Today was the day that our novice bowlers – those who have been bowling for less than two years – met to decide just who would go home with the bragging rights this year. The weather could not have been more beautiful as the morning cloudiness gave way to bright, beautiful, blue skies.

Tournament Director Gary Knox had the rink all ready for bowling by 9 a.m. His plan was for a full round-robin tournament with each player facing every other player. That meant that there would be five games today.

Five of the new bowlers participated today, Ann Gardiner, Wilford Wong, Harlan Ware, Shawn Roney, and John Hooper.

So, who would it be this year? Several of the games were hard fought and came down to one of the final bowls moving the jack to take the point. In the end, though, it was Shawn Roney who edged out Ann Gardiner with more plus points. Both had won three of their four games. Congratulations Shawn and to all the other bowlers who participated.

Thanks too, to those who came to observe and suport the novices. Gary Knox, Irving Gershenberg and Dave Rockhold served as markers.

Last Friday, the bowlers from Leisure Town came to play a “friendly” match. Well, it may have been friendly, but they meant business. Even though the Berkeley team of Corr, Knox, and Gardiner won all three of their games, it was LT 5, Berkeley 4 at the end of the day. Sharing ice cream at the end of the day proves that it was friendly. Berkeley will travel to Leisure town in September looking for a rematch.

This year’s in house Triples tournament drew 18 bowlers plus two who were ready to bowl if needed. Gary Knox did another fine job setting things up and everyone bowled two 12 end games. After the second game, the top two teams played a third game to decide the winner. In that last match, skip Jim Corr with Dave Rockhold and Susan Jamark faced skip Gary Knox with Millard Long and Jason Chien. Gary and Jason were on last season’s winning team so they were going for a repeat. The final match was no runaway to be sure but, in the end, Jim, Dave and Susan held on for the win. Thanks to all who participated – it was loads of fun.

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Our club pairs tournament for 2012 brought out 16 bowlers, many of whom were recent devotees to the sport. Tournament director Gary Knox made arrangements for the draw and teams bowled two ten-end games beginning at 9:30. The sun broke through the fog as play began. At the end of the second game, there were two teams with two wins.

After a mellow lunch break, the final match took up, with Shawn Roney and Susan Jamart facing Cathy Dinnean and Wilfred Wong. Compliments must certainly go to Shawn, who is still in his first year of bowling, and Will, who is the club’s newest member. All four players made some excellent shots, and it wasn’t until the final ends that Cathy and Will got some breaks and pulled out to win the tournament.

Congratulations to Cathy and Wilfred!

Susan, Shawn, Cathy and Wilfred (L to R)

Sven Eric Walden, a Life Member of BLBC passed away in March. Eric was a very active member who helped with maintenance, served as greenskeeper, emcee of the club’s monthly birthday events, and was quick with a joke. Our condolences to his family.

2012’s First Tournament

After a few weeks of rain, it was a welcome relief to see the sun shining on Saturday morning. There wasn’t even that much dew, the air was crisp and I knew we would have a great day. The whole green was in use as fourteen bowlers signed up for the annual four bowl singles tournament. The green itself is in very good shape thanks to the efforts of our greenskeeper and those club members who occasionally volunteer to help with the weeding, sanding, etc.

You can’t say lawn bowling isn’t for all ages as the spread was from mid twenties to late eighties. Everyone who bowled played in the first two games which were to 15 points with a 12-end limit (for time’s sake). After the morning session, five players had won both of their morning matches so it came down to points differential to see who would bowl in the semi- final round. So after lunch, four bowlers stepped on the mat; Shawn Roney, Erwin Vista, Jim Corr, and Howard Mackey. These two games were also in the short format and the winners emerged – Erwin Vista and Howard Mackey.

Erwin is a fairly new member of the club while Howard has been around long enough to have been greenskeeper, president, janitor, etc. So it was experience vs. youth in the final game to 21 points. In the end, Howard Mackey was the winner. This ever-young 86 year-old former teacher is seen third from right in the photo below displaying one of his always present smiles. Congratulations Howard. By the way, the other players shown are Jim Corr (L), Erwin Vista, Howard, and Shawn Roney. Shawn, by the way, is a novice – he has been bowling for less than two years!

Here’s to a fantastic season. Oh, and thanks to Barbara Mackey and Geoff Chandler for serving as Markers.

Today was beautiful in Berkeley. We managed to get two pairs games in the morning and a triples game in the afternoon. Some worker bees – namely Ann Gardiner – helped weed the ditch while the paint elves snuck in to touch up the ladie’s restroom.

The green is looking good; but it needs bowlers! The east half has been resting for a few weeks. Our greenskeeper is bringing some low spots up to level to improve the surface.

In the next few weeks, we hope to verticut the green to further improve the surface.

And, remember, OPENING DAY IS ONLY TWO WEEKS AWAY. Bleach those whites and start doing pullups to build your stamina.

Come on down and bowl! Bring friends!