Local quartet headed to nationals

Four lawn bowlers from Corona del Mar-based Newport Harbor Lawn Bowling Club have qualified for prestigious United States National Lawn Bowling Championships in Seattle.

July 23, 2011|By Bruce Bourquin, Special to the Daily Pilot

Newport Harbor Lawn Bowling Club's Maryna Hyland,… (Don Leach, Daily…)

Some of the best lawn bowlers in the world are from south Orange County and will compete a month from now in the United States National Lawn Bowling Championships in Seattle.

From Aug. 23-28 at the Jefferson Park Bowling Club, Maryna Hyland, Charlie Herbert, Tony Baer and Brian Stewart — all members of Newport Harbor Lawn Bowling Club, based in Corona del Mar — will compete in the competition against six other teams from around the country.

Each has won a United States Lawn Bowling Assn. Southwest Divisional Play Down competition. Hyland, with her partner Heather Stewart (no relation to Brian Stewart) from the Laguna Beach Lawn Bowling Club, won in Women's Pairs; Baer, with his partner Aaron Zangl from Hermosa Beach Lawn Bowling Club, won in Men's Pairs; Charlie Herbert and his partner Brian Stewart won in Men's Pairs.

Hyland, Baer and Herbert are "Skips", who are similar to quarterbacks in football because they direct the play of the game. In 2005, Hyland and her bowling partner won the National title, and this is the third time they've competed in the event.

"Because of the anticipation of the opposition, my job is shot selection for my team," said Hyland, a homemaker whose husband Ivan is an airline pilot and the 2001 Pairs national champion. This year, his team lost to Herbert and Stewart. "Obviously, I would have liked to see my husband win … they were outbowled," she said.

Herbert and Stewart, who have played together for five years, came out of the loser's bracket and beat Ivan Hyland and his partner twice in the finals. Herbert, a 48-year-old kite surfing instructor, said early on in his lawn bowling days he was inspired by what people from other countries can do with their bowls.

"Their accuracy is unbelievable. That showed me what skills they had," Herbert said.

He has taken those lessons to heart. Herbert and Stewart finished third out of 12 teams at the 2010 Michael Ashton-Phillips International Bowls Challenge held annually in mid-October at Newport Harbor LBC, the only international tournament held in the United States. In 2009, Herbert won the Singles event. It was the first time in the history of the tournament that a team from the U.S. had placed in the medal round. This is the first time Herbert and Stewart, a 48-year-old Newport Beach attorney, will represent Southern California at the National Championships.

1 | 2 | Next

|

|

|