On a cloudy, cool, and misty Saturday morning, 42 enthusiastic and seemingly over-caffeinated bowlers from five Bay Area clubs arrived in Berkeley to participate in the annual Howard Mackey Jamboree, the crown jewel of BLBC’s annual tournament schedule.  The Jamboree, which was created by Mr. Mackey in the 80s, has a unique tournament format. There are three 10-end triples games.  Players are allocated into the three categories of skip, vice, and lead and the teams are randomly selected and then changed after each game.  It is the one tournament in which there is an “I” in team as each player maintains their own score and at the end of the day there are no team awards, only individual winners in each category.

The challenge for our tournament committee is to ensure that every bowler will have different teammates and different opponents in each…i.e., no one will ever play with or against the same bowler all day.  Kudos to our TC for figuring out how to do this.  An additional, albeit yet to be solved, complexity is never having anyone bowl on the same rink more than once.  That’s next year’s challenge.

As usual, the BLBC green was in pristine condition and there was an abundance of yummy, nutritious snacks and barista-quality coffee.   Manifesting the collective IQ of the participants was that game one started on time as every bowler was able to figure out their team, position, and rink they were assigned to.   As if scripted, the clouds disappeared by 10 AM and the remainder of the tournament was played under blue skies and pleasant temperature.  The last games finished at 4 PM and nearly all the participants gathered on the patio, munching on ice cream sandwiches (a Jamboree tradition), eagerly awaiting the final results, which were:

Even though there was a bit on cash involved, the abundance of camaraderie, laughter, and cheerful banter throughout the day was akin to a typical draw game, which is exactly what this tournament is all about.  

And lastly, a huge shout out to our Hospitality Committee and our greenkeeping team for helping make this a glorious day.

Daniel is BLBC 2025 4-Bowl Singles Champion

Sixteen players took to the green on Saturday, May 31 to contest the Club’s 2025 4-Bowl Singles Tournament amid excellent bowling weather. Daniel Gorelick emerged victorious after four rounds, thereby adding to the 2-Bowl Singles title he had won in early March.

Because the green could only accommodate seven “playable” rinks, the event got off to a staggered start, with one matchup—decided by random draw—having to wait until one of the first seven games finished. Once that round was complete, the bottom two players were eliminated, thus removing the need for further staggered play, and the remaining teams were drawn into the now familiar strength v strength format, with Number 1 playing Number 2, Number 3 against Number 4, and so on.

From that point forward, games became essentially single elimination, as any loss put the chance of reaching the top two positions mathematically out of reach. At the end of Round 2, four players remained in contention: Daniel Gorelick, who faced Jim Corr, and Calvin Darling, who took on Cris Benton. These two semifinals were both hotly contested, resulting in a final game of Daniel against Calvin.

In the final, which was set up on a first-to-18-points basis, Calvin got off to a brisk start with three points on the first end playing a nicely weighted shot with his last bowl to trail the jack to the back. He held that lead until the seventh end, when Daniel edged ahead with a 3-shot, and then pushed on to have a solid advantage of 10-6 by the ninth end. But Calvin would not let him get “out of sight” and kept himself in the game trading ends that witnessed some nice tight heads and great bowls by both players. On what proved to be the final end, Calvin was trailing 11 15 in the game and down one shot in the head. Demonstrating the confidence he had shown throughout, Calvin attacked the head, successfully hitting the target, but as the shot bowl winged off to the side it hit Calvin’s own bow—that had been the second shot—hard enough to push it completely out of the head. It was a misfortune that would have been difficult to foresee, and the result was to leave Daniel with three shots in the head giving him the needed 18 points to win the game and the tournament.

Congratulations to Daniel, whose victory will now make him eligible to represent Berkeley in the PIMD Champion of Champions Tournament at the end of the season.

As always, thanks to our greenskeepers for maintaining a fine bowling surface, to our hospitality crew for the food and drinks, and to all those who helped set up the rink (mainly Annie Brillhart) ahead of play. A special shoutout to our markers who helped make the games run as smoothly as possible and whose only reward—a worthwhile one to be sure—was to be up close to witness a great day of bowls.

Berkeley’s 2025 Triples Tournament was held on Saturday, May 3 in perfect bowling weather and provided some near perfect bowling throughout the day on a well-running green thanks to our amazing greenskeeping team.

A strong field of 36 bowlers had signed up for the event, creating 12 teams, and representing a high proportion of the most “active” bowlers in the club, so fierce but friendly competition was to be expected. Onlookers were not disappointed. 

Entrants had indicated their positional preference at the time of entry and the Tournament Committee had sought to accommodate those wishes to the extent practicable, while making a few adjustments to provide a balanced set of Skips, Vices, and Leads. In addition, the Committee had assigned handicaps that became, through the beauty of computer algorithms, each team’s handicap throughout the day.

The format involved the now-familiar strength v strength approach, in which the team at the top of the table after the random draw for Round 1 played the second place team in Round  2, third played fourth, and so on. The team of Kevin Reynolds (Skip), Joseph Chow (Vice), and JoAnn Lorber (Lead) got off to a strong start with an impressive 16-4 victory in Round 1, and maintained that position after Round 2 with an equally convincing 18-7 win. However, this early success was not maintained, as they lost to Chris Davis, John Gardner, and Marty Lorber by a narrow two points given up in the last end of a tight match.  

Round 3 brought about significant reshuffling of positions. Not only did Chris’s team take pole position, but the team of Rob Hoey, Leslie Engler, and Stephen Ng moved into third with a close win over Lennon Hamilton, Sarah Allday, and Ginger Cheng. Also, Janie Hillyer, Annie Brillhart, and Ashok Verma overcame Jim Corr, Sal Garcia-Lemus, and Karen Ng to gain sixth place.

The last round of the day thus was set for multiple potential outcomes—some, admittedly, mathematically more remote than others—but when all the results were tallied Rob, Leslie, and Stephen emerged top of the heap after a solid 15-9 win over Chris, John, and Marty. 

Congratulations to the final leaders and thanks, as always, to the Hospitality Team for keeping everyone well-vittled and quenched.

Editor’s note: Bowling on San Jose’s new synthetic green is quite unlike bowling on grass. With fast speeds and pronounced draw, the synthetic green put our Berkeley bowlers to the test and they answered confidently.

The San Jose LBC Vet Novice Fours took place Saturday April 26. 

Eight teams participated and played four 10 end games of fours, two bowls for each of the four bowlers.  Bowlers from five PIMD clubs participated: Berkeley, Oakland, Palo Alto,  San Jose and Santa Clara. When all was said and done, Berkeley bowlers made up 5 of the 8 bowlers of the top 2 teams.  

The first place undefeated team (left to right) Leslie Marshall (San Jose), Reggie Banares (San Jose), Patricia Erwin (BLBC) and Janie Hillyer (BLBC) was undefeated.

The second place team (left to right) Ben Corson (BLBC), Bernadette Chang (BLBC), HC Yung (BLBC), and Mark Cooney (San Jose) lost just one game by a close score.

Judy Hillyer played on the fourth place team and was recognized as the MVP by their team skip.  Well done BLBC bowlers!.

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.

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.

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.