Sebastian Sciacca.
There was a preliminary round with each novice playing three games at the San Francisco Lawn Bowling Club. From this four players emerged with a perfect 3–0 record to continue on as the final four – Renne Xie, Ben Corson, Mike O’Leary, and Mark Hanusin. The champion was determined as these folks battled it out in a round robin format.
Results from the qualifying round
Tournament Director Bud Birkenseer (a hero to us all) reported on the final four playoff: “The weather was lovely at Golden Gate Park today, and Lawn Bowling had some excellent bowling today. One of the matches went 23 ends before one of the bowlers reached the needed 18 points for a win. Mike O’Leary snuck by Ben Corson with a last end 3-Pointer: You can see Mike’s three bowls in the image below (they still are friends…I think.)”
Ben and Mike after the final and deciding end.
The final four Novices did themselves proud and the BLBC can take great pride as well in Mike’s win, Ben’s very close second place, and Mark’s third. Well done.
Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club had strong representation at the US Nationals held Oct 19-25th at the beautiful Laguna Beach Lawn Bowling Club (LBLBC). LBLBC has two zippy greens overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Between the crashing waves, seagull calls and the daily Pelican flyovers, there was always something to watch in addition to great lawn bowling. For example, on one notable occasion, a proud seagull snatched a cookie and proceeded to strut around the center of the green, stopping all play. The venue never disappointed.
The LBLBC crew did an amazing job hosting, including feeding the players, officials and many volunteers several times each day. Twice in the evenings, live music accompanied appetizers and/or dinner. Event sponsors provided even more food and drinks. This was not an event where one lacked for anything.
The PIMD Champions: Annie Brillhart, Rose Selby, Calvin Darling, Janine Andrews, Daniel Gorelick, and Rob Hoey.
For the Bowls USA, the country is represented by 7 divisions. Berkeley LBC is in the Pacific Intermountain Division (PIMD). Because of the large number of lawn bowlers in the Southwest Division, they have 2 teams in each category, which they have named “Stars” and “Stripes”. Thus, at the US Nationals, there are 8 groups of 6 players comprised of men’s singles, men’s pairs, women’s singles and women’s pairs. BLBC had an impressive showing at the event with 5/6 PIMD players being members of the Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club.
Posing with the Women’s Pairs winners.Janine, Rose, and Annie
After 3.5 days of spirited play, teams from the Southwest Division swept all of the events, save the women’s pairs, which was won by the South Central team in an epic playoff. PIMD did quite well across the board Crushing most of their opponents with 5/7 wins was the women’s pairs team of Rose Selby and Annie Brillhart. Overall, they came in 3rd and can boast as the only PIMD team to beat a SW team. We are also quite proud of Rob Hoey who also came in 3rd in the men’s singles with 4/7 wins. Several of his battles were fierce and continued well after the 20th end. Janine Maddock, who was a novice when she won the playdowns, had a strong showing in the women’s singles, winning 3/7 games. Her battles were also long with the 19:21 loss to Anne Nunes (Stripes) going on for 23 ends. Finally, after several back and forth games that could have gone either way, Daniel Gorelick and Calvin Darling won 2/7 of their games.
Overall, BLBC can be proud of these fine players. Videos of several of the games can be viewed at:
At the 2025 PIMD Singles Championships held at the Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club in early October, bowlers from across the Pacific Inter-Mountain Division competed under excellent green conditions freshly rolled with the club’s new roller.
On the women’s side, Rose Selby from the Palo Alto Lawn Bowling Club emerged as the overall champion, completing an impressive undefeated run—winning all six games over the two days. In the final, she overcame a strong challenge from Berkeley’s Janie Hillyer, who took second place after carrying an early lead. Joanne Ribeiro of Rossmoor finished third, and Angie Peet from San Francisco placed fourth.
Top women’s finishers Joanne Ribeira (3rd), Rose Slebly, (1st) and Janie Hillier (2nd) (Angie Peet missing).
The men’s field was split into two groups for Sunday’s play. Berkeley’s Daniel Gorelick and Rossmoor’s Frankie Napoli both went undefeated in group play, advancing to face each other in the title match. Napoli proved dominant in the final, claiming victory in decisive fashion to complete his own unbeaten weekend performance. Gorelick took the runner-up position, with Kevin Reynolds (San Francisco) finishing third and Jim Corr (Berkeley) fourth.
Top men’s finishers Jim Corr 4th), Kevin Reynolds (3rd, ) Frankie Napoli (1st), and Daniel Gorelick (2nd)
Berkeley’s greens and organization received praise for providing ideal tournament conditions.
The BLBC is very proud to be sending five of our members representing the PIMD to the Bowls USA National Championship, which will be played at the Laguna Beach Lawn Bowling Club from October 19 – 25. Seven regional divisions from across the US will be represented by their players each of whom has won their respective playdown tournaments for Singles or Pairs formats.
Our Women’s Singles Champion is BLBC member, Janine Maddock, the Women’s Pairs champions are Palo Alto’s Rose Shelby and BLBC’S Annie Brillhart, the Men’s Singles champion is BLBC’S Rob Hoey, and the Men’s Pairs Champion are BLBC dual member Calvin Darling and BLBC’S Daniel Gorelick.
We are wishing all our champions the best of luck and happy bowling!
From the BowlsUSA WWW site
If you are interested in following the tournament, look for your email from Bowls USA and follow the prompts for links to the tournament.
Screenshot from BowlsUSA – you will have to type these URLs into a browser yourself.
Our Daniel Gorelick will bowl with Calvin Darling to represent PIMD in the Men’s Pairs competition at the US National Championships to be held at the Laguna Beach LBC in October. Consider that a warm up as Daniel and his teammate Bill Brault (SWD) just won the US PBA Men’s Pairs Qualifying Tournament held at Cambria this weekend. So Daniel will be making the trip to England in January to compete in the World Indoor Bowls Championship at Potters Resort in England.
Scottie Marzonie posted a video of Daniel’s and Bil’sl championship game on Facebook:
Incidentally, Daniel was also in the championship game playing Loren Dion for the singles qualifying spot for the UK Open. Meanwhile, SFLBC’S Calvin Darling, also a dual member at BLBC, won the Singles Qualifying Tournament for the World Indoor Bowls Championships. These guys are getting the job done – respect.
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