Jim Corr, Berkeley lawn bowler — and a periodic contributor to Berkeleyside — won the 2016 PIMD Men’s Singles Championship title last weekend at Sunnyvale Lawn Bowling Club. (PIMD is the Pacific Inter-Mountain Division of BowlsUSA, comprising clubs in Northern California, Utah, and Hawaii).
The competition was a two-day affair involving 16 players from all over the Bay Area. The semifinal featured Jim and Cris Benton, a fellow Berkeley bowler (as well as a noted kite aerial photographer), which turned into a nail-biter.
Read more on Berkeleyside about the Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club.
Corr took an early lead only to see Benton draw level and then surpass him to reach 17-13. With 18 points being the winning goal, Corr had to dig deep, but eventually managed to prevail by the narrowest of margins, eking out an 18-17 victory.
The final again saw two Berkeley bowlers pitted against each other. Corr faced Frankie Napoli, a dual member of Berkeley and the Rossmoor Club. While not as close as the semifinal, the game nevertheless proved a tough one, Napoli coming within two points (13-11) of leveling the score, but Corr held on to take the match and the 2016 title.
“It’s always nice to win,” Jim said after the match, “but it’s also great to see our club putting itself firmly on the lawn bowling map. We ended up taking four of the top five spots. The Club has been in Berkeley for over 90 years, and we’ll soon be celebrating our centenary. I would encourage all Berkeleyside readers to give it a try. And one of the most appealing things is that it is truly a sport at which all genders and ages can compete side by side. I’ve been soundly beaten by teenagers and by octogenarians — a good lesson in humility!”
The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club, located at the corner of Acton and Bancroft, offers free lessons to the public on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 10:00 a.m. to noon (unless a tournament is being held). For details see www.berkeleylawnbowling.org.
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